Ear Candy at the Boston Symphony Orchestra

review by Mark Bedetti

3/17/17

Everyone’s A Critic

            Bernard Haitink leads an expedition on producing the masterpiece that is Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7. The combination of the music itself, the musician’s talent, the venue, and the composer’s work at leading hundreds of musicians created a musical piece that truly represents the talent of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. 

            A constant variable in the show as well as all of the show’s that the orchestra performs there is the location of Symphony Hall. Placed within one of the most popular areas of Boston, Symphony Hall attracts people from all around the region to come view the performances. The theater itself opens up into an astounding proscenium stage lined with gold paint trimmed around the edge of the stage. The extensive orchestra seating runs Red velvet lines the railings of the balcony that runs the perimeter of the room up until the stage in a horseshoe shape. Chandeliers hang from the high ceilings that are receded in square-shaped patterns creating an incredible setting for sound to carry all the way through the hall. The stage was raised above the orchestra seating so that even the seats in the back could see what was going on. Although the lights were dimmed in the audience and shined on the stage, there was still a fair amount of light on the audience creating a more immersive experience feeling like you were closer and more apart of the performance. This allowed the audience to be far more aware and involved in what was going on on the stage.

            The musical talent that each of the musicians hold allows for the highest quality possible of the music itself. With hundreds of musicians on stage, it is easy for the performance to sound catastrophic and disorganized. However, the result was the exact opposite with an unbelievable synchronization even in the most complex areas of the piece. Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 has an astounding amount of alteration in the volume of the piece. The room could have been anything from near silent to blaring out into the audience turning the hall into an unbelievably powerful environment. This was not only a role played by those playing an instrument, but also a role played by the female singers who added an unbelievable amount to the tone of the music and adding an intense feeling to the performance. The conductor Bernard Haitink was another piece of the puzzle that made up a truly incredible experience. There was not one moment during the show where Haitink was not showing emotion whether it came from his face or body language. It was apparent that this emotion had a strong interconnection with the music and it translated over into how the audience reacted to it as well.

            The Boston Symphony Orchestra’s performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 was a powerful and seemingly perfect example of pure talent and what someone might consider “Candy” to the ears.