Ulvi Yurtsever wrote:

>Concerts as the main avenue to listen to music is too much of a
>straight-jacket for me to fit into.  And, by the way, a "stuffed
>animal in a natural history museum" is how I often feel like sitting
>in the concert hall, squeezed between other stuffed specimens.

The same applies to me.  Ian Crisp mentioned the rewards he derives from
the interaction between performers and audience.  I have never felt that at
all.  Whether it's a rock concert, classical concert, or an athletic event,
I feel miles away from the participants.  I can't imagine wanting to listen
to music with a large number of people all around me; my wife loves it.
She's very sociable; I must be something else.  Given my dislike for being
squashed while listening, my penchant for not staying in one spot very
long, and my lack of group preference, I tend to feel "trapped" while at a
concert.  But in the privacy of my preferred locations where I have plenty
of room to maneuver and do whatever I please, the music is a fantastic
spiritual experience.  I've tried both venues, and the concert hall is
not for me (unless it was empty except for the performers and they took
frequent breaks).  Having said all this, it is about time for my wife and
I to go to a live musical performance.  She's been talking about it, and I
can hardly remember the last time I attended a concert.  Wait, it's coming
back to me - The New Mexico Symphony Orchestra performing the Brahms 2nd
piano concerto preceded by the Shostokovich Festive Overture.  My problem
on that night was that I slept through much of the second movement and
spent the third movement thinking about how I preferred the Brahms 1st
piano concerto.  If there had been a fourth movement I likely would have
started concentrating on the women in the audience.  Well, there is much
to be said for sleep, women, and the Brahms 1st.

By the way, I just have to say my piece about the Festive Overture.  I
don't believe that I've ever heard music I disliked any more than this
overture, and I've heard it plenty of times.  It exudes just the emotions
that I find alien.  It's right up there with "Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round
The Old Oak Tree".

Your Princess Cruise Ship Social Director,
Don Satz
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