Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
Running in late, I must take in the wonder of Avery Fisher Hall more briskly than preferred. I dash up to the fifth floor, only to find that I must miss the Philharmonic‘s first song. Luckily, a large screen is provided showing the concert live. I wait on the outskirts of the very top level in the concert hall. When I am finally allowed in, I am disappointed to find I have missed the first of four songs, thus missing one quarter of the show. Yet my anguish is soon abated as I am stunned by the following number.
John Adams’s The Wound-Dresser begins. This is the first and only piece to include a vocal part, naturally making the music that much more relatable. Further, the lyrics are in English. The lyrics are given, translating through the barrier of operatic singing. This is not a long aria; it is a contemporary piece. The words are those of Walt Whitman as recorded in his collection Specimen Days, an account of the Civil War.
The phrasing is made very clear, musically manifested as a series of unconnected lines. [click to continue…]
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Seeing the 
Walking the normal route to Lincoln Center, I found myself taking a detour away from the main plaza bringing me into Damrosch Park. The first thing I saw there a crowd gathered around the bell of a large sousaphone. These sights were accompanied by the sounds of loud, fast and powerful marching music. However, there was no parade, there were no colorful military uniforms, instead there were the fun-loving folks of 
$5 Tickets
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