The 2007/2008 Seattle Symphony subscription season at a glance

re: The 2007/2008 Seattle Symphony subscription season at a glance

mschaef — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 19:22:19 GMT

" Shostakovich: Symphony #11 "The Year 1905""

That's almost a reason to book a flight to Seattle right there. I'm guess I'm positively polarized. :-)

re: The 2007/2008 Seattle Symphony subscription season at a glance

Josh — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 19:43:28 GMT

I had the pleasure of performing the New World Symphony when I was in a youth orchestra in Fort Worth, TX. It is probably my all time favorite piece, ever. It is one of the most beautiful pieces of art ever created. Another one we played with the runner up of the Van Cliburn piano competition was Brahms: Piano Concerto #2. It is also one of the greatest all time works.

(Note: Even though it was a youth orchestra, we were very good. The year before I made it in, they actually performed with Van Cliburn, the Van Cliburn).

re: The 2007/2008 Seattle Symphony subscription season at a glance

Cody — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 20:21:54 GMT

Now I wish I lived in Seattle to make use of that chart.

re: The 2007/2008 Seattle Symphony subscription season at a glance

Barry Leiba — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 22:03:25 GMT

I'm with mschaef on the Shostakovich -- I'm a big Dmitri fan. And you're certainly right, Raymond, about the subjectivity: the Bach b-minor Mass is one of my favourite pieces... and it only gets a "Good" from you. À chacun, son goût, indeed.

I can see the nervousness about the Martinu, though I like him. But there's little to be nervous about in either the Hindemith or the Bloch on 6/19 -- neither is particularly "challenging" to the listener. Probably both should be "Okay".

A friend once told me a story of when he and his parents first heard Bartok's "Concerto for Orchestra". They hated it so much that they just started using the word "Bartok" (spoken with their Boston accent, so rather like "BAH-tawk") to refer to any horridly annoying music. (It's OK... my friend got better, and came to love the piece as an adult.)

What a good concert season!

Thanks for posting this. Even though it doesn't do me a lot of good, it's fun to see it.

[My fear was that the new listener may find the Bach tedious. -Raymond]

re: The 2007/2008 Seattle Symphony subscription season at a glance

Michael — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 23:29:44 GMT

Oh, the chart makes quite a bit more sense when not viewed through an RSS reader. All the cells show up blank in Sage (Firefox extension).

re: The 2007/2008 Seattle Symphony subscription season at a glance

Frank Wilhoit — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 23:31:46 GMT

Get over your nervousness wrt the Bruckner 5th. It's huge and accordingly lays out a lot of material to work with; but it is his clearest and least mannered work and the final fugue is one of the very greatest triumphs of the human mind and spirit. If the last phrase of the chorale doesn't raise every hair on your body, it just isn't being played right. Don't take my word: check out the recordings by Haitink or Harnoncourt or Barenboim.

[I like Bruckner, but my friends don't... -Raymond]

re: The 2007/2008 Seattle Symphony subscription season at a glance

KathrynT — Sat, 24 Feb 2007 03:41:11 GMT

I've sung some of Sam Jones' work, and it's quite tuneful and lovely. Just in case you wanted more info.

Interesting Finds: February 24, 2007

Jason Haley — Sat, 24 Feb 2007 20:01:27 GMT

The 2008/2009 Seattle Symphony subscription season at a glance

The Old New Thing — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 19:49:10 GMT

The pocket reference guide for 2008/2009.