Off to the Symphony
Last Saturday night I was off to our symphony hall in Toronto, named after a newspaper magnate, Roy Thomson who was around long enough ago that he received a title from the Queen, Lord Thomson of Fleet. That "Fleet" as in Fleet Street in London, England, where the publishers of newspapers have traditionally been located.
The Toronto Symphony is going through what a lot of orchestras are experiencing these days -- the need to lower the average age of their audience. As part of this effort, the orchestra has made tickets available at a discounted price over at least one of the two summer months (July or August) during the last couple of years. The prices are good and what I like just as much is being able to choose my seats. I am quite content to sit at the back of the hall for a large orchestral piece, but if there is a soloist, especially a violin soloist, I like to sit as close up as I can. The sound may not be as balanced but the emotional involvement with the musician and the rest of the orchestra is much greater.
In my own disc collection I have the von Karajan collection of the 9 Beethoven symphonies with the Berlin Philharmonic, which today would be seen as being a bit heavy on the cheesecake, and I have the collection of symphonies with John Elliot Gardiner and the Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique. For the piano concerto I have a very intellectual recording by Alfred Brendel.
The Toronto Symphony is going through what a lot of orchestras are experiencing these days -- the need to lower the average age of their audience. As part of this effort, the orchestra has made tickets available at a discounted price over at least one of the two summer months (July or August) during the last couple of years. The prices are good and what I like just as much is being able to choose my seats. I am quite content to sit at the back of the hall for a large orchestral piece, but if there is a soloist, especially a violin soloist, I like to sit as close up as I can. The sound may not be as balanced but the emotional involvement with the musician and the rest of the orchestra is much greater. The concert on Saturday featured not our own symphony orchestra but the National Arts Centre Orchestra from Ottawa. The two major pieces were the "Emperor" Piano Concerto and the Second Symphony of Beethoven. The soloist was Jonathan Biss. See, http://www.jonathanbiss.com/. He is a 30-year old American player who is becoming quite established in his career. The orchestra's conductor was Pinchas Zukerman.
I brought along one of our seminarians to be, and settled for a pleasant evening. What you cannot replicate when playing a recording is the actual fact that the music comes from each instrument when you are listening to a live performance. Also present on Saturday was a broadcaster who hosted chats before each piece. This setting up of the audience I think is a good thing especially for those not already familiar with a great deal of classical music. It also gave a certain lightness to the evening that helps one to be more open to the music.
