Excitement for the ninth

[creekster]

What a concert. My hat is off to the SF symphony and the symphony chorus. Our seats were not ideal, being too close to the stage, leaving the sound somewhat unbalanced (we were on the cello/bass side of the orchestra) but it offered certain advantages. We were close enough to hear the bows bite into the strings as they were drawn across the instruments, and to see the music on the stands and to hear the conductor as he puffed his cheeks and exuberantly led the orchestra through what can only be described as an inspired rendition.

There can be no question that I was primed to like the performance, but even accounting for that, I think it would be hard to find much at fault here. The Symphony chorus was superb, absolutely stunning. When they broke into the ode to joy chorus at fortissimo it was a spine tingling moment. Those of you familiar with the last movement may know of the brief pause like interlude where Beethoven echoes the theme first in major, then pauses and again in minor and then to the tonic before the chorus leads out in full voiced excitement. I think there are few more remarkable moments in all of music than those few measures. Absolutely stunning. And, to think he composed this after he had become deaf.

IF you have the chance to hear it live, you should do so.