Saturday, May 03, 2008

It's the music!


What terrible spring weather we're having! Our weather guy says there have been 50 tornadoes in the last two days. Terrible destruction and loss of life.

We went to the Symphony tonight. The music is always wonderful - and hearing it live just enhances the experience enormously. To end the season, there were several special things going on. The first half of the program consisted of several short pieces each played only by a different section of the orchestra. The first was only the strings; the second, percussion; third, brass; and fourth, woodwinds. The Maestro does a great job of explaining the pieces, and really brings the works to the audience AND brings the audience to the work.

The other "special thing" was an experiment with a large video screen suspended from the ceiling just over center stage. Several cameramen prowled the stage during the concert, filming individuals, the Maestro, various sections, and the overhead shot of the entire orchestra. John and I hated it! and found it distracting and annoying in the extreme. I found I could pretty much ignore it in the second half - John had a harder time doing that. John went out at intermission, and saw the CSO director in the lobby. He proceeded to tell her exactly what he thought of the camera. And, as he walked away, he heard somebody else complaining. At least they know how some of the audience felt about it.

When we got home, we read the review that was in the paper this morning. I don't like to read reviews before I see something - I like to form my own opinions. But I do like to read them afterward, to see if I agree with the reviewer. Well, not this time. The reviewer liked the video feed, and would like to see it continue. We pretty much decided that if they do it again next season, we'll wear ball caps and the bills would block out the screen. Tacky, but effective.

Today's photo is a stock photo of a 2003 tornado from Google Images.

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