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

Sooo,went to the concert last night..
 Some take aways:
 The biggest this that hit me during the show was how amazing todays stereo gear is..From the tone of instruments,to imaging & staging,reverberant sound,pretty much everything,we have it REALLY good these days when it comes to reproducing these sounds in our homes!
Speaking of imaging & staging..I was surprised at how similar sound staging is to hearing it at home but I think our gear might be a touch artificial when it comes to imaging..It seemed instruments sounded a little homogenized..You could clearly pick out where the different sections were located but you had to really focus hard to actually pick out individual instruments within the various groups..Also noted & enjoyed was the similarity of depth of field to a good home system & how difficult it is at home to get the width of the stage even close...
 The Harpsichord is a truly underrated & maligned instrument,most likely because it takes a really good system to allow it’s unique voice to sing & not come off as a bag of cats fighting,much like bag pipes I think...
 I LOVE the tone of the French horn & Timpani..Out of all the horn types there is something unique & special about the sound of that Frenchie,same with the Timpani,which had be conjuring images of mounted knights on ancient battlefields..
 I had no idea there was such a thing as WOOD FLUTES or how dissimilar they sound to the metal flutes of today..They don’t have that slightly brassy,shrill tone of modern flutes..The tone is similar, but the wooden flute has,for lack of a better way to describe it,an easy,relaxed tone that is quite beguiling..
 Acoustics..REALLY high ceilings & fan shaped architecture..Not near as much reverberant sound as I expected...
  Lastly it struck me that I am OLD!It was wonderful to actually stay seated & not have to fight to see over some animal with his gf sitting on his shoulders to see the stage..Thinking back I wonder how the hell we survived some of the concerts we went to in the late 60’s & 70’s!!!
  Thoroughly enjoyable experience..I’m looking forward to another,only full orchestral next time!
 

It sounds like you were at a concert featuring Historically Informed Performers (HIP).  Wood flutes and oboes have unique timbres.  They can be a problem in very large auditoriums and in smaller venues they can lack some dynamic range but have their attractions in the right settings.  HIP horns and trumpets sometimes lack valves and are a b**** for the player who has to do all the work with breath control.

  The harpsichord can be beautiful, especially in Bach Brandenburg #5, which I believe was on the program.  It also gets lost in a large hall.

  The sound stage, etc are a product of the venue and might be completely different in a different space.  IMO venues matter with acoustic instruments and not so much with electrified going through a sound processor.

  Modern gear is great but no system can equal a full symphony orchestra in a good hall.  Our gear just attempts to create an illusion but even a seven figure system in a cathedral like home misses the boat by a mile.  It might be different with pop.

“Modern gear is great but no system can equal a full symphony orchestra in a good hall.  Our gear just attempts to create an illusion but even a seven figure system in a cathedral like home misses the boat by a mile.  It might be different with pop”

Absolutely

OP, 

Glad you enjoyed the concert. I was lucky enough to start going to the symphony about fifteen or so years ago and get season tickets. I was pretty close to 7th row center and over the first years moved closer each year. Having orderly concerts with assigned seats is one of the most wonderful aspects. Not to mention repetitive exposure to the same orchestra and hundreds of pieces of music over years. Definitely one of the great things in life and something that makes being older great. 

We would go out to dinner before each concert... and finally settled on a really nice restaurant close to the theater... white table cloths... the waiters knew our name and reserved our table in the corner with the view over the park. Priceless experiences. 

I traveled to conferences every year that listed some famous rock bands for free... . I usually didn’t last long... rowdy noisy with terrible sound... too loud.