Walt Disney Concert Hall

Mr. M and I had a fantastic evening at the Walt Disney Concert Hall on Friday. If you've never been, it's an amazing experience, although I would never have paid for the seats we had. We kept saying to each other, over and over, "I can't believe we won these tickets!!"

The question which I answered correctly to win tickets was "Starting with the 2009/10 season, Christian Zacharias will be an Artistic Partner for which American orchestra?" The answer was
the St Paul Chamber Orchestra.



The program began with Brahms Serenade #2, which has no violins. Next, came Haydn's Sinfonia Concertante with solo violin, oboe, bassoon, and cello. During the intermission, the stage hands wheeled out a grand piano with no lid. I was confused, until I remembered that the soloist (Christian Zacharias) was also the conductor. He played the Schumann piano concerto, which I played* at Interlochen, and it was a treat to hear something I knew so well. It was very entertaining to see him pounding away at the piano and then start waving his arms to conduct. A few times he leaned waaaay back on the piano bench and I wondered if he would fall off. I also wondered if in the midst of his conducting, he might forget to come in as the soloist. He did neither.

After the concert, we headed over to the Green Room. (I happen to be on a first name basis with the Green Room security guard, thanks to a ticket mix-up earlier in this month with my friend Kathryn.) My friend Leticia from the viola section met us there, and gave us a backstage tour. We concluded our evening on the rooftop gardens/amphitheatre looking out across the downtown skyline. It was a lovely evening and a great way way to kick off the birthday celebrations for Mr. M!

P.S. Did you LOOK at that amazing organ? Next on my list - how to get to one of the organ recitals.

*I played the orchestral violin part, not the solo piano part. Sorry to disappoint anyone who thought my piano chops might have been that good.