After Hours: Wednesday Edition
If you were with us at Orchestra Hall tonight for the first of our Inside the Classics concerts featuring music of Debussy, here's the place for you to let us know what you thought of the show! We covered an awful lot of ground in the first half (largely in response to feedback we've gotten at previous concerts requesting more contextual music and information, and a little less of the featured piece,) so tell us whether that approach worked for you, or whether it just made your head spin after a while. Also, we're always interested in hearing your reaction to the video component of the performance - it's not something we do very often, but we hope it made it easier for you to follow all the twists and turns of Debussy's wildly complex music!
Anyway, thanks to everyone who showed up - now have at that Comment button...
(P.S. If you'd like more information on some of the side topics we covered during the first half of the show, check out our Cutting Room Floor post just below this one...)
Anyway, thanks to everyone who showed up - now have at that Comment button...
(P.S. If you'd like more information on some of the side topics we covered during the first half of the show, check out our Cutting Room Floor post just below this one...)
Labels: after hours, audience feedback
posted by Sam at
9:15 PM
14 Comments:
Claude Debussy's ditty "La Mer"
Was composed with a pontillist flair.
While the German's quadratic,
The Frenchman's erratic.
Confused? Guess you had to be there.
Great show again, Sam and Sarah. It was definitely meatier in the first half. I could tell because a lot of it went over my head. But that's a good thing- I go because I want to learn. My musical son did at least confirm that you weren't just making stuff up.
I must say that I was distracted after reading Sam's hilarious entry last week about the Cough Drop Kapers- I kept hoping to see musicians squirming around.
I also really enjoyed the connections to both Takemitsu and Hokusai- it really added a lot to the context of the piece.
The video was good to see again- it's nice to be able to switch between the panorama from the seats to the close up, where you can really appreciate the mastery of the musicians (or at least how good they are at looking like masters).
We're looking forward to Vivaldi- keep up the great work!
Like Mark, I also appreciated the first half. I really liked the comparison to Ravel and Strauss! Though I was hoping you'd tell the anecdote about Strauss intending listeners to hear that Don Juan's second mistress had red hair. ;-)
The only thing I missed was hearing from another musician on stage. When you commented on the highlight of Kevin's year, I was hoping we'd get to hear from him how he chose the type and gauge of metal he used to stroke the cymbal, and how, really, the cymbal is the hardest instrument to play in the orchestra while being the most underrated.
Nevertheless, a most enjoyable evening.
The concert was great, keep up the good work.
I would rather not have the video screen with the close-ups of the musicians. For me it was distracting, maybe next time I will bring a blindfold.
Thank you so much! It's been years since we've been to Orchestra Hall. My daughter enjoyed the evening so very much, too!
I have to give a shout out to Kleenex Lady - if not for you, me and my cologne-allergic nose would have had to leave in disgrace. I am threatening to immortalize you in the fanfic I shall be writing of the lovely heroine Sarah Hicks and her handsome sidekick Sam! (Play it once, Sam...for old time's sake. Play 'As time goes by')
On a serious note, I so appreciate the care and thought that goes into bringing in a new audience. When I was just a tiny little tyke my mom took me to a "pillow concert" at Orchestra Hall. Today I brought my kiddo to a concert that engaged her on many levels - the LED screen is a plus for this generation. We'll be back!
I completely agree with OprEowyn about the conversations with the musicians. That always adds a lot of insight into both the instrument, and adds a dimension of the musicians-as-real-people instead of just a member of the ensemble.
Rest assured, those on-stage conversations with other musicians will return in future ItC concerts. There was actually one in our first draft of the Debussy show, but time constraints and other considerations caused us to remove it from the final script. We never manage to squeeze in everything we'd like to in any one show, but we try to talk to a musician in most shows...
It was a fun concert and I really enjoyed the first half exposition of the pieces and the comparisons. The video was very cool, but on the second half I found it distracting and would have preferred no video during that portion. I know it is a great boon for younger audience members. Le Mer is on my top 5 of symphonic works and you really nailed it for me. To me it is like film noir, dark and mysterious and you know you will be surprised but it is still unexpected when it happens. I believe "D" would have relished scoring for films. Great work Sam and Sarah.
Vicki Krueger
We are Inside the Classics subscribers. We both enjoyed hearing the contemporaries of Debussy, How the genres were defined and mixed together, and how similar ideas, like the waves, were played. We both liked the video as being close up, we cannot see the players in the back, or faces close up. Thank you for the lessons and the music.
Really enjoyed the concert Wed night. I'm a MN Orch regular, but I brought my mom and two friends in their late-20's, one of which had never experienced a classical music program before.
None of us had experienced the Inside the Classics format before, and as we exited the hall we all agreed that we will make an effort to attend these programs whenever possible in the future. My orchestra-virgin friend, a new attorney at a high-profile law-firm, exclaimed "Wow, my first music lesson!" And my mom, who has a bachelor's degree in music and now works in the industry, said it reminded her why she chose to go into music so many years ago.
For the record, all 4 of us loved the video screen. Please keep this! Especially in the first half, if not throughout. If your goal is to draw new generations of people into the world of classical music, the visuals will help to capture the attention and imagination of your target audience, whose ears may not be as well-seasoned, but who cannot resits the allure of a huge television screen.
I'm going to say lots of nice things, because I was really impressed by the content and the delivery of the first half's material, and then I have a great big BUT.
Your description of how Debussy's approach differed from traditional forms was wonderful and clear; the comparison with art was instructive; the music you chose to illustrate your points was effective; and (as a retired theatre professor) I really appreciated the way you two work together and how aware you were of the pace of the presentation.
Here's the BUT: the cooling fans for the projectors was REALLY LOUD (that should be in a 48-point font...and Bold). I sat in row 34, center section, so if it was loud for me, it had to be disturbing for at least dozens, maybe a hundred, other people as well.
I could put up with it during the first half, because during that part you were doing stuff other than playing music, and the visuals provided by the noisy fans were helpful. But during the second half, with a composer who occasionally wrote pianissimo (sp?) the effect was entirely ruined. I literally couldn't hear the music at some points.
Please, please, PLEASE (48-point font again): either eliminate the visuals during the second half or, if you must have them, encase the projectors in a soundproof box (don't even let the sound/air vent out the top, becuase the noise will just bounce around the floor of the balcony and spread all the heck over the back of the main floor).
Great work again everyone! I attended the Beethoven performance in October as well and I will support this program as much as I can.
I write a music history blog on Tumblr and plan, somehow, someway to be a professional music history educator in the near future (grad school?!). I wrote about seeing last night's performance on my blog tonight and linked to both the series website and your video promo about the series.
I do second the previous comment. The video screen was great for the fist half, less so for the second. During a full live performance, I enjoy watching the real orchestra, not a video. I can see that online or on television.
That is not to detract too much, though. Thank you again for being informative, light-hearted, and maintaining an effective pace (mixing speaking with musical examples) during the first half and for a phenomenal performance.
Just FYI here is a link to my blog post about last night's show: http://musichistory.tumblr.com/post/358980549/la-mer-3-dialogue-du-vent-et-de-la-mer
Your video posted: http://musichistory.tumblr.com/post/358997469/minnesota-orchestra-inside-the-classics-series
Thoroughly enjoyed Thursday night's concert, especially with the screen. It adds so much to the learning experience to be able to see the musicians as they play.
We liked the use of the video screens so we could see people other than the first row. I suppose I am ambivalent about it being there during the second half as I did not focus on it as much.
One thing I found distracting is that the orchestra started playing while Sam was still talking. I guess it makes it more interwoven but I stop paying attention to/find it hard to concentrate on what Sam is saying. Poor multitasker I guess. :)
I really enjoyed the video presenation of the concert. It was great to see the musicans in the back, their instruments, fingering, facial expressions. Enjoyed it during the whole concert.
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