Rach' Three

We made it to Copley Hall yesterday at the occasion of a Rachmaninov performance by Yefim Bronfmann. (Click here for an excerpt ...)Jan, from C's lab was kind enough to get tickets for us, and off we went. It's my first time in Copley Hall, yet we've been talking about going all winter. You know how it is ... But there's a decent symphony orchestra here, and there's sometimes cheap seats to be had, so there's no excuse.

The program went well: Schnittke's (K)ein Midsommernacht's Traum, Rachmaninov's 3rd Piano Concerto and Tchaikovsky's 4th Symphony. Their Tchaikovsky wasn't particularily fiery, I thought, and in parts a little slow for my taste, but decent. The pianist was spectacular. The intermission, crowded.

The one thing that stood out as different about this concert, from the concerts I'm used to, was maybe the speech given at the beginning at the concert. The chairman of the symphony board stepped upon stage. I thought "Nice! Maybe he'll say something about the works they are about to perform, or the composers, or the soloist ...". Wrong! He talked about what a great year this had been for the San Diego Symphony as their ticket sales went up 7%. He said he was hoping the ticket sales would go up even more next year. And he invited us to donate money, preferably before the end of June. Which is all good. I mean, of course a symphony orchestra needs money to survive. I just found this 'business/money' speak something of a mood killer at the moment where I had actually been expecting the director of the orchestra to come on stage. But maybe that's just me. I'm sure the "money money" thing is something I will eventually grow used to here in America ...