It's been a while since I've bought any classical music - too much music already and not enough time to listen - but a couple of weeks ago I saw the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra performing Shostakovich's 5th Symphony as well as Barber's Adagio For Strings and Mahler's Kindertotenlieder. The Mahler and Barber pieces were quite enjoyable but as you can probably imagine, I was there for the main event: Shostakovich 5. And in a nutshell, it was amazing. Easily the best classical music concert I've ever been to without exception. Okay, there were a couple of fo moments when someone wasn't playing to the nanosecond along with everybody else. But it was fantastic from start to finish all the same. The finale, I hear you ask? Nailed it!
(As a side note, the audience was on good form as well: not too much coughing etc, and the length of time between each piece ending and applause beginning was more than adequate. A good 10-15 seconds for the Adagio and instantaneous for Shostakovich 5, such was the energy in the room when the conductor slammed on the brakes and the symphony came to a sudden stop with a final timpani strike!)
LOL!!! Anyway, I kind of view it as 3 piano quintets rolled up in one. What a deal!!
