On Being a Good Listener

From left to right: Seong-Jin Cho performs Ondine from “Gaspard de la nuit” at Carnegie Hall; Beatrice Rana in a performance of Chopin’s Étude Op. 25, No. 1 in A-flat major; Dmitri Hvorostovsky performing “Ya vas lyublyu” (I love you) from The Queen of Spades”; Peter Mattei as Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia singing “Largo al factotum della città”

With today being the first day of fall, I have begun to think about how the concert season is about to go into full force. People have come back from their summer vacations and will be in performance venues all over the world for an autumn, winter, and spring of great music.

Thinking about this idea has led me to remember some of my experiences in listening to music in various seats of large auditoriums.

For example, I have previously attended recitals at Carnegie Hall by Seong-Jin Cho and Beatrice Rana, both pianists who are scheduled to perform there this season. I sat in the first row for Cho's performance and in the fifth balcony for Rana's. At the Metropolitan Opera I listened to The Barber of Seville from the first row and The Queen of Spades from the sixth balcony. 

I deliberately chose these seats to see how the sound differed depending on location. The seats on the first floor offer a good view of the artists, so in addition to the quality of the sound, the sense of realism is conveyed, but I noticed that the sound was particularly beautiful from the top balcony.  In particular, the aria "Ya vas lyublyu" (I love you) from The Queen of Spades at the Met was unforgettable.

I also remember choosing a seat directly above the stage at Suntory Hall in Tokyo when I listened to Mitsuko Uchida. I wanted to see her fingers, and it was a valuable learning experience, as it felt like I was playing myself.

When I perform, whether in a concert hall or during practice, I consciously focus the sound in different directions, as I believe that the "direction" of the sound enhances the persuasiveness of the music.

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