I was lucky to be invited to last Friday’s Symphony performance by their blogger extraordinaire, Eddie Silva. He organized Bloggers’ Night, luring us in with promises of free tickets, drinks, and a chance to mingle with fellow bloggers.  In exchange we promised a blog post about the experience. Genius!The Pulitzer collaborates regularly with the Symphony, so they’re no strangers around the Pulitzer (I got a kick out of trying to find musicians on stage that had performed here in the past).  But this time, I enjoyed going down the street to hang on their turf for once.   Listening to the performance at Powell Symphony Hall, was in strong contrast to our stark, modern concrete.   At the Pulitzer, performances are very intimate, but I loved being in the middle of that large hall, dressed up, and surrounded by beautiful gold gilding and chandeliers.

Powell is one of my favorite buildings in St. Louis, and each time I walk through its doors – either for a performance in front, or for a meeting in back – I’m always reminded of my childhood.  I remember going to the Christmas concerts, and the main lobby with its red velvet, gold and mirrors, decked out in its holiday best, was the pinnacle of elegance.  My favorite part of the night was always walking up and down that grand staircase.  I still get a kick out of it.  If I worked at Powell, I’d use that staircase every day.  Or eat my lunch on it.  Though that’s probably not allowed.

We were lucky to be able to watch the Carnegie Hall preview performance.  Here it’s mentioned on Alex Ross’ blog, The Rest is Noise (he also gives a well-deserved shout-out to Eddie!).  It featured the full orchestra (also something we never get to see at the Pulitzer!) performing Wagner’s Good Friday Music from Parsifal and Sibelius’ Symphony No. 5.  They invited two incredible guest artists – cellist, Anssi Karttunen, (his fingers moved so fast, I could barely keep up) who performed on Zimmermann’s Canto di speranza and Mirage by Saariaho, which he performed with soprano Karita Matilla.  My favorite piece of the night was when she sang Sibelius’ Luonnota.  We were sitting towards the back of the hall, and even at that distance, she was completely captivating.

I enjoyed getting outside of the Pulitzer’s walls to experience one of our regular collaborators in all their full Powell Hall performance glory.  I hope I can not only finagle an invite to the next Bloggers Summit (cough cough) but also return the favor very soon.