So tonight I went to the (not-quite-so) live broadcast of the concert by the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra that I blogged about earlier. I went back and forth on whether I should go, as my left ear never has improved. (It’s an very weird and annoying pain on my outer ear … I know it sounds crazy, but it really is quite difficult to deal with.) But yes, I went. As I was warned in the email, the box office seemed to know nothing about the press ticket(s) I was offered. The house manager was called and she denied knowing anything either. Hmm. Fathom Events, you might want to check into that! But she let me in, for which I was quite thankful.
When I entered the room I was the second person in the theater. When the concert began there might have been fifteen of us, but I doubt there were even that many. Too bad … it really was fun!
There were glitches in the broadcast, and I wonder if that happened everywhere. Sometimes there was a buzzing sound and then a glitch. At one point, at the beginning of one orchestral work (by Albéniz), it stopped and restarted with Mehta walking on stage and starting the work again. Odd. Toward the end there were pops and hisses for some reason. Still, it’s rather amazing to think we can watch a concert that only a short while ago took place in Jerusalem!
One thing I’d suggest to whoever put this together … let us know it’s intermission and how long it will be! Instead a video about Callejo played, and then one about Fleming, and then some other things. We didn’t know if there was time enough to leave the room or not. So not one person moved. I’m sure some might have enjoyed a bit of stretching or even a bathroom break!
Camera work was odd. During the Rimsky-Korsakov, as the harpist played a cadenza, the cameras focussed on the rest of the orchestra. It didn’t seem to know where the English horn was. Not ever. But I was able to see the oboists; it appeared that the principal oboist was playing on a staple like Mark Chudnow makes. I couldn’t tell what kind of oboe was being played though. The orchestra has so many oboists that I don’t know who this was, but if it’s the first one listed on their roster, Bruce Weinstein, he plays a Laubin. I could also see the principal flute mouthing the words to some of the opera arias. Made me smile, as I’ve been known to do the same thing.
But especially fun for me was seeing the musicians react to things. When Renée Fleming came out for the second half I saw one musician grinning from ear to ear while looking at another. I’ll just BET you he had told the other one that he thought she’d come out in a different dress. And she did. She even changed all of her jewelry and her hairstyle. (I know in the orchestra I play in we often talk about “the dress” … or dresses … it’s sort of a fun part of our job.) After the very lengthy Butterfly duet, which goes on and on for we woodwinds, the principal oboist tugged at his upper lip and gave a very weary look. (I’ll bet he didn’t have a clue the camera was focussed solely on him at that very moment!) Yes, sometimes we feel like we aren’t even going to be able to MOVE our lips after playing that piece. I wonder if he’s ever tackled the entire opera! I was surprised to see one female orchestra member in what looked like a gray top, but I actually liked it! (Gee, how about gray and black options for an orchestra? She looked so classy!) With a filmed concert I think some of the men might think about those very ratty looking bow ties. Hmmm. A cellist had a bit of a coughing fit (which I could hear, but could see) and her stand partner started to crack up. Hah!
The best thing was seeing the musicians smiling as if they loved what they were doing! That was a joy!
Oh … and one other note of interest. The woodwinds had chairs in between the ones on which they were seated. The chairs faced them, and the seats of the chairs were partially under their stands. This is where the keep their cases, swabs and other necessary equipment. Interesting! Of course this wouldn’t work with us; we have risers and NO room to do something like that.
I knew all the works but the Albéniz and Massenet. I’d like to hear the latter again. I really enjoyed both the singers, but I’m not a vocal judge so I never trust what I think about them. I thought the orchestra sounded pretty good on most everything. Sure, there were glitches, but that’s live music!
While the orchestra seemed a bit puzzled (or was it Mehta who was?) by the Leonard Cohen, it was moving to hear the audience singing along. Yeah, I teared up. I’m a sucker for that kind of thing! The audience then applauded like crazy at the end. We American audiences don’t do that. We all want to get to our cars, I guess. These folks were wonderful!
Here is the entire Program:
Verdi: Overture to La forza del sestino
Verdi: La donna e mobile from Rigoletto
Gounod: Jewel Song from Faust
Verdi: Prelude to Act I of La Traviata
Verdi: Parigi, o cara from La Traviata
Puccini: Intermezzo from Manon Lescaut
Puccini: Vissi d’arte from Tosca
Albeniz: Triana from Iberia
Puccini: Aria, E lucevan le Stelle (Tosca)
Massenet: Aria, J’ai versé le poison dans cette coupe d’or from Cléopâtre
Rimsky-Korsakov: Capriccio espagnol (4th & 5th movements)
Puccini: Duet from Act I of Madama Butterfly
Encores:
Puccini: O mio babbino caro from Gianni Schicchi
Cohen: Hallelujah
Verdi: Brindisi (libiamo)
(I have a feeling the tenor was planning on singing Nessun Dorma before Fleming’s O mio babbino because that title flashed on the screen first. Perhaps he felt his voice couldn’t handle it. Or perhaps that was just an error on someone’s fault. In any case, I thought he sounded very nice on what he did sing.)
So anyway, thanks very much, Fathom Events, as well as Weissman/Markovitz Communications, for letting me have a very enjoyable evening. Much appreciated!
