Ahh, so sweet, the parents are all tuckered out and taking a nice little nap before dinner and leaving me to my own devices…The concert this afternoon was magnificent!  It’s an amazing place, the Disney Hall, every sound incredibly chrystal clear…You can sit back and let the symphony just wash over you, and put effort into separating the voices of each section in the orchestra while at the same time holding the whole sound in your head…I’ve never been in a place with accoustics like that, I shall be going regularly I believe.  I didn’t take this photo cause none are allowed, it’s from the website:

We had Hayden first, Symphony No. 82 in C major “the Bear” and it was beautiful, then a contemporary piece by Dean who performed on the Viola…I have to confess ignorance and say that I did not understand it, and did not like it at all, and while prepared to admit that it is very possibly because I don’t understand, am not sure I shall put effort into it.  The last was Modest (!) Mussorgsky, Pictures at an Exhibition, which was incredible and received a mostly standing ovation.  He wrote it originally for the piano, but Ravel set it for the orchestra and while intrigued with the thought of hearing it on one instrument, I can’t imagine it could be half as good.  It even featured a tuba!  Tubas just make me smile, I find them instruments of infinite comic genius, and after writing this shall look up when, where, and how on earth they came to be!  It also featured oboes, my favourite instrument, and an incredible horn solo which was carried out to perfection.

So had my dad sitting next to me, he enjoyed it immensely.  That did not stop his bad behaviour however, he likes to affectionately refer to himself as curmudgeonly but i have to say, I could think of other terms.  Still, I think he enjoyed the gift of tickets, and he loved the concert hall when we wandered about during intermission.  It is an incredible building, makes me feel almost kindly towards Eli Broad who mostly paid for it.  Days like today make me feel a bit schizophrenic, because I have a foot and a piece of myself in one world, and the rest of me out on the street with the people sleeping there…I can’t seem to reconcile the two, I suppose they should not be reconciled while injustice exists, poverty and beauty will probably live uneasily side by side as they have done through the ages, it is a tragedy that we cannot reconcile them.  Classical music is one of the few things that can make me cry, it has this unearthly beauty when it reaches perfection… the other things that make me cry are marches, movies, men, and the tears of people I care about…curious that four of those things start with the letter M.  My brother Michael has also made me cry on many an occasion, this m thing might be a discovery of some significance!