the urge to beat the crowds

BEETHOVEN’S FIFTH SYMPHONY concluded the program at Saturday night’s opening of the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra’s 63rd season, its 16th in the Veterans Memorial Auditorium and its first alongside a Masonic Temple resplendent in its newly useful life. The Providence Renaissance Hotel, which opened in June, adds a new dimension to the VMA experience.

Black Quarter (Gematria) - Double Leopards
Do You Dream In Colour? - Bill Nelson

A night at the symphony has always been, for me, as much about architecture as about music. An auditorium of such grandeur as the Vets blends aural and visual art in a realm that transcends both. Year after year, the virtuosity of the Philharmonic rises to new heights. You are lifted by the music onto a spiritual Cloud Nine that transports you from the standing ovation in the auditorium to one that awaits you outside as you turn to see that symphony of architecture, the Rhode Island State House.

Hashis Vers - Sebastien Tellier/Mr.Ozio/Sebastian

Goethe called architecture “frozen music” — “the tone of mind produced by architecture,” he added, “approaches the effect of music.” If our State House is the fourth movement of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, you could say that the first movement of the Fifth Symphony is the Masonic Temple.

Spitfire Parade - Swell Maps
Mrs. Blucher - Alastair Galbraith

you are stuck in your seat for a quarter of an hour that feels like many hours in a dentist’s chair