Is a general appreciation for orchestral music slowly dying-out or do people get into it after retirement?
I went to see the Cleveland Orchestra at Severance Hall this weekend and noticed mostly silver-haired people in the crowd.. even noticed an ad for a cemetary in the program ("Almost Heaven" was written in bold lettering).
During intermission, my friend and I wondered what it was like "back in the old times" when more young people attended orchestra concerts. She thought of hip, young 18th century lads and lasses making-out and having drunken orgies to the music. I thought of a 26-year-old Mozart playing and conducting the piano concerto we were about to hear. I'm not one who longs for a romanticized vision of times past (at least not that often).. but fuck.. it's fun to think about things like that. Still, those times are gone and I worry that the Cleveland Orchestra won't be around 100 years from now.
In any case, Severance Hall is beautiful.. it was hard to believe we were in Cleveland.
BTW, my new fantasy is to participate in an orgy in the balcony of severance hall.. to Mahler or something. Or, just to participate in an orgy.
I went to see the Cleveland Orchestra at Severance Hall this weekend and noticed mostly silver-haired people in the crowd.. even noticed an ad for a cemetary in the program ("Almost Heaven" was written in bold lettering).
During intermission, my friend and I wondered what it was like "back in the old times" when more young people attended orchestra concerts. She thought of hip, young 18th century lads and lasses making-out and having drunken orgies to the music. I thought of a 26-year-old Mozart playing and conducting the piano concerto we were about to hear. I'm not one who longs for a romanticized vision of times past (at least not that often).. but fuck.. it's fun to think about things like that. Still, those times are gone and I worry that the Cleveland Orchestra won't be around 100 years from now.
In any case, Severance Hall is beautiful.. it was hard to believe we were in Cleveland.
BTW, my new fantasy is to participate in an orgy in the balcony of severance hall.. to Mahler or something. Or, just to participate in an orgy.
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jakemarley:
I predict rock & roll will be more a historical footnote than Mozart 100 years from now. At any rate, if I am still kickin', I'll still be listening to my Szell albums. To honour his memory at least, the Cleveland Orchestra will hang around a bit longer, I'll wager.
jakemarley:
BTW, Henry Miller wrote something to the effect of "the symphony is a polite form of self-imposed torture." While I generally disagree with that statement, I am always reminded of it whenever I'm sitting in the gallery seats at Music Hall in Cincinnati.