The DSO... FINALLY

About a month ago Thomas called me in the middle of the day on a Friday to ask if it would be possible for us to get him to the Detroit Symphony Orchestra to see a performance. I asked when. He said, "November 21st." I quickly checked my calendar: no concerts that he was committed to, we had no appointments other than Frederick's music but that meant Simon could take him. Sure, no problem. I asked him if I had to get the tickets or the teacher would and we would pay her back. Thomas supposed (though he wasn't certain and was too anxious to ask) that we had to buy them ourselves. So I went online and, indeed, there was a concert on the 21st at 10:45 am (which I thought made sense then that he had to ask to make sure it was ok to miss school to go). So I ordered the tickets and a parking pass. Then, earlier this week, when I checked in with him, he raged, "NOT THIS FRIDAY--THURSDAY!" And I didn't have to buy the tickets, the teacher had them already. Well, that was annoying but not the end of the world. THEN Thursday we were hit with a massive snow storm (not as bad as Buffalo--we didn't get 9' of snow in 48 hours) and roads were closing all around us. Rumors of journeys on the I69 which would normally take 45 minutes were taking 5 hours. PLUS Simon was committed (and had been committed) to attend a talk our department was hosting, as well as taking the speaker out to dinner. So, no trip to the DSO. Anger, resentment and self-pity were only a few of the moods we were subjected to for failing Thomas so drastically. So, I bought MORE tickets for Saturday (last night) and hoped the weather would improve. And did it! It was in the high 40s yesterday and, though we got rain, it was warm and washed away all the show and ice. (So not we can see the leaves we hadn't raked up. That's on today's list of things to do.) So, Thomas and I set out (with Grandma coming along for the experience of it) last night around dinner time. It was an easy, though long, drive; about an hour straight south to downtown Detroit. We got off the freeway, drove 2 or 3 blocks on very empty streets and there we were--at the massive parking lot. Once inside we were treated very well by all who worked there. The inside of the concert hall is lovely and, best of all, the acoustics are wonderful. We were all very high up in the air but could hear every single tiny note.

I had never hear any of the songs before except the last one, Gershwin's American in Paris. Indeed, the conductor announced that we would be unfamiliar with all the music (how did he know?--were they unpublished?) but didn't explain. All we were told is that they were all by Americans. Well, familiar or not, they were wonderful and the audience seemed to enjoy themselves immensely.

I don't know who these people are but they look happy to be there.