30 x 30: #24 – See the Boston Symphony Orchestra again

I’m chipping away, slowly but surely, but really I think this week I’m carving vast swaths into my list! I’ve already visited and gambled at a casino AND visited the rest of the MFA. I’ll hopefully have another post Sunday from a Saturday morning activity and then I’ll have a wrap-up to my NaNoWriMo experience.

For the second item this week I went to see the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) with my friend Patrick, who you’ll hear more from on the next episode of Come Read with Me! I’m not sure why I’ve not gone since the last time I went but shame on me! I got tickets a few weeks ago to see Bartók, Haydn and Mussorgsky featuring Leonidas Kavakos, conductor and violin. It was last-minute and the only performance left before BSO switches over to the Holiday Pops series and I’m beyond priced out of range.

In general I prefer pieces with cello solos rather than violin or piano, it’s a personal preference, but I’m so glad I was forced into this one. Kavakos was extraordinary! The opening piece, Bartók’s Two Portraits was exquisite and when Kavakos played those final few notes I didn’t want the piece to end. And no one else did either, Kavakos received a long-standing ovation (photo) at the end. I think what was great about him was that he was very adamant about spreading the praise. He had all of the soloists stand up and after each piece when there was applause he almost faded into the orchestra. You can see him standing in the middle, all dark, longish dark hair, but he just sort of blended in and spread the praise around.

I was excited that the way we went in we passed by the gift shop (a random corner with a few shelves) and I saw they had postcards! I of course ran over during intermission to buy a couple to add to my collection (first photo of the post with my program). I’ve been to Symphony Hall four or five times and never realized they had a gift shop! You can see the outside of Symphony Hall in the photo to the right at the top and a small glimpse of the orchestra staging on the bottom. You can click here to see a larger photo of the inside from when I saw the Video Game Orchestra back in 2011.

I really don’t know why I haven’t been to the symphony more often than I have. They do an awesome deal for young patrons. If you’re under 40 you can buy tickets for $20 each for most performances (there are maybe 10 blackout dates for the entire season). Seriously, $20 for seats almost anywhere as long as they’re available when you go to buy them. I’m shaking my head thinking of the wonderful performances I’ve missed over the past few years. This will definitely go on my 40×40 if I commit to making one. I really should take advantage of it more often than I do!

I most definitely will NOT let it be three years before I go to the symphony again. I’ve already looked at next season and I was hoping to see the first performance of the year but apparently all three are blackout dates. BOO, BSO Boo!I guess they’re blocking out more and more dates, but looks like there’s another cello piece (with Saint Saëns!) later in January I’ll try to see. I also saw in the program book that they do behind the scene tours of the building and I most definitely will be taking one of those in the near future!