Main Hall, Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, Netherlands. Orchestra (Seat 13-32, 97.25 Euros).
At the conclusion of the concert.
Program
Concerto grosso in G major, op. 6, No. 1 by Handel.
Suite nr. 3 in G (from Water Music, HWV 348-350) by Handel.
Suite (from 'Dardanus') by Rameau.
Cantate 'Il delirio amoroso,' HWV 99 '(Da quel giorno fatale)' by Handel.
A program - available in Dutch only - costs 3 Euros.
We are going on a river cruise in France, and decided to tag on "pre-" and "post-cruise" visits to Amsterdam and Hamburg, partly/mostly for the opportunity to visit concert halls in the two cities.
Concertgebouw shows up in many lists as one of the top concert halls in the world, and the current NY Phil music director Jaap van Zweden started his music career as the concertmaster of the (Royal) Concertgebouw Orchestra (at age 19, the youngest ever). For our Amsterdam stay I would attend two concerts. Anne also came to this one, and I would come by myself to a second one.
Except for the Water Music piece, I am not familiar with the Handel pieces on today's program. They are all accessible enough. I was surprised at how long the cantata was, and that the soprano sang a considerable amount.
I didn't find the Rameau piece particularly interesting, that's probably due to lack of preparation on my part.
The orchestra used for the concert was small: 7 first violins, for instance, so I didn't get to hear what a full orchestra would sound like.
A performer has to walk down a stair case for the performance and the curtain call. In this case the soprano Lenneke Ruiten.
The conductor and the soloist had to walk down a stair case, rather long at 20 to 25 steps. For today the two women had no problem, but I can imagine some of the older performers (Mehta and Blomstedt come to mind) must dread having to come up and down, more than once because of the curtain call. The orchestra members climb up a set of stairs to get to the podium, so there doesn't seem to be an easy way to get there.
I didn't buy a program because it costs 3 euros, and is available only in Dutch. It did contain the lyrics translated from Italian to Dutch and Spanish (if I heard it right). On the other hand, drinks are included in the ticket price, and there is no limit to numbers of drinks (wine, juice, and soft drinks). The main stations were quite busy, but I came across one in the back that was quiet.
Typing this a week later, and having attended both concerts, I remember remarking to myself "what is so great about the acoustics?" While there was nothing wrong with it, I didn't find the sound particularly clean, or the instruments (including the voice) sounding particularly refined.
The Concertgebouw is located in the museum area, right next to the van Gogh museum.
On the side are names of different composers. The hall seats about 2,000 people.
There were a few scattered empty seats. As I type this entry I found out I had booked seats that were one row apart (both aisle), but just assumed they were adjoining. No one tapped on my shoulder to complain, either we lucked out, or the seat holder was polite and found another seat.
We got into Amsterdam yesterday. This morning we visited Rijsmuseum. I was surprisingly awake for the concert.
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