NSO

We saw and heard the National Symphony Orchestra last night at the Kennedy Center. We walked to the Braddock Road Metro in the wind and cold (real wind and real cold this time!). Took the Metro to Foggy Bottom. Took the Kennedy Center shuttle the few blocks to the Center. Then snuggled into our seats (109 and 110) in row CC.

The NSO came out. Played. And left. The audience sat there. Clapped. And went home. All very civil and correct. Not too real but the movement and applause and music all seemed to come at the right moments and last the right amount of time. It seemed very "going-through-the-motions" like. Like "Okay we're done. Let's move on to the next thing to do." I don't have much to compare it to except for the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra at Heinz Hall. But that seemed more real. In fact (I've said this more than a few times to Kate), Pittsburghers as a whole seem very "real." Authentic. Themselves and comfortable at it. When we went to Heinz Hall last year to see the symphony and the orchestra members came on stage they would wave at and chat with the people in the audience. Audience members would walk up to the stage before the performance and during intermission and afterwards to chat with musicians leaning over the stage edge. There was a sense of community in the audience before the show too. And the audience appreciation was genuine and robust and long and standing. I guess love might be the right word. Real.

I'm always reminded of the part from the Velveteen Rabbit when I think of Pittsburgh and its people. “Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand.”