notes from the green line

shorts, gray hair, jeans, spanish banter, muscle tees, side burns, glasses, sports jerseys, 20-somethings, beards, to-go coffee cups, 60-somethings, blond hair, every skin shade imaginable – it looked like a max train just dumped off its passengers on the schnitzer stage.  yep, i had the incredible good fortune to weasel my way into another symphony rehearsal this week… a rehearsal for Beethoven’s #3 and #5 piano concertos no less!  (please don’t send me comments about proper plural usage – i feel a little douche-like saying “concerti,” alright?).  in my personal journey through recorded classical music, i consider these pieces friends – a notch above acquaintances but not yet bff’s, although #5 is getting real close to the latter status.  the cliff notes version: as a non-musician, i know generally what to expect.  i’ll tell you what, i was still blown away by hearing them live for the first time, even in rehearsal form.  the deeply gorgeous baseline, the songs of the cello, the sweet winds, the delicately plucked strings… these are facets that easily get washed out when listening to them at home, i don’t care how good your system is.  hearing the acoustic details of some of the most gorgeous music ever written… does one need more reason to check out the symphony this weekend?  well, i’ll give you some more tomorrow, just in case.