Last May I went to the first David Garrett concert of my life (under the link you can read my review of it) and I left the scene with a feeling that I could bear to have some more. So, I didn’t rest on my laurels too long and started to hunt on DG’s website for my next target. That is how I have found the concert announced for February 16, 2014 in Naples.

The ticket sales were said to start at midnight on Day X, so I planned to stay awake till late at night to prevent any quick-handed Italians to snatch the tickets for good seats from me. And there came across the first surprise because in those lands midnight on Day X means midnight on Day X-1. Therefore when out of no reason I checked the ticket sale portal in the morning of Day X, I had to learn that tickets were already available. What!? Of course I started to click like a savage beast since I had picked where to sit well before and I needed to have the chosen seat. I proudly report that I have got it. And as I felt the heat of shopping I could not stop myself from purchasing 2 tickets at once, though at the time I had no idea who I could drag to Naples for a classical concert. I humbly report that the lucky winner was my sister.

When the tickets were in my pocket, there was nothing else left to do than arranging the journey. Thanks to the fact that I happened to buy the tickets months before the show again, I had plenty of time to prepare the trip comfortably. The most important step was to choose the accommodation. I followed a simple principle: the closer to the show’s venue, the better. After all, the concert is the only steady point in our programme and our only reason to travel there, so we should set it as the base. Luckily I have found a small yet beautiful hotel in Galleria Umberto across Teatro di San Carlo, so technically we just had to cross the street to reach the venue.

To avoid getting overexcited while preparing for the show, in Vienna I cooled myself down with the thought it was a concert, not a date. But this time the concert was to be held in a magnificent theatre, so I gave in to my inner needs and prettied myself up. Only to give the venue what it deserves! So, I put on my newly acquired push-up bra and a little black dress with a tasteful V-cut, the kind which - without turning you to be a laughing-stock - allows you to show off the proof that Mother Nature has been kind enough to give you breasts. The plan was perfect but the implementation has brought some surprise. As I had not checked the set together at home, I realised one and a half hour before the concert that due to my push-up bra and V cut dress combo I was facing Miss Busty Brunette in the mirror. Well, I didn’t plan it like that but I didn’t have another dress in my suitcase, so I was to wear what I had and decided to avoid any eye contact. A footnote: thanks to my peripheral eyesight I couldn’t ignore when leaving Galleria Umberto, a man, with his woman in his arms (!), took a good look at me. At first, out of my innocent nature I looked for an excuse for him but then he simply turned back to take a second look when we crossed the street to the theatre. (No excuse.) It turned out that they attended the concert, too.

After such a flattering experience, we reached the theatre which is simply fabulous inside.

Of course, there were some who really were after the music. Their average age was double of mine and they took half or more like the whole row behind us. But that is for later. Since I did not know whether I get scolded or not if I start taking pictures, I acted like a good girl and asked one of the female staff, showing the newly arriving people to their seats, if I may do so. Her answer was yes, for the time being it was OK but during the concert it is forbidden. Aha, great! And they meant it so seriously that they announced it not only in Italian but in English, too, when the concert started. The will is to be respected but it was not enough to prevent people taking pictures stealthily. The one who was the most unbothered by the mentioned will, of those I noticed, was a chick sitting in the row in front of us. She just grabbed her DSLR camera and took pictures whenever she felt like. Compared to her I was an amateur trying to hide taking pictures. If I had done it openly I could have taken good quality pics. Maybe next time.

There were two pieces in the programme of the concert. The first one was Brahms’ op. 77 violin concerto, the second one was the 8th symphony of Dvořák.

Please do not expect me to analyse the pieces, I am no expert. Moreover I can’t say anything about the interpretation either because I have only listened to classical music on a regular basis since I found DG. Anything else is open for discussion. For example, I can tell you that the Maestro and the conductor, Yutaka Sado, hit the stage together. By the time the red chair for the soloist (which can be seen in the video footage recorded during the show on Saturday) got removed, our dear violinist carried out the whole concerto standing. And we could watch it from this far. The picture below was taken without zoom to demonstrate the distance.

A little zoom won’t hurt though:

Oh gosh, where did he get those blue fur shoes from??? No comment. While I tried taking pictures in secret, luckily I had enough time to enjoy the view …khmm… the music. I was happy to realize that I jumped back in time, perhaps it was the effect of the movie The Devil’s Violinist about the life of Paganini with the Maestro in the leading role, but all of a sudden I felt like I knew what it was like when this kind of music was the only genre and what it is like when a soloist mesmerizes his audience. No matter how many video clips I have watched, they have got nothing to do with the real thing when you can enjoy it live. As I am a generous person, I will put a video under this link which has already showed up on Youtube. It is a small part of the Brahms’ violin concerto. Important note that it is not me who recorded it! And even though I have just explained that it is not even close to the real experience, it is more than nothing.

Maestro is on stage, the audience is watching his every move and he obviously avoids having any eye contact with the audience. With the fellow musicians and the conductor he had communication. Of course, it is possible that on stage you cannot see the audience because of the lights but somehow it hasn’t been so evident so far. However, applause didn’t fail to happen between the movements. No matter how much the strict fans of classical music disliked it they could only roll their eyes. In the presence of the rebel violinist they didn’t dare to call to order those who didn’t know or broke on purpose the unwritten rules.

Applause flattered the Maestro in abundance at the end of the concerto, so he came back on stage with an encore playing Il Carnevale di Venecia of Paganini. After that there was an intermission and much to my regret, my favourite violinist didn’t show up during the second part. The Dvořák piece, by the way, proved to be a very pleasant surprise, I liked it more than the Brahms one. So I take this opportunity to thank you, dear Maestro, for this new gem of my education in music, since without you I would not have been there to hear it. I would highly appreciate it if I could express my gratitude in person. With love from the bottom of my heart. For the music!

Khm… Let us get back to the Dvořák piece. It was a joy even to watch Yutaka Sado conduct, not mentioning to hear the result of it. He conducted in a manner where he completely gave himself up to the music, sometimes he jumped up, sometimes he crouched down. There was applause between the movements at first. But the rebel violinist was no longer on stage, so the true followers of classical music had the feeling it was time to take their lost power back. Suddenly we heard that the hissing of the classical music fans trying to hold the applause back was way louder than the rule-breaking action between the movements. Whatta! At first I clapped, too, but after the second movement I got discouraged as the hissing got stronger. Just a bit though, so I prepared to clap again after the third movement. But when the movement ended my sister whispered to my ear: “If you clap, we’ll get killed by the elders!” LOOLLL I didn’t clap. Till the end when the elders’ loud bravos marked the end of the piece, the proper time to express how much you liked the performance of the orchestra.

Applause flattered Yutaka Sado in abundance, too, but there was no encore this time, so the audience slowly billowed out of the theatre. We also left the scene to look for dinner since we needed some energy for the programme of the coming day. If you are interested, you can read about our Forrest Gump trip in Naples here (in Hungarian): part one, part two.

The last picture once more. For the view.

The original post of this review is in Hungarian which you can find under the link.
A big hug and thank you my dear friend airisu7425 who was kind enough to check my translation and English phrasing.