So far, I’ve been at two classical concerts at the Atheneum in Bucharest (Ateneul București), and I loved both of them. The concert hall is impressive as you can see on the photos. The entrance hall is palatial, the spiral staircases up to the concert hall are very cool, and the concert hall itself has a fresco depicting Romanian history all around and an impressive dome ceiling. The fresco was covered during communist time and Russian rule, but now it shines in all its glory.
The orchestra is very good; the musicians convey deep feeling through their music. Nothing beats a live concert experience. It must have something to do with the vibrations in the air, although just vibrations are not enough, of course (I’ve been in plenty of mediocre concerts, or worse, so I feel I can judge). The Enescu Orchestra plays with a lot of feeling and evokes all the right emotions. The soloists that play with them are very good, skilled, talented. I walked out of both concerts elated, and I can’t wait for my next concert experience.
A couple of funny notes: the angelic creature with the fanfare on the right above the stage seems rather eager to show off her chest to the audience (zoom in to see better). Moving on. The conductor of the second concert I visited was a very young fellow (James Hendry), I’d say in his 20’s, and he was very theatrical and just loved the applause. If you’ve been to a classical concert, you know the ceremonial routine of applause when the conductor comes out, and him leaving the stage between pieces, so he can come in again for another round of applause. And of course, there would be several curtain calls after each piece. This young fellow came out with sweeping gestures, bowed deeply and a fairly long time, complete with hand flourishes, and his face betrayed his enjoyment and excitement of being the centre of attention. This was repeated a few times and elicited a sardonic smile on my own face each time. It was funny, but endearing also.
WOW! Looks fantastic! I am sure the concert was great too!
I see Blythe is having the same problem as me. Comments are not being saved right away!
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Very impressive! That seems to be a theme amongst statues all over the world. Pretty sure that men carved out those bosoms! I am familiar with that sardonic smile. Lol.
Very impressive! That seems to be a theme amongst statues all over the world. Pretty sure that men carved out those bosoms! I am familiar with that sardonic smile. Lol