Emantable

As observed by your devoted chronicler of culture and society

Dear audience, what a spectacle awaited your humble observer at last Thursday’s performance at the Walt Disney Concert Hall! While Maestro Järvi’s interpretation of Brahms, Ravel, & Bacewicz proved exquisite at the February 13th performance, it proved impossible not to get distracted by two seemingly opposing scenes unfolding in the audience.

In Orchestra West, the newly dating Mr. John Fitzpatrick and Ms. Cynthia Walker provided quite the display of youthful ardor. One might suggest that their appreciation for the music took rather a back seat to their appreciation of each other. Their whispered exchanges and barely concealed caresses caused no small amount of pearl-clutching among the more traditional patrons. Though one can hardly fault such evident devotion, perhaps a private box at another concert venue would better suit their… particular brand of musical enthusiasm.

In stark and refreshing contrast, the distinguished Mr. and Mrs. Richard Park occupied their usual seats in the Front Orchestra section, exemplifying what thirty years of marriage can achieve. Their connection, dear audience, requires no grand gestures or public displays. A shared glance during the crescendo of the second movement of Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G as played by spoke volumes more than the younger couple’s eager demonstrations. When Mr. Park’s hand found his wife’s during the final notes of the evening, one witnessed the quiet poetry of a love tempered by time and strengthened by experience.

One cannot help but wonder: which couple truly heard the music? The younger, lost in their private rhapsody, or the Parks, whose years of companionship have taught them to appreciate both the music and each other in measured, meaningful moments?

Your devoted observer noted with particular interest how Ms. Walker occasionally glanced over at the Parks during Seong-Jin Cho’s interpretation of the Ravel. Perhaps even she, in her flush of new love, recognizes that there are different movements in the symphony of marriage, each with its own distinct beauty.

Until next time, dear audience, do remember that while young love sings soprano, mature love provides the bass notes that give depth to the eternal melody of romance.

Yours truly,
Eman Table