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Austin Symphony Season Opener at the Long Center
“At Bass Concert Hall, you would have heard about half of those notes,” said Jo Anne Christian about the acoustics at the Long Center, which she helped promote. Indeed, Leila Josefowitz’s shimmering cascades of sounds and entirely original cadenzas for Beethoven’s Violin Concerto would have been lost at the University of Texas hall where the Austin Symphony Orchestra formerly played.
Wayne Bell, Jane Sibley
This was the first official concert of the first official season for ASO at the Long Center. (Only two years to go until its 100th anniversary.) Some in the crowd, like Christian, were draped in gems. ASO doyenne Jane Sibley trailed a russet-colored wrap while clinging to the arm of preservationist architect Wayne Bell, a third major player in the Long Center development.
Manuel Chavez, Lorena Martinez
Symphony first-timers such as Lorena Martinez expressed intense pleasure at the program, which included Wagner’s “Die Meistersinger” prelude, Stravinsky’s “Firebird” Suite and a surround-sound piece, inspired in part by the Congress Avenue bats, by Christopher Theofanidis and Mark Wingate.
Lisa Spencer, Jim Spencer
Not sure what the formal reviews will say, but I personally was impressed by the tonal richness of all four pieces as heard from the mezzanine, right in front of UT composer Dan Welcher and down the row from Zach Theatre exec Elisabeth Challener and hubbie Brett Bachman. (Prospecting the Long Center as a new home, Elisabeth? We won’t tell.)
James Garza, Abel Guevara
Audience members ran the gamut from music-composition graduate students in jeans to senatorial-looking businessmen in tuxes. The plaza was once again the place to congregate before and after the concert as well as during intermission. The Long Center organizers have wisely positioned an elegant refreshment franchise out there. Work it!
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