A Visit to the Symphony

Today was my first visit to the San Francisco Symphony, for their open rehearsal at Davies Symphony Hall. We sat in the first tier side boxes, which provided an excellent vantage point. We were close but one level up so we could look down at all the instruments. I was at the edge of my seat and leaning forward in anticipation as the conductor raised his baton and they first played a modern violin concerto by Adès. There was a lot of percussion and, because it was modern, dissonance. I sat for about 30 minutes, but then I started covering my ears and complaining the drums were too loud. So we stepped out and we looked at the symphony store for a little while. Mommy obliged when I asked her to buy me something, which always makes for a good day! The orchestra then started rehearsing Mozart's Symphony # 39, so we went up to the second tier to watch. This section was pretty empty so we didn't feel uncomfortable about whispering or the volume. I immediately noticed that all the percussionists were gone and I was so relieved. I enjoy classical music much better! We left after they finished that piece, a total of 75 minutes at the Symphony... just the right amount of time. I later asked Mommy when we were going back to see more!