Haiku #92 - New York Philharmonic

in lieu of applause
please cough between movements - it's
sophisticated


Took Mom & Dad to the NY Phil tonight - Haydn, Schubert, Ravel.  The first movement of the Haydn was rather long, and the classical music fans knew it was a faux pas to clap between movements.  Yearning to show their appreciation, however, the audience erupted into a cacophony of midwinter hacking instead.  

A blurry ovation.

My favorite was the Ravel Valse, which closed the concert. I commented to my parents that both halves ended with the opposite of a musical theater button: the first half ended with Schubert's Erlkönig (part of a set orchestrated by Britten and Reger, performed by Anne-Sofie von Otter), in which the last word is "dead."  Dad said both halves ended with death - the Erlkönig literally and the Ravel metaphorically.  Happy new year?  Maybe Alan Gilbert goes by the Mayan calendar.  Anyway, it was a lovely evening, metaphorical death notwithstanding.