If you ever had a hard week and looked for a way to break this dark spell, I suggest a night at SF Symphony to forget and reset and start fresh each time life get a bit challenging.
If you ever wonder why so many people come to hear the music, the answer is in the power of the music and each composer magic to combine the simple keys into a harmony that opens new doors for us.
This is how it looks and feels when the orchestra is synchronized, and the conductor is liked and passionate: when you first arrive to take your seat before the first stroke of the note everyone feels separate, closed, unavailable to make any contact whatsoever.
As music unfolds during the first of Ravel performed composition Gracioso the faces start to lose the intensity and inaccessibility moving into the look of curious and willing to hear new notes.
With next Bartok Concerto which takes you into most amazing travel of seasons and feeling of a tease as few notes announce the impending arrival of Bolero later, even so, this piece is not written by Ravel. The cosmic rhythm of that time is imbedded in their works. Now, you see the faces change to being in tune with music but still in their own world.
The intermission snaps everyone out of the trans to the reality of a brake and time to reflect on their feelings. Some sit and check their phones others wonder in a daze, some checkout the fashion and some take to the fully equipped bar for a drink.
The second part of tonight symphony Debussy Iberia- brings seasons into the air and we all feel each season with fullness of sounds and smells- I wish you could see the facial expressions on people faces, we are all taking this trip together and bond of experience is starting to show. The perfection of sound bird and bees is a cunning. You hear and see them with your imagination. The sounds of moving grass with the wind are present as violins and harps take to the fields.
Now that everyone is transcended into the state of relaxation the most vibrant of all compositions arrives.
Ravel’s Bolero.
It is one and only one ever piece of music that orchestra builds entirely on the drum as a platform to expand from for other instruments. Many of them. The drummer Jacob Nissly is playing during entire movement written by Ravel not skipping one beat. This is the most demanding performance on the artist playing one instrument without a break. If he stops all stops with him. You will come to see it and feel it with the audience as they connect with each other with every beat of the drums. Something beautiful to see and hear, as new instrument joins in repeating the theme of the Bolero adding another experience with each added instrument. This is ultimate show how each sound playing the same notes is entirely different from each other and why we have so many instruments to date. Our human minds and emotions need stimulus to feel alive, it is this simple. But where we get that feeling is up to us.
That night at the symphony we were all looking to feel alive and we got that feeling build piece by piece under skillful hands of the conductor Pablo Herras-Casado.
As different instrument joint Bolero theme over the beat of drums audience energy changed completely, bodies started to sway with the beat, hands moved in anticipation of the next note.
The faces entered, and state of hypnosis engulfed in happiness in the psychedelic realm. The power of music was now at work and connected the audience not only within themselves but with each other.
With last note and drum of Bolero everyone stood up with cheered with clapping, screaming thanking the orchestra for the experience they will never forget. All the up tided strangers were now exchanging looks of enchantment and smiling at each other with disbelieving as to how they are feeling now in comparison to when they arrived.
What a change it was to witness. I hope my word reach your imagination and give you an idea to look for music as the drug of choice and make that your de-stressant from life curve balls.
Many new friends were made in the audience that night build on having music as their common ground.
That is the magic the night I experienced at SF Symphony, one of many that make me come back.
