A Date with Olivia

So, I got an email from Dad offering me two tickets to the symphony. Excited, I decided to go and proceeded to figure out who would go with me. Finally I came to what should have been my first choice anyway, Olivia. On the bill for the evening, Tchaikovsky’s 5th, grandmom’s favorite and somebody else’s as well, (Maybe Daddy Bent? I don’t remember) and a new piece focused around the timpani, Harmonic Rhythm, by Peck. Yes, the timpani. So, in order to get the tickets, we had to get there about 30 minutes early and go to the will call window. So, Olivia and I got dressed up in our finery, stopped at Sonic on the way downtown, and headed on our way. We parked in the garage and walked over to The Bass Hall. We went directly over to the ticket office and got our tickets which, stunningly, were on the fourth row. How awesome. We kind of walked around a little bit, trying to find which door we should go in. Almost all of the ushers and a couple of others throughout the night smiled at the two of us, obviously appreciative of a Dad and his young daughter dressed up at the Symphony. One of the ushers we spoke to, on learning that this was Olivia’s first trip to the Symphony made sure that we took a trip to the terrace to see the angels. The Bass Hall angels, if any of you don’t know are enormous golden trumpet playing angels on the side of the building. And, as we found out, there is a small terrace between them that you can walk out on. We did and Olivia enjoyed seeing them. We both posed in front of the angels to compare ourselves. It was fun. We then went back in and found our seats. Because the first piece featured the timpani, it had moved out to the very front of the stage and was probably 15 feet from our seats. Before the concert, the timpanist gave a short explanation about the melodic capabilities of the timpani. It was interesting. The piece itself was pretty cool. It featured the timpanist playing with several different sticks at different times, including a bit playing with his hands, and a bit playing with 3 and 4 sticks at once. Olivia said she watched him almost the whole time. I also enjoyed watching the violinists, who were right in front of me. And, as I said, I enjoyed the piece. I probably liked the third piece of the movement most, as it featured a bit of a Latin feel. There were bits where I had trouble locating the melody, but generally it was fun. At intermission, we went out and got some water and looked at the people and tried to find dresses or suits we liked. Then back for the Tchaikovsky. It was actually not a piece that I recognized, though I enjoyed it. It was played well. The French horn was very good. Olivia slept through a good bit of it (the two-hour concert started at 8, her normal bedtime) but she said she enjoyed the parts she heard. At the end of both pieces there were standing ovations. The concert got a good review in the Star-Telegram, and we had a good time. We looked through the brochure for the upcoming season and found a couple of items that I think we will both enjoy attending. Perhaps you will join us as well. So, without question, a good night at the Symphony.