When I go to Syracuse I sometimes stay with a wonderful couple, Todd and Debbie Cornell. They are Symphony subscribers, donors, and volunteers. Whenever I am with them we have long discussions (usually while gorging on Debbie’s incredible blueberry pancakes) about the orchestra world, and as audience members they recently expressed to me two very different desires for the concert experience………
Todd listens to music all the time, music moves him, literally moves him, he says he can’t help it. I told him he shouldn’t help it, go ahead and move, but there’s a problem according to him. If at a concert he wants to move with the music, he has to stop himself, everyone is too close together and he doesn’t want to bump anyone or interrupt anyone’s sleep! (I’m kidding on that one). He wonders about a special section for people like him who want to move around (I wont write what Debbie thought the section should be called!). I think it’s a valid point though, I love to get children up and moving at education and family concerts. Music though can move us literally at any age, and listening is not a passive endeavor as I found out several years back, when I was associate conductor of the Buffalo Philharmonic.
I was a producer/editor for their broadcasts for the four seasons I was with them. We would use the best performance from the weekend but would use the dress and the other performance to edit if needed. Mostly we would edit out noise, coughs etc…I remember sitting in the recording booth during a performance of Prokofiev’s 2nd Violin concerto when this strange sound came over the speakers…psst….psst….psst, very evenly spaced at first. We saw that a lady who had an oxygen tank was seated underneath a microphone. Suffice it to say that this rendered the performance unusable for broadcast. So we just sat back and listened. During the second movement we noticed there was more time between pssts, to the point that we were starting to get worried about her, but as the music became more exciting the sound sped up. It was quite obvious that the performance was having an effect on her breathing and heartbeat. It was an “aha” moment. Music changes us physiologically while we listen, it might not be quite like exercising but this demonstrated that listening is definitely not a passive endeavor. I am still not sure how to help Todd though, is it possible people sometimes stay away because the music is too exciting?!
Debbie noticed one time whilst a Piano for the concerto was being moved into place after the overture, that it was covered in hand prints. The light caught it in such a way that the prints were very obvious from where they were sitting. This didn’t bother Todd so much but I agreed with Debbie that since they are just sitting there waiting for several minutes with not much happening, it’s easy to notice and to be bothered by details like that. The Steinway is like the Rolls Royce of instruments and I don’t ever remember seeing a dirty Rolls, so this is a good point. Everyone is all dressed up except the Piano so it sticks out…even more than it usually does. The orchestra has since done something about it. I will never forget when a particular platform was brought out for a Guitar soloist at a concert here in Springfield. There was this huge cobweb dangling from underneath. I was talking to the audience at the time and seeing it I said something along the lines of: make sure you check us out on the web…..
The details are of utmost importance in any musical work. When we rehearse, we finesse leaving no stone unturned or note un-tuned! We all strive to deliver a superb performance. The same ethic should apply to every detail of the concert experience, so that nothing gets in the way of the performance!