It was a wonderful concert during which I processed several little ideas and thoughts (I did listen to the music as well and enjoyed greatly my seat of 85 Euros...). Here are some of my thoughts inspired by the music:
1) The gender balance in the orchestra: Of the around 30 players of wind instruments, three were women. All the contrabass players were men (two of which were Finnish and got a huge applause at the end when Simon Rattle shook their hands) as well as the percussionists. 4 women played violin compared to 24 men, and so on. The only female-dominated instrument was the harp (2 women, no men); in fact, I've never seen a man playing a harp. At the same time, music schools are full of girls and many more girls play some instrument in their youth than boys (or the boys are playing guitar dreaming of becoming the new Kurt Cobain or who ever is nowadays their music hero). So what is the reason for this bias? It seems to happen in many fields of culture (think of great chefs for example).
2) How are the musicians in the orchestra remunerated? Do they all get the same average monthly salary, even that guy playing the triangle? How can you make a living with a triangle anyway? (One of the questions I always ask myself in classical concerts.)
3) After the intermission, when the orchestra on the stage was significantly reduced, what did the rest of the group do? Went out to enjoy the Helsinki night life?
4) For whom were the three black and fancy Mercedes-Benz outside after the concert? Simon Rattle, ministers, the President? (I later found out that the attendees included the former president of Finland Tarja Halonen and the Minister of culture Paavo Arhinmäki who hitherto has shown little interest for classical music.) Very glamorous evening in general, for a second I amused myself with the idea of belonging to the cultural elite of Helsinki.
5) How does Instagram work? (I signed up today and the result is below)
6) Why couldn't the Finns dress like this more often? Men looked superb. Bravo! I actually felt that my own red dress was completely inappropriate (and my thighs looked fat in the white tights) - for once I could have put one of my fancy dresses on. Dammit! That's it for me being part of the cultural elite...
7) The guys playing tambourine, castanets, triangle and the cymbals looked like the Mexican mariachi guys at the end of the Ravel they were playing, and when I though of this I had to hold my laughter, but my shoulders were shaking. Hey teenagers, classical music can be fun!
8) I saw one of the jury members of the Finnish Idols and wondered what his last name is, Asko something. Starts with an s.
9) Are there any bald conductors? (I think the whirling hair makes them more charismatic.) And what do they do in any case? Simon Rattle was facing me during the concert, so I could observe him quite closely. This was really interesting and I saw he was gesturing not only with his hands and body but also with his face. But why is he regarded as one of the best conductors in the world? What is he gesturing there? What distinguishes a splendid conductor from an average one?
10) There was no pause between Ligeti and Wagner. That's why it took me so long to understand the programme. It was great anyhow. Wagner's prelude to Lohengrin was absolutely beautiful (see below, it reminded me a bit of Sibelius actually), while Ligeti was super interesting (the players were using ear plugs because of the high tones at some points).
What a great escape from autumn grayness...
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