“I had heard about it, even written about it, but I had never lived it—the new ‘in-the-round’ or ‘vineyard’ seating … at the New York Philharmonic’s newly reconfigured David Geffen Hall,” writes Peggy Taylor in Friday’s (12/30) West Side Rag, which focuses on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. “In early December, I treated myself to a seat in the steeply raked parterre section on the stage, and found myself so close to the orchestra that I could almost reach out and rub the tuba player’s head.… And given the hall’s superb new acoustics, I could hear every toot of the trumpets, every whine of the oboes, every growl of the double basses, every ping of the triangle, and every roll of the kettle drums. An added bonus was seeing all the expressions and gestures of the conductor.… I could hardly contain myself when Shostakovich’s fiery Symphony No. 12 ended and the musicians, after having acknowledged the applause of the hall, turned around, bowed to us in-the-rounders, and gave us big smiles. Afterwards, they even chatted with some of us who leaned over … to congratulate them.”
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