A Night at the Symphony

(My night at the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra; 5/21/15; This impression was written spontaneously during their performance of Schumann’s Symphony No. 2 in C Major, with guest conductor Markus Stenz. Also got to see a few nights at the Maryland Deathfest that same weekend!)

The light & sound reflected from the tiles above, and showered down, emersing the stage and musicians thereon in a cocoon of harmony & shadow - interplaying. The balance is pleasing to the ears and the eyes. The violins leap and flutter in sublime synchronicity, floating triumphantly on a wave of the the deep waters brought forth by the sonorous cello and bass tones. The back of my eyes, if I close my lids and focus, develop a slight vibratory sensation. Invisible strings flowing through the directors fingers, regulating tension through time; reeling and soaring, like how a kitemaster wields a windy day; then, as a yo-yo, jumping high and nearly crashing, at once flung dramatically skyward. The tiles above, in their severed geometric form evoke those bat-wing Schumannic visions of tormented brilliance. The soul of a man, transformed over time and ether, both vague and yet intimate. Gentle ripples caress the walls - of both earth, yet almost spacey in its euphoria; of both man and olde mystic nature.The manic violin skipping along brings about the scherzo and winds smooth the stratosphere, calming the tumult and exuberance; as stones skipping on a pond and then sinking into a smooth dark depth; their ripples propel a delicate whirling leaf gently across the surface of the water. Birds dive and pluck way their watery prey, but folly has them drop it, and they flee; freed by convulsions of panic …and then dives below, safe beside the sunken skipping stone. Then, as the piece neared its end, the cascading, shimmering trills were as birds, ascending to peace and completion.