Another beautiful concert last night. We are so fortunate to have a great hall to showcase great voices. They repeated some of the pieces from the Gala - the beautiful duet from 'Lakme' being one of them, and the stirring chorus from 'Nebbuco'. There was a hypnotic quality to the evening - I think it'll take some time for our good fortune, as an audience, to actually sink in.
I was in the 13th row of the Orchestra. The sound is clear as a bell, and every modulation of voice and instrument is heard.
During the orchestral piece by Mussgorsky, the music flowed out and almost "inhabited" the auditorium like a separate entity. Extraordinary!
My baritone friend was in Ring 5. He has been to several of the great halls, and believes that ours is definitely one of the best. He says it is as good as the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, though perhaps the sound is rather dry compared to Munich - which is considered the very top, acoustically. He heard a CBC radio interview with Ben Heppner during the week which said much the same. We have 3 months before 'The Ring' opens - plenty of time for the orchestra and the singers to get used to how the hall plays, and fine tune for it, though this process could take up to a year.
Again, every cough or noise in the audience sounded quite loud.
Afterwards, we went across the street for a drink in the Hilton. They've had a lot more business in the past few days. We saw lots of post-concert stage door activity on Richmond Street - fans and autograph seekers.
A few quibbles:
* As usual, Bradshaw conducts a bit too loud in relation to the voices.
* I couldn't order a drink for intermission when I first arrived!
( I went to the open house today and chatted to one of the volunteers. He said that an acoustical report indicates that the very "best" seats are in the front row of Ring 3, just off centre! )