What an Opening!

Full house, fourth curtain call (Photo: Mary Connolly)

Well, boys and girls, I can officially report that Friday night's season-opening concert was a certified smash hit with the almost capacity audience -- and what a tremendous compliment that was to Paavo and his players (and their special guest vocalists), here in the largest concert hall in North America! Beethoven bobbleheads, in a limited edition of 1,500, sold out tonight before the concert even began. The "temporary tattoo" parlor was kept busy with a steady stream of adventurous Beethoven freaks -- and the "Get Your Beethoven On" t-shirts were sold out of extra-larges by the end of opening night!

I had never heard Beethoven's Ninth performed live before this evening. I was in thrall to the magic of the music and thrilled by the beauty and passion that PJ and the CSO brought to it tonight, along with the fabulous guest soloists and our own May Festival Chorus. The rest of the audience must have agreed with me because there were FOUR (count them!) curtain calls at the end of the night!

As I commented to PJ as he was signing CDs in the lobby: "Bebe, that was "off the hook"!" (off the hook: adj 1. very good, excellent; COOL.)