I went to the Austin Symphony this past Saturday (yes, after that hellish bike ride) and the verdict? They're okay; pretty good, but not great. I hate saying that (it's kind of mean), but I'm a snob when it comes to this. I had season tix to the Houston Symphony; it's not New York or Chicago, but they are second tier (per my violinist brother). I'm not saying they were bad, or out of tune or made mistakes, but they weren't particularly moving or .... there was less power in the performance, does that make sense?
They only have 5 shows this spring. One is James Galway, and I really don't like flute concertos. Jon Nakamatsu is playing, but it's a show of Gershwin and Bernstein. meh. I'll probably go see Sarah Chang.
The Dvorak piano concerto is not too good. I mean, it was played well (I feel I've heard Garrick Olhsson play before, Beethoven maybe?, which was better). It's just not a well crafted concerto. There are some good moments, but as a whole structurally, it doesn't hold up that well. Yeah, there are virtuostic passages, and some nice melodies, but it's just not a pleasing concerto. He did play an encore afterwards which is always nice.
Some observations about the show.
1. The average age of the audience (as is most symphony goers these days) is unspecific old. Although there were more "young-uns" (i.e. less than 30) than I expected which was nice.
2. There seemed to be a lot of furs. Surprising; I though Austin would be more laid back, anti-fur, animal rights, etc.
3. They did make an announcement at the beginning of the show to have audience members turn off their cell phones, pages, unwrap candies. Yes! Why can't Houston do this?
Pet Peeves about going to the symphony in general
1. Dress - god, this sounds so snobby, but why do people wear jeans? Do you not have anything nicer to wear? It's not the movies!
2. Clapping - If you don't know when to clap - don't clap! You are not supposed to clap in between movements. It's like stopping and applauding after reading a chapter of a book - it's not finished yet! And this is not American Idol or Dancing with the Stars - don't clap just because someone played something fancy and you're impressed. If you have no idea about music (and the website actually has a link to Tips for Beginners), take the cue of others around you and don't start clapping wildly.
3. I call this "Standing Ovation Inflation" - not every performance deserves a standing ovation. The performance should be good; that is what applause is for. I feel Standing ovations have to be saved for really outstanding, breath taking performances, otherwise it loses its value. Interestingly, there were a lot of people who didn't stand for this performance which makes me think that either the audience is more sophisticated than I thought, or maybe to tired or old to stand (joke).
Wow, I sound like an elitist jerk. Wonder if I'll get reamed for writing this.
