Symphony!

We have been very bad about posting lately! Sorry about that, we will try to be better. Especially with all the winter activities coming up, we should have a lot to report on.

Last night we ventured out to test the cultural side of Seattle and went to the Symphony. We catch the bus to work underneath the Hall, so it was fun to actually be able to go INTO the building this time. The hall itself is quite nice and far smaller than I imagined. It looks like pretty much any seat would be a good seat in this auditorium.

The headliner was Tchaikovsky's Pathétique, but the standout for the night actually ended up being Mozart's Piano Concert No 21 in C Major, featuring guest pianist Gabriela Montero. It was hauntingly beautiful and, since it's a pretty recognizable piece, we even found ourselves humming it after the show. Montero is known for her improvisations and she wowed us with her encore - she asked an audience member to pick any song and someone volunteered Sleeping Beauty. With that, she improvised a 10 minute piano piece incorporating the famous melody. It was dazzling to see someone riff like that on a piano - she started off playing it classic and then ended it on a jazz note. It makes me wish that I practiced piano more when I was a kid!

Here's the concert list that we heard:
Ludwig Irgens Jensen: Partita Sinfonica, “The Drover”
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major, K. 467
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 74, “Pathétique”