Mahler performance- multiple stars, and many thumbs-up (all of mine, at the least!). Though I have little basis for comparison. The sound in Carnegie hall is so good that I am pretty sure that if a conductor led a chlorous of audience to successively sneeze or cough by row and section, it would have sounded amazing too. But, it does not take an expert to know that the sound was great, and that a performance by a professional symphony was nothing short of amazing. My seat was in the second tier balcony boxes, just slightly to the left of center stage. Though I couldn't see expressions on the musician's faces, I could, for the most part tell who was playing.
I wish my sister, a musician, could have watched this with me. (By the way, she is a middle school band teacher who met her trumpet-playing husband at marching band camp---their names are Mr. and Mrs. Horn, but that deserves its own post). During the second part, at one point an off-stage trumpet player held the melody. All my basic knowledge of symphonic performances comes from the aforementioned Mrs. Horn, so I was pretty sure I was listening to a muted trumpet. However, it wasn't until after the piece when they shut the off-stage door that I realized why I could not for the life of me find that trumpet player. I don't know a whole lot about Mahler, but I did hear that the 2nd Symphony also had off-stage musicians.
The final set contained two different choirs and a mezzo-soprano. Without stating the obvious here, Carnegie Hall is a big auditorium, yet her voice still sung over the symphony. A few different sections left me choked up. The performance was quite long, but I enjoyed every minute of it, and being inside my apartment exactly 7 minutes after I left my seat is a nice perk. And so, for that age old question, "How do you get to Carnegie Hall?" May I recommend the box office?
I wish my sister, a musician, could have watched this with me. (By the way, she is a middle school band teacher who met her trumpet-playing husband at marching band camp---their names are Mr. and Mrs. Horn, but that deserves its own post). During the second part, at one point an off-stage trumpet player held the melody. All my basic knowledge of symphonic performances comes from the aforementioned Mrs. Horn, so I was pretty sure I was listening to a muted trumpet. However, it wasn't until after the piece when they shut the off-stage door that I realized why I could not for the life of me find that trumpet player. I don't know a whole lot about Mahler, but I did hear that the 2nd Symphony also had off-stage musicians.
The final set contained two different choirs and a mezzo-soprano. Without stating the obvious here, Carnegie Hall is a big auditorium, yet her voice still sung over the symphony. A few different sections left me choked up. The performance was quite long, but I enjoyed every minute of it, and being inside my apartment exactly 7 minutes after I left my seat is a nice perk. And so, for that age old question, "How do you get to Carnegie Hall?" May I recommend the box office?
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