Berlin Philharmonic

I want this blog post to consist of my random thoughts during the Berlin Philharmonic so there won’t be much structure in this post. I always have so many thoughts running through my head during the performances so this post will reflect that. Here are 10 of my random thoughts in no particular order.

1.     The Mahler drum mallet looked like Thor’s hammer.

2.     I learned very quickly to watch the cymbal man because he scared me every time if I didn’t know it was coming.

3.     Do you still get paid $100,000 for playing the triangle and cowbells for the Berlin Philharmonic?

4.     There is a reason you often listen to an orchestra from the front and not the back. It certainly gave a difference sound and there was more emphasis on the wind and percussion from where we sat.

5.     I have never actually seen a conductor during a performance, and he made some pretty awesome faces. We were so close we could hear him breathing.

6.     It’s really nasty when everyone coughs between movements.

7.     My favorite moment was after the first movement when some lady in the audience let out a huge sigh/ gasp after climactic ending. The entire audience heard it and laughed at her a little, but I think we were all felling the same way.

8.     Without knowing much about music, I knew that performance was something special. I really appreciated Ben’s slideshow before the performance because I could really understand the meaning behind the music. I felt the sorrow.

9.     Could the musicians preform the piece from memory? How much do they practice? After all that practice, is it more or less committed to memory?

10.  How do the violin players move their fingers so fast!

Our view of the performance