Encore!

Psst!

I shouldn't be telling you this, as it will soon make my inexpensive Dallas Symphony tickets the most desirable, and costly, show in town. When Jaap Van Zweden is conducting, the Choral Terrace of the Meyerson Symphony Center is the greatest show on earth.

Last Sunday afternoon my Choral Terrace seat was just to the side of the horns and the triangle. It's absolutely fascinating watching Jaap. He's so intense I expected him to transform into a ferocious wolf at the end of the Brahms Symphony No. 4 in E-minor, Op. 98's first movement and leap into another dimension. The conductor is fX, Mr. Special Effects! He commands the musicians by his force of will, and they love it. Brujo is the word that comes to mind. Shaman isn't strong enough.



Choral Terrace seats behind the orchestra are the backwards upside-down view in most folks' minds. The sound quality is somewhat distorted. We never get to see the front of the solo oboist's backless gown. Instead we get to know which balding musicians opt for the comb-over. Best of all, we get to face the conductor.

To top off Sunday's concert, Van Zweden led the orchestra in an encore of Brahms Hungarian Dance No. 5. Shivers went down our arms up there in the cheap seats. We felt like Jaap was giving each of us a personal gift. That big audience out there in the plush seats, tiers, and boxes is seriously misguided and sitting upside-down and backward.

My sons loved Karla Kuskin's picture book, The Philharmonic Gets Dressed, for it's magic use of numbers and for Marc Simont's illustrations. It's always a joy to share this book with a new group of students. Sitting behind the musicians, I always wonder how they each got dressed in black and arrived at the Meyerson Symphony Center. Look for this book at your library, or buy a paperback copy. Your kids will want many encore readings.

© 2008 Nancy L. Ruder