Wow.
The Philharmonic
Last night warrants its own entry. The Philharmonic was absolutely unbelievable.
I am honestly unsure where to begin... First of all it was opening night of their season. There was a certain breath of excitement in the air. You couldn’t help but feel nervous, even though these are professionals...
I was rather dressed up but decided to forgo the tie, and just wear a black suit with a striped shirt with French cuffs.
I could have worn the tie and fit in just fine. There were people there dressed in near tuxedo style suits, with white shirts and black ties.
So I was in row 1. Seat 21. That’s like 6 or 8 feet from front and center. I was so close that the rosin off the bows of the cellos could hit me. It made for a difficult spectacle, but a very cool experience. Next time I go (and there will be a next time, sooner rather than later) I will sit in the mezzanine.
There was a full chorus flanking the pipe organ in the middle, as well as two women, a soprano and an alto, sitting just on either side of the organist. When the time came for them to sing they were absolutely unbelievable. While the venue is no where near the size of Symphony Hall in Boston, the alto was able to fill the room with sound, over the orchestra below her mind you.
The other thing that stood out to me, between the 250,000 plus dollar instruments was this one man. He was older, a cello player, sitting in the sixth chair. His instrument was not beautiful. It looked worn, and even damaged in some spots. His bow was dull, compared to the shiny new ones that the majority of the string players had. But he loved his instrument. You could tell he loved the sound of it, the feel of the neck, and the tension of the bow. It seemed as though that this cello had been passed down from his father, and before that, his grandfather, who they too sat in the same chair in the philharmonic. He was truly proud and honored to be there, thus the beauty was not contained in the spectacle, but rather the vision.
The finale of Mahler’s symphony number 2 was extremely moving, with every instrument playing as loud and passionately as they could, the chorus blaring, and the organ shaking the hall. I was near tears, as were many others, at the sheer overwhelming nature of the music, the environment, and the unbelievable quality of this orchestra.
If you come to Prague. Go to the Philharmonic.