Saturday, September 24, 2005
Music Appreciation
Last night Guest Blogger Kathy took me to a Chicago Symphony Orchestra concert. Now typically my Fridays involve a few carefully-timed drinks at the office happy hour followed by many less-planned drinks at some bar I would never visit sober; the closest I come to culture is watching a DVRed episode of The OC before passing out. (McG is the Ibsen of our time.) But the CSO was, if I may just take a moment of unironic enjoyment here, completely amazing.
First of all, if you've never been to Orchestra Hall, it's totally awesome. The acoustics are really good, so it sounds like you're sitting right in the orchestra, which I actually don't recommend, violin bows being rather pointy. And it's all classy and velvety and shit in there, which is why you have to wear your work clothes instead of your Big Johnson t-shirt. They have a delightfully incongruous usher (not to be confused with Usher) who sounds like Tim Meadows as The Ladies Man, and you get to cast angry and judgmental looks at anyone who coughs or squeaks their shoes during the performance (I'm looking at you, 175-year-old man across the aisle from us). Oh, while we're on the topic, if you think old people are cute, a symphony concert is a great place for you. It's like Lansburypalooza in there.
Anyway, the CSO is definitely one of the finest orchestras in the world. Seriously, everybody says that, but it's not until you actually hear them, live (and I'm not talking about Ravinia -- binge drinking in a park is not music appreciation), that you really understand it. I couldn't get over the clarity of their sound; it's as though a 20-member violin section is one instrument. And the way they bring out the line and color in everything they play makes even some old Mozart chestnut that has been used on every diamond and luxury car commercial from here to the Gold Coast sound truly vibrant and exciting. So if you have fifty bucks and you don't know what to do with it, catch a CSO concert today!
Last night Guest Blogger Kathy took me to a Chicago Symphony Orchestra concert. Now typically my Fridays involve a few carefully-timed drinks at the office happy hour followed by many less-planned drinks at some bar I would never visit sober; the closest I come to culture is watching a DVRed episode of The OC before passing out. (McG is the Ibsen of our time.) But the CSO was, if I may just take a moment of unironic enjoyment here, completely amazing.
First of all, if you've never been to Orchestra Hall, it's totally awesome. The acoustics are really good, so it sounds like you're sitting right in the orchestra, which I actually don't recommend, violin bows being rather pointy. And it's all classy and velvety and shit in there, which is why you have to wear your work clothes instead of your Big Johnson t-shirt. They have a delightfully incongruous usher (not to be confused with Usher) who sounds like Tim Meadows as The Ladies Man, and you get to cast angry and judgmental looks at anyone who coughs or squeaks their shoes during the performance (I'm looking at you, 175-year-old man across the aisle from us). Oh, while we're on the topic, if you think old people are cute, a symphony concert is a great place for you. It's like Lansburypalooza in there.
Anyway, the CSO is definitely one of the finest orchestras in the world. Seriously, everybody says that, but it's not until you actually hear them, live (and I'm not talking about Ravinia -- binge drinking in a park is not music appreciation), that you really understand it. I couldn't get over the clarity of their sound; it's as though a 20-member violin section is one instrument. And the way they bring out the line and color in everything they play makes even some old Mozart chestnut that has been used on every diamond and luxury car commercial from here to the Gold Coast sound truly vibrant and exciting. So if you have fifty bucks and you don't know what to do with it, catch a CSO concert today!
