A busman's holiday

So on Saturday, I decided to go back to the symphony, having been just blown away by the Tetzlaff siblings' performance of Brahms' Double Concerto. I have a few new observations.

First of all, it was another great concert led by Paavo Jarvi. But some of the electricity in the hall was undoubtedly because there was a big crowd. And it was a noticeably young crowd -- an impression perhaps boosted due to it being "college nite." Why can't this happen every week??

Secondly, I sat in the gallery this time. In the past, the gallery has been considered the best, acoustically, in the hall. But since the Artec acoustical shell went in several years ago, I think the sound has suffered upstairs. Part of it may be because those acoustical "clouds" hanging over the stage tend to deflect sound downward, and they are at about gallery level. So the opening of the Weber Overture was muddy where I was sitting, and in the concerto, one had to strain to hear the violinist at times. This was not the case at all where I was sitting in the balcony on Friday.

I certainly hope the orchestra hires a good acoustician as it considers renovation of the hall. Even though there's a rumor that the renovations will be handled "in-house," let's hope they hire some good consultants.