Went to the symphony last Saturday with my father. They played Beethoven's 6th symphony and Brahms' 2nd Piano Concerto. Really good. My mother would have loved it.
Some things I learned in the preconcert lecture
Beethoven wrote the 5th and 6th symphonies back to back and debuted them in the same concert
Beethoven was the first to use trombones in the orchestration of a symphony - 5th and 6th
For this concert they cut down the number of violins to mimic the loudness of the violins during the early 19th century - the change in strings have caused the violins to play much louder now. This was done so audience could hear the woodwinds better. They didn't say if this was permanant or just for this concert.
Thierry Fischer, the new mucic director, has changed the arrangement of the symphony on the stage. He has split the 1st and 2nd violins putting them on each side of the conductor, moved the cellos to directly in front of the conductor and flipped the basses from the conductors right to his left. He felt that acoustics of Abaranel Hall made the music sound better that way.
The guest conductor reminded me of a mad stork - He was very tall and lanky and really moved around on the podium.
They talked about his schedule for the 10 weeks starting in Mid August - 4 continents - 6 countries, not in the same country on back to back weeks.
Some things I learned in the preconcert lecture
Beethoven wrote the 5th and 6th symphonies back to back and debuted them in the same concert
Beethoven was the first to use trombones in the orchestration of a symphony - 5th and 6th
For this concert they cut down the number of violins to mimic the loudness of the violins during the early 19th century - the change in strings have caused the violins to play much louder now. This was done so audience could hear the woodwinds better. They didn't say if this was permanant or just for this concert.
Thierry Fischer, the new mucic director, has changed the arrangement of the symphony on the stage. He has split the 1st and 2nd violins putting them on each side of the conductor, moved the cellos to directly in front of the conductor and flipped the basses from the conductors right to his left. He felt that acoustics of Abaranel Hall made the music sound better that way.
The guest conductor reminded me of a mad stork - He was very tall and lanky and really moved around on the podium.
They talked about his schedule for the 10 weeks starting in Mid August - 4 continents - 6 countries, not in the same country on back to back weeks.
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