Sickos at the Symphony

So, Kaye and I went to the SF Symphony last night and we heard the Mendelssohn Violin Concert in e minor and Shostakovich Symphony no.4 in c minor Op. 43. I was totally pumped and was just dying to hear this concert. Unfortunately, it seems that we were seated in the old and sick row.

The violin concerto started out wonderfully but I couldn't watch the violinist because she was rocking back and forth and making all these overly dramatic moves. After the first movement, this old lady next to me thought it would be really sweet and SMART to start to open up a cough drop while crinkling the wrapper as much as she could. Not only did it take her about 20 seconds of crinkling to finally open the damn thing, she continued to crinkle it throughout the second movement even though she had already managed to pluck the morsel from the wrapper. I swear, I was going to kill this woman, and so was the man in front of me. He was practically STARING at her, but to no avail. Sorry you're sick, lady, but SHUT UP, OR unwrap your cough drops in between movements, or maybe before the show for that matter. Angry and frustrated, I said to myself, "Don't let this ruin the concert. Close your eyes (because remember I can't look at the violinist) and try to focus on this last movement." la la la.. very nice... oh huh? What's that noise? Is that someone gulping really loudly over and over again??? YES! Yes it is! Someone kept making a gulping noise in our row, and it was so loud that I couldn't block it out. RARR!!!! So, wah, the piece I really really really really wanted to hear was a big let down because of rude, old, sick people. Thanks.........

During intermission, we moved up to the last row, away from everyone else and braced ourselves for a hopefully peaceful second 3/4s. I say 3/4 because this piece was unbelievably long (but quite intriguing!!!) There were no rude people except for some high schoolers many rows down who were sometimes whispering to each other. I contemplated throwing my program at them a few times, but for the most part they were fine. Anyhow, the Shostakovich was full of incredible dynamics, quirky themes, unique timbres, and just a wonderful experience. If you have 65 minutes to sit and listen, absolutely check it out. iTunes has it.