It is frustrating.....


I'm an audiophile because I'm a music lover. Like most of the people on this site, I try cables, equipment, spikes, etc with one goal : to get the best out of 'canned' music, make it as close to life performance as possible. Knowing that 'perfect' reproduction is impossible, I go to live concerts as much as I can - on the average 10 classical music concerts, 2 ~ 3 operas, some jazz concerts per year.

Than it starts to become frustrating. Third time this year, I have left a concert at the break in Lincoln centre (NYC).

The acoustics : great, individual instruments : very palatable (!), no coloration, yadi yada yada...

Performance : miserable. No soul, no urge, no involvement from the orchestra... No pride in their work ?

Give me my 'miserable' listening room, 'coloring' cables, 'imperfect' equipment ... even a 'mono' CD - but a good, involving performance !

I'm not even talking about 'technical / mechanical' performance of the musicians - for me, technical brilliance is important, but secondary. It is the feel, interpretation, the 'soul' which is more important.

And the audience - horrible (see the thread 'cough vigilante). It is actually worse ... May be someday they will sell popcorn in the concert halls...

I have decided that I can save that $50/$60 per person / per concert, plus the trimmings, to buy 'canned' performances.

No wonder that the industry is complaining about less and less concert goers - they've just lost two.

Sorry for the rumblings.... I had to let some steam out...
ikarus
Excellent post, Frogman, and good luck with your singing, I presume, Sugarbrie. I'll put in a plug for the NJ Symphony Orchestra, Zdenek Macaal does not let them give anything but a fully committed performance. There are plenty of smaller ensembles and soloists performing in localities around the NYC area who give fine performances, that's one of the best things about this area. BTW, Frogman, unfortunately the Brooklyn Phil is losing/has lost Maestro Spano to the Atlanta Symphony, so it's clear others noticed his considerable talent as well.
Try Miami. I checked the weather today and its 75 and sunny the rest of the week. Michael Tilson Thomas" project for young musicians (I can't think of the name of the orchestra) was, when I lived there, a bunch of up and comers, playing there hearts out with lots of interesting music. And then there's all those Cuban and Nicaraguan Restaurants.
Go to Carnegie Hall.It is the best sound system in the world It makes music involving. The acoustics at Lincoln Center are mediocre at best.
The organization Tilson Thomas started is the New World Symphony. It is intended as an alternative to Conservatories. In the past, if you did not get into a conservatory for whatever reason, and get the experience in orchestra playing needed to get a good job with a major orchestra, you were locked out of that kind of career. Tilson Thomas started this as a way for good young musicians who missed out on the conservatory experience, to get the training they need to get a job with a good orchestra. He calls it "An Orchestra Academy". Tilson Thomas is a Saint for starting this. You can find out about it at WWW.NWS.ORG
"the typical person going to the symphony to be seen"....I think I might throw up! While there seem to be many different suggestions for excellent music in the NYC area, is there a consensus on which symphony or venue is most likely to attract the person who is going "to be seen"? I want to make sure I stay as far away as possible. I don't know enough about the ballet to know if the American Ballet Theatre programs and performances are good or bad, but I can warn readers that is has recently been hijacked by lah di dah socialites who may be "tirelessly devoted to charity" (read: wearing expensive clothes, drinking champagne and being photographed) but wouldn't know the difference between Tchaikovsky and Riverdance.