I am a professional musician from San Diego, but happened to see an article that an orchestra in Anaheim (where I grew up and parents still live) of all places was going to be playing a Mahler Symphony.Went to see Mahler Symphony no. 1 - I was pretty surprised that Anaheim even had an orchestra. I was raised in Anaheim/Garden Grove before going to Manhattan for my music degree, and never knew there was an orchestra in town.
1. For what I would assume is a smaller regional orchestra the OCS plays pretty well, especially under Maestro Parnther. The winds, percussion and low strings are the orchestras strength. The second violins had some interesting moments in places. Mahler is difficult, and one of the musicians said they did this concert in 3 rehearsals. In the SDSO, we prepared the Mahler 1 in 5 rehearsals.
2.The performance was a little unconventional, but it actually worked pretty well. They performed the first movement of Mahler 1 before intermission and the rest afterward, which I don't think I have ever seen done before.The conductor took time to explain the history of the work and played little excerpts of the whole work. This is unusual, and usually done in a pre-concert talk format. But the audience really seemed to respond to the conductor, who again is very informal and at times hilarious.
3. The audience, may I again add, REALLY seems supportive of this orchestra. After the Mahler, many people were screaming like they were at a Rock concert. I will admit the conductor has a dramatic flair and gets a lot out of the ensemble.
Here is what I did not like.
1. I did not care for the piano soloist playing the Saint Saens Concerto. Honestly I thought she was terrible. I dont remember what the name was, but it was an extremely unmemorable performance. The orchestra played well regardless.
2. Apparently the OCS allows you to eat in the concert hall which I thought was highly unusual. They sell popcorn in the lobby and seemingly let people take it into the concert hall. Who does that?? it was a little distracting to hear someone eating popcorn next to me while the bass solo in the 3rd movement of the Mahler was being played.
3. The line to get into the concert was rather lengthy and not terribly efficient. There was a huge huge line to get inside the building, and it felt like my husband and I waited in line at least 20 minutes to get tickets. They need more efficient ticket staff.
4. I think the elderly woman who is the president or director (looks like an elderly Lucille Ball) of the OCS needs to learn a thing or two about public speaking. This woman yammered on senselessly for 15 minutes about a raffle and some other nonsense, and it really detracted from the professionalism of the concert. read more
