Some photos from The Armory that I probably wasn’t allowed to take but I didn’t do it when the Phil was playing

…promise!

The New York Philharmonic’s concert at The Park Avenue Armory last night was wonderful. I assume tonight’s was terrific, too, but I’m home watching Step Up. The Philharmonic performed unannounced Gabrieli, Gruppen by Stockhausen, Rituel in Memoriam Bruno Maderna by Boulez, a smidge of Don Giovanni, which I’m sure the critics will like least, and ((swoon)) Ives’ The Unanswered Question. There’s nothing worse than simply recreating a traditional concert venue in an alternative space, and that was not the case here.  As I said, I’m sure the Mozart will be complained about, but I loved the way it was done. When I walked in and saw screens, I assumed some distracting film shenanigans would be cued up, but the neon light panels stayed stationary and consistently colored. And it sounded good, to my ears. Magnus Lindberg, Matthias Pintscher, and Alan Gilbert lobbing brass swells around the room would…not have worked in everyone’s favorite Fisher.

The two concerts were sold-out, which makes me sad only because I had hoped the NY Phil would have to offer Gruppen Groupons.

Some views from standing room, which I thought would be packed, but only had maybe twenty people on each side, so we could wander.

So the Philharmonic is cool. The day we didn’t know would come. I’ll miss the good times we had, but it’s for the best. Hey LA, we’re comin’ for ya.