In my ongoing mission to bring culture to the north shore of the middle bay of Maple Lake, here are my comments on the opening concert of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra.
I admit to almost complete ignorance regarding classical music, which means I can give an unbiased review of things. Most of my comments concern the audience, their sleep habits, their clothing, and such. Music is secondary, but almost unavoidable at concerts.
Running Bear and Little White Dove were there. He wore his drover's hat with a small fashionable feather in it, and fringed leather jacket,—just right for a classical event. She was less traditionally clad, with boots that indicated her ethnicity.
Buffalo Bill was there, along with the Lady in Red and Johnny Appleseed with his shoulder bag full of apples, presumably. A rabbi showed up, as did many really old people and a few bored kids. Lots of people didn't treat this as a costume party and looked relatively normal.
A lady sitting next to us commented on the number of young musicians, a result of the salary conflicts of a year ago. She said she thought many of them were too young to drive themselves. We looked for a row of mommies waiting for their musician kids after the concert, but there were none. They were probably catching public transportation. A number of the old musicians were still there, with their pointy black shoes. They all played real good.
Two of Beethoven's symphonies were presented; his #8 first and #7 next. Evidently sequence doesn't matter. In between was a thing commissioned by SPCO that showed off the new gold wheels on the grand piano. The piano player made his fingers move really fast. It kept us awake. We enjoyed Beethoven and the gold wheels.
Beethoven seemed to think his eighth was much better than his seventh, and commented to a student of his about the fickle Viennese public when they seemed to like the seventh. Well, okay, but what do I know about nineteenth century Vienna? Sounds like Ludwig was a little too crabby for my tastes anyway. The notes about this stuff leave me cold, but I hadn't dressed for the chilly weather. And, as I said, I don't know much about classical music.
Next year the SPCO seems to plan more stuff in St. Paul. We just might take a look at Buffalo or St. Cloud for our culture instead. Don't give up on us. Culture is important, I think.
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