a woman conductor!

 Amy and I love the freebie working rehearsals at Davies Symphony Hall. They begin at 10am and yesterday the conductor was Dalia Stasevska, a Ukranian-born Finnish musician whose two year old daughter was playing to much applause on stage before the performance. The highlight yesterday was the Sibelius Symphony No. 5. Goose bump inducing!

a working rehearsal

 Classical music with starts and stops and mostly in blue jeans. The SF Symphony working rehearsal is fun for me because it is warm and casual and still beautiful. Doors open at 9am and I met Amy there for about three hours of Carmina Burana with a soprano star plus the SF Girls Chorus and another piece by John Adams and one by Charles Ives. The audience was huge, with school kids and seniors and everyone respectful and appreciative. Oh, it was free, an added benefit for sure. As Amy pointed out, when people bitch about our city they neglect to mention all these glorious benefits for the plain old average citizen.

Max, Wolfgang and Sister Jane

 I have always wanted to see/hear the symphony do one of their movie programs so last night I met my Sis at Max's for an early dinner. We did walk around City Hall, so at least she has seen this area of SF up close. Amadeus (1984) was the movie accompanied by a full orchestra and a chorus too. What a treat! A splendid Mozart production and an almost full house. But late. And today will be fun and busy too ~ onward...

double harps

 Neti and I had great Loge freebie seats last night for the symphony and the Bach piece featured two harps. To watch those four hands floating up and down was a visual treat and oh yes, the music was lovely too. We were both pleased to get out of our comfy homes last night to hit the beautiful Davies Symphony Hall.

a little night music, please

 I happened upon a couple of freebie tickets to the SF Symphony last night and Neti joined me for a thoroughly delightful concert featuring Tchaikovsky and Samuel Barber.  And such fun watching all the music lovers in their colorful fashions.

El Concierto

 

Yesterday Mr. and Ms. Blogmaid and Howard and I went to the fabulous Dia de los Muertos concert at the SF Symphony. Oh, what a fine time we had.  All the colors and costumes and then the glorious music, including an amazing trumpeter, Arturo Marquez. The enthusiastic conductor, Carlos Miguel Prieto, was born in Mexico and he was a total delight. A wonderful experience and I am reliving it now with a smile.

open rehearsal = cheap and fun

Neti and I had up front seats for the SF Symphony working rehearsal
yesterday at 10am. It's great to see all the musicians in their not so
pretty street clothes and the conductor's young son was yelling
"Papa!" from the balcony. A relaxed and informal time but the
reason I bought the tickets was for the glorious Mussorgsky-Ravel
Pictures at an Exhibition which was just fabulous. One of the
few classical pieces that I feel like I know, an old favorite with a
recurring melody and delightful chattering chicks included. A
happy Thursday morning treat and you can see that the Hall is
all gussied up for Halloween, speaking of treats.

make mine Mahler

MTT conducts Mahler's 9th Symphony in D Major 

Not really. I don't know enough about classical music, nor do I have ;"the
ear", but Mahler's 9th is one of MTT's (Michael Tilson Thomas) signature
pieces and I do love to watch him conduct. Neti and I attended yesterday
and it was lovely to watch the two harps, one triangle, chimes, and many
more instruments including four bassoons. I love that word.

another first

Well, I didn't take a photo yesterday so I will depend on words alone.
Ginger and I went to the SF Symphony. MTT will be retiring soon
and he was conducting Beethoven's 9th ~ I knew I would enjoy this,
but I did not realize how magnificent the experience would be with
the full orchestra, four singers and then the SF Symphony Chorus
singers all dressed in black standing behind the musicians. Oh,
and the music. For the first time in my long and mostly wonderful
life I GOT IT. I felt the music, I really felt it. "Seek Him above the
canopy of stars." Joyful tears appearing with "Nature ~ a friend faithful
until death." Of course the beautiful hall was sold out for this extravaganza.
Unforgettable.