??? My First Classical Concert,What Can I Expect ???

Concerts and their venues

l am not a classical music concert goer.

l do love to hear a full 100 piece orchestra with the music l enjoy and collect.

Original film music by the most respected 20th Century composers. Ennio Morricone, John Barry, Jerry Goldsmith, John Williams, Ron Goodwin (to a lesser degree as he was not so prolific in his writings)

The Royal Albert Hall is where l have heard all of these……it’s not the venue for great sound. The acoustics are and have been forever bab, bad, bad! The shape and design of the building is like a great big oval bathroom with sound reflections and reverb/echo from all sides.Unless you are sat in the stalls roughly dead centre is the only place to be for the best it gets. You may get a great performance but never the greatest sound. Things have been tried over the years to tame these acoustic failures with those upside down mushroom treatments in the god’s. l can honestly say the only instrument that sounds okay for me in the RAH is the organ……at least it sounds like it is being played in a church.

If you want good acoustics, go to a newer concert hall built with thought and designed for optimum sound delivery. The Barbican London is my favourite and a few of the provincial local theatres dotted around the county.

My most respected film composer who appeared in London (and Scotland) every year before his death, chose The Barbican. He was able to reproduce his film scores on stage without loosing any of the dynamics from the original recordings. He was not afraid to talk to the audience between the pieces injecting humour and personal insights which facilitated a more intimate feel to the evenings. Goldsmith at pre concert talks opened up personal opportunities for direct questions and answers. He was a showman who enjoyed conducting his own music and others when opportunities allowed. IMHO perhaps the only silver age film composer to consistently give his audiences what they craved for year in, year out.

His concerts were always near sell outs even though he reappeared every year, and into his late 70’s which demonstrated his public support. He even carried on composing and conducted while receiving cancer treatments…..Sadly missed R.I.P

Just wear decent clothes. It’s a social event. So at least something properly tailored. 

I love Bach, but the Brandenburgs are not my favorite of his over 1000 compositions.  Still, they are beloved by many and may grab you too.  The delights of Bach, for me, are his sacred works for chorus and orchestra…the Cantatas, the Magnificat, B Minor Mass, the Passions, and his solo instrumental masterpieces for violin, cello, and keyboards, especially the Art of Fugue, The Goldberg Variations, and The Musical Offering.  If this concert doesn’t hook you, try some of the other stuff!

Sit back and enjoy the experience of The Absolute Sound, real instruments in a real space - albeit in a space that is probably a bit too reverberant.

Regarding applause, this is a source of amusement and irritation for me.  Amusement at "Gala" performances where the A - C list crowd display the fact that they have never been to a normal concert and irritation at regular concerts where most of the audience display their ignorance of protocol and concert behavior by applauding in the middle of the last chord, presumably to demonstrate that they have heard the piece before.  Notably this does not occur when an unusual or rare work is performed.

Out of interest I Googled applaud when conductor turns round, which I was told before my first trip, as a 14 or 15 year old, to the Royal Festival Hall some 65 years ago.  (For better or worse that trip changed my life as I lost interest in genres other that "classical" - or occasional jazz.)

"In classical music concerts, it's generally considered appropriate to applaud at the end of a complete piece, rather than between movements. A good visual cue for when to applaud is when the conductor turns around to acknowledge the audience or bows. Another cue is when the conductor has finished conducting, such as when they drop their hands or step off the podium. "

In European concert halls this was the norm, though I have not been to a non-US hall in over thirty years so perhaps the disease of early applause has spread.

One of the advantage of listening at home is that one gets to enjoy the delicious decaying away of that last chord, and peace in which to absorb what one has heard.

There is a live recording of Mahler's 9th where the (Vienna Phil) audience is silent for about 20 seconds before applauding!

Apologies if I wandered off topic, perhaps I should change my handle to "grumpy-old-f--t".

The entries above are excellent. I would only add that you should look for the small group of solo instruments that alternate and combine with the larger group, which is the essence of the concerto.