Such a lucky break — I checked my calendar late Saturday afternoon and was shocked to find that we had a symphony concert in just ninety minutes. Katja was sound asleep and she had had no idea either. It always takes me less time to get ready, and I paced the floor, getting more and more jittery. Finally we left a little before 7:00 for the 7:30 concert.
I checked out the Washington Square parking garage across from Music Hall, but they were charging $15 (a violation of my principles). Because Katja’s foot was aching, I dropped her off at the front entrance and headed around the block to Central Parkway where the old parking garage costs $10 (still annoying). I always park on the top floor there because you can just drive down the ramp and go right out the 12th St. exit.
I locked the car and hurriedly walked two blocks to Music Hall. A volunteer at the door asked for my vaccination card and photo I.D. He carefully checked my photo even though my face was covered by my mask. Next I went through a metal detector to get screened for revolvers and knives. The guy asked if I had an umbrella under my raincoat, but I said no. A third man scanned the bar code on my ticket and I was finally cleared to enter. The lobby was filled with chatting symphony fans, but, because all the people were wearing masks, no one looked familiar to me. I couldn’t tell who was pretty or handsome, smiling or frowning, young or old. A strange scene.
Katja had already gone to her seat. Our tickets were for the third row, the closest we’ve ever been. We had to look upward toward the stage, we could only see the front line of performers, and the music was pretty loud. At precisely 7:30 conductor Louis Langrée came out to welcome the audience. This was the first weekend of the new 2021-22 season, and he was exuberant because it has been nineteen months since the orchestra has given a performance. The audience was excited too, and Louis got a lengthy round of applause.
The guest artist was the prize-winning pianist Drew Pearson, and he paired with Symphony Concertmaster Stefani Masuo for a rousing piano-violin duet rendition of Brahms” “F-A-E” Sonata. Then Pearson was the soloist with the orchestra for an avant-garde fantasy by contemporary composer Andrew Norman, and the orchestra wound up with Brahm’s Symphony No. 3 in F major, also filled with fire and explosions. Katja is the classical music lover in our family, and I am more like a gigolo who serves as her male companion at high culture events. Perhaps because of our long absence, I found the music more exciting than usual and look forward to our next outing.
At the intermission the man sitting next to me asked if I had been bothered by the radio broadcast. Apparently somebody sitting behind us had been listening to the Ohio State football game via ear pods throughout the performance. I hadn’t heard it myself (an example of how bad hearing can actually be to one’s advantage), but I agreed with him that this was pitiful. (As a University of Michigan alumnus it also confirmed my worst stereotypes of Ohio State fans.)
After the concert Katja and I chose a pick-up spot in front of Music Hall, and I went to get the car. I drove down the ramp, but to my horror the exit barricade was closed, and no one was moving. The line of waiting cars extended back as far as I could see. A woman got out of the lead car at the exit and, with a strenuous effort, managed to shove the gate arm up and hold it there while her husband drove through. Then the arm came back down, and the next car was stuck. The car right in front of me gave up, got out of the line, and headed back into the parking garage. Certain that I’d never get out the 12th Street exit, I followed him. We made some right turns and left turns and eventually got back to the main entrance where we’d come in before the concert. Happily, that gate was wide open, and the other driver and I exited onto Central Parkway. I didn’t see any cars following us, and there were no parking employees anywhere. I wonder how many hours it took people to get out.
Katja was in a happy post-concert mood when I picked her up. I was a bit nervous about having spent two hours at our first mass gathering since the start of the pandemic, even with required vaccinations and masks. Despite my worries, it was another baby step toward normality for us and a huge, life-changing step for our orchestra and the Music Hall staff.
Love,
Dave
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