I am a lucky, lucky little girl and was privileged to attend several live performances this week. On Thursday, I heard the NSO play an Elgar piece, a newer piano concerto by Melinda Wagner and Rachmaninoff's Second Symphony. The Elgar was tolerable. I was definitely intrigued by the piano concerto. There were definitely moments of beauty. She used some incredible textures between instruments that happened really seamlessly, but there were other spots where she seemed to fall just short of a profound effect. And, of course, the Rachmaninoff is just gorgeous. Often, when I'm listening to a symphony, I get so focused on following the form throughout and picking up on all the details and essentially analyzing it in my brain that I don't allow it to move me. However, I was really tired and I was able to just listen and enjoy the beautiful sounds without over-intellectualizing it. It was just really nice. I wished I could have hit repeat and let it play again. I love going to the orchestra during the week...it's such a nice retreat from life. I feel secluded in the concert hall even though hundreds of other people (thousands, actually) are all around me.
Then, last night, I got comp tickets to Cyro Baptista and Beat the Donkey, presented by WPAS. I knew it had to be okay if it was presented by WPAS as they always have great performances. And, it was...but if only I could describe it. Well, I'll try. Envision Stomp meets BlueManGroup (minus the paint) meets psychodelic performance of the early 1970's. I felt like I should have imbibed prior to the performance for the ultimate effect. It was fun. Kind of weird to just sit there and watch, though. It seemed like it should have been in a venue where you could get up and dance and not feel silly or be stared at like the super-crunchy people dancing over on the side aisle. Fun, nonetheless.
Oh, the diversity of my musical experiences.
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