Great Concert

Friday, Sept. 15, 2017--Cali

I have been traveling for a month now.  I still have another 5 1/2 weeks to go before I return home in late October.

During the daytime, I stayed in my neighborhood.  I walked about 15 minutes further north to where two malls are located just to explore the neighborhood.  And I walked through the adjacent area of small shops which covers about 10 blocks just to see what was there.  There were at least two blocks of small electronics stores.

In the afternoon, I watched a couple of episodes of Narcos on Netflix, then I made myself an early dinner.   I left for downtown at 18:00 and arrived at the Teatro Municipal at 18:30 where I was able to buy a ticket to tonight's performance by the Orquesta Filarmonica de Cali concert starting at 19:00.  I got an orchestra seat in the 10th row just off the center aisle for $7 and the seats on both sides of me were empty.

The theater is beautifully restored on the outside, so it was a bit of a surprise to see how aged it is inside.  It's a pretty theater in classical style with multiple balconies.  But the seats are worn, the plaster and its gold trim need restoration, and everything inside just seems a bit faded.

The orchestra was good.  I was a little worried, since it is small (43 musicians) and since it is not a well-known city for the arts.  But their sound was good.  And the soloist, violinist Santy Abril from Ecuador, was fantastic.  He's young, so I have a feeling he will be playing all over the world within a few years.  The orchestra played Beethoven's Symphony #6 in F Major.  Then the soloist and the orchestra played Tchaikovsky's Concerto for Violin in D Major, Op. 35.  It's interesting to note that the program here did not use the note letters, instead, the symphony was in "fa" major and the concerto was "re" major.

Anyway, it was a great concert except for one thing.  A man behind me started humming along with the orchestra three times.  The first time, I did nothing.  The second and third times, I turned around and stared him down.  Either he didn't want to hum anymore, or he got the message that I would keep turning and staring at him, because that ended it.  Why do I always get seats near people who can't keep quiet and just enjoy the concert?!!