Daft Musings

by Carolyn Bickford

Menu
  • Seven Years Gone and A Pandemic In Between (Tales of an ex-Californian in Tennessee)
  • Share Your Craziest COVID Memories Here
  • The COVID Masks
  • Old Journalistic Ethics vs. Social Media Screeds (updated below)
  • About Me
  • Privacy Policy
Menu

The San Francisco Symphony Returns to San Jose

Posted on July 18, 2008 by cjbickford

When the San Francisco Symphony played at Plaza de Cesar Chavez in October, I thought it would be a once-in-a-lifetime treat. So I was incredibly thrilled to find out they were putting on another free concert on Tuesday: and now it’s just foosteps away from our office.

In a way, the outdoor concerts are nicer for families than a symphony hall. If you come early enough, you can sit where you want, and if you just want to enjoy the music and not sit at all, you can hear it throughout the park. Like us, most people brought a picnic to enjoy with the music.

I enjoyed the conductor for this concert, James Gaffigan, because he was less restrained than the conductor at the last concert. I liked that because when music is played well, it’s passionate, and it should move you. In fact, it seems a little wrong to stick people in seats and expect them to sit quietly and hold their applause when they’re listening to music with such drama. My father would play maniac conductor to Schumann music and my cousin would dance to Mozart (at home, not in concert halls), and at most of the concerts Peter and I go to, the musicians are happy to see their fans dancing. But then, I’m an uncivilized, untutored music fan, and my end of the family’s no better. To wit, the audio system was playing Tchaikovsky before the show, and Kelly joined some boys and danced to it:

Kelly dances to Tchaikovsky

When the orchestra took the stage, we made her sit down and be quiet, and she complained about being bored, even though two of the pieces were from Tchaikovsky’s Symphony Number 4.

My favorite of all the selections was the opening piece, the overture to La forza del destino by Joe Green, the Opera Machine, a.k.a Giuseppi Verdi. it’s just the sort of cheesy melodrama completely devoid of subtlety that I love in my classical music. It made me want to get on a horse and do a swordfight. But then it was over. Next the symphony took us in a different direction with Dvorak’s Allegro con fuoco from Symphony Number 9. And last, as I mentioned before, there were two selections from Tchaikovsky’s Symphony Number 4: really pretty pieces (duh, Tchaikovsky) that highlighted the different sections of the symphony. Peter enjoyed this feature especially. I think the bassoonist rocked it, but ok, I’m just being crude and uncultured again, I guess (though he did rock it).

As before, it was highly appreciated and well received by the culture vultures of San Jose: the symphony received standing ovations after every piece. Here is the conductor and the violin section of the symphony taking one of their bows in front of the crowd:

Peter had discovered that his camera was missing its card, but also that a new video camera he’d just bought was in his backpack. So, mostly to check the camera’s audio quality, he recorded some of the concert (there weren’t any signs forbidding it). As it turns out, video taping the concert was not allowed, so afterwards, someone from the symphony politely but firmly made sure Peter erased the tapings. I just gushed on about how delighted I’d been to see the symphony again. I entered the drawing to win free concert tickets, but I think my odds of winning are slim, given all the other fans who dearly wanted them, too. So I hope we’ll be lucky to see the orchestra in the park again sometime in San Jose.

Category: music

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recent Posts

  • Seven Years Gone and A Pandemic In Between (Tales of an ex-Californian in Tennessee)
  • Perspectives on Theranos 2: Some Good Ideas
  • Perspectives on Theranos: Silicon Valley Kool-Aid Culture
  • COVID Vaccines in 100 Days or Less
  • The Fun of Unscientific Social Distancing Markers

Recent Comments

  • George Haberberger on Concern Trolling Control Freaks
  • Roll With It: Diving into 2021 – Daft Musings on Hippie Hiking Adventures in TN
  • cjbickford on Performers and Audiences in the Pandemic Looking Glass
  • George Haberberger on Performers and Audiences in the Pandemic Looking Glass
  • George Haberberger on Destroying People and Freedom with the Power of the Perpetually Offended

Archives

  • July 2023
  • June 2023
  • November 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • December 2020
  • May 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • August 2019
  • February 2019
  • September 2018
  • February 2018
  • December 2017
  • August 2017
  • February 2017
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • February 2016
  • October 2015
  • June 2015
  • January 2015
  • October 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • February 2009
  • January 2009
  • December 2008
  • November 2008
  • September 2008
  • August 2008
  • July 2008
  • June 2008
  • May 2008
  • April 2008
  • March 2008
  • February 2008
  • January 2008
  • December 2007
  • November 2007
  • October 2007
  • September 2007
  • August 2007
  • July 2007
  • June 2007
  • May 2007
  • April 2007
  • March 2007
  • February 2007
  • January 2007

Categories

  • art & fashion
  • Cult of Personality
  • Daft Musings
  • Death
  • Death to COVID
  • Education
  • Environmentalist Ramblings
  • Germany
  • Holiday Ideas
  • How Covid Changed Us
  • Idiot Thieves
  • Local Lore
  • music
  • Nashville
  • Our Amazing Cross-Country Road Trip
  • Out & About
  • Parking It
  • Parties
  • Pointless Complaining about Gas Prices
  • Religion
  • San Diego Comic Con
  • Southwest Tour 2014
  • Taxes Suck
  • The Next Great American Band
  • Travelling
  • Uncategorized
  • Yukky Medical Stories

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org
© 2025 Daft Musings | Powered by Minimalist Blog WordPress Theme