Trip Report: March 14 - 25, 2002
by Ted & Sylvia Blishak
CULTURAL TOUR OF THE PACIFIC COAST
SEATTLE
Sunday, March 17, 2002. St. Patrick's Day.
Such a pleasure to have a free day. We sleep in till 8:30am and then enjoy a Sunday Brunch at the Sheraton's Pike Market Restaurant. The price of the buffet is $18.95, versus $8.95 in Eugene and $13.95 in Portland. But you do get unlimited freshly-squeezed orange juice, a glass of champagne, and there is smoked salmon, gourmet cheeses, and a freshly prepared omelet. We have found that after a good breakfast, we can eat lightly the rest of the day, and this is a good breakfast.
Our concert today is at the new Benaroya Hall, just a five minute walk from the Sheraton. The Northwest Chamber Series has a 2:30pm program at the Nordstrom Recital Hall, the smaller of the two halls at Benaroya. Benaroya has been conveniently constructed at a major bus stop, so that if you are traveling by bus, you can get off right at the front door. One of the results of this busy location is that restrooms in the lobby are locked and available only to the many coffee, food and souvenir vendors here, giving the lobby the look of a shopping mall food court, cluttered with tables where guests can consume their fast food purchases. Stairs lead us beneath a chandelier reminiscent of Medusa's hairdo and into the multi gray toned "Bill and Melinda Gates Lobby" outside the "Nordstrom Hall". An unlighted hallway leads to the restrooms and water fountains. In lieu of a checkroom, there is a coat rack at the top of the stairs. As tickets are not required to enter the lobby, there is no security for your coat. There is another program going on in the larger main theatre of the building, which we had experienced two years ago, and this performance offers a manned coat check option downstairs.
We pick up a program and enter the hall to learn that the seating is European style, meaning there are only two aisles, one on each side wall. Since patrons seated in the center must traverse about 25 seats in order to find their location, there is lots of getting up and sitting down for those of us sitting near the aisles, in order to let in the latecomers.
When the performance begins we learn that the acoustics are such that the first work, a Beethoven Violin Sonata, "Spring", is so loud that we insert earplugs in order to hear it clearly. The same with the Schumann piano piece, "Kreisleriana". We decide not to return after intermission. We have attended chamber music performances in much smaller venues than this. It is as if the stark architecture of the hall itself acts as a horn, amplifying as well as projecting the sound to the audience. (In contrast, the main hall where the full symphony plays has attractive natural wood in curved and attractive designs, and outstanding acoustics.)
One of our readers asked me recently, "How long have you been interested in classical music?" Well, at least since my early teens. My mother is the daughter of an Eastern European immigrant laborer, but at age 13, when he told her to quit school and go to work, she was taken in by the family of a member of the school board, who was also an executive for the American Bridge Company. Here she was introduced to art, music, and literature. She apparently passed her interest in music on to me. As an early teen I struggled with the poor sound available on commercial radios and record players, wondering why they could not sound as good as the RCA High Fidelity speakers in the movie theater where I worked. Then a high school buddy demonstrated his father's home hi-fi system in 1953. I gave up my model train hobby and began to put the 40 cents per hour that I was making at the theater into hi-fi gear and records. One of my first purchases, in 1954, a Stephens Tru-Sonic 12" Coaxial speaker is still being used in my present home stereo system, along with its twin that I found later when stereo became the way to go.
Benaroya is just two blocks from the Pike Street Market, to which we walk. This is a well-known tourist spot that, in spite of numerous trips to Seattle, we have never visited. It reminds us somewhat of San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf, though more congested and noisy, with fruit stands, street musicians, stands selling baskets, toys, etc. The crowd's style runs to pierced body parts, purple hair, and camouflage-print clothing. The famous Inn at the Market is located right in the midst of this area. Since we are not in a shopping mood, we return to the calm of our room at the Sheraton. Tomorrow we head for Canada for a performance of the Vancouver Symphony.
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