Monday, April 16, 2007

A Night at the Symphony

The crowd buzzed while the instruments tuned. "Are you coming to my dinner party?" "Haven't seen you in ages. How ARE you?" Conversations carried on around me. The lights dimmed and the instruments became silent. A lone cell phone droned out the "William Tell Overture" as an unscheduled prelude. I reached down to turn my cell phone to silent mode.

As the joyous sounds of Shastakovich enveloped me, I realized I had not been to a concert with professional musicians in quite a while. It was wonderful. My ticket that I had received as a gift was for a seat on the main floor, instead of the balcony, where I usually frequent, and I enjoyed watching the people around me. I looked for anyone that looked younger than 50 and had a hard time finding anyone. I felt like I had been transported in time to an age gone by. I almost started looking to see if the ladies were dressed in bustles and fancy hats. I felt like I was surrounded by an elite group, the upper class, where a night at the symphony was just something you were expected to flaunt, like the Mayor up in the box seats.

At intermission I ventured up to the balcony. There I was met by the younger crowd, even a few children, and finally some familiar faces. There were actually some people under 50!

Dvorak's symphony ended the evening. I relaxed to the pleasant harmonies and let myself sit and enjoy the music. The night ended in thunderous applause and I sneaked out to get an early start home. The Lafayette Symphony Orchesta had finished another great concert.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh Beth, that sounds just heavenly. Can I go with you next time? It's been so long since I heard that kind of music and I love it!

Betty 'Rie said...

Oops, that was me with that comment. Not some stalker! Must have hit the wrong button!

La Profesora said...

we just went to the Atlanta Symphony and it was also very nice. A huge crowd, and not stuffy at all. People of all ages mixed throughout. My sister said the first time she attended the ASO she saw a lady beside her open up an aluminum foil package and proceed to munch down on a good ole piece of home fried chicken. :) Different strokes for different folks!