Real classical music geeks might have though they misread (no) or I misspelt (no) this blogs title.
I'll explain.
When we were planning this journey - 'American desert' - we looked at flights to Salt Lake City, Phoenix, Tucson. But they were expensive and never direct (we're speaking from Europe!).
Then I read an article about the HWY1 (LA-SF), and brought that into the negotiations.
We checked San Francisco, we saw reasonable ticket fares, we saw direct flights, we saw Michael Tilson Thomas (MTT) was to conduct the Mahler 9 with his orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony (SFS) and we saw there were two beautiful seats left for the Sunday matinee.
We're Mahler addicts and believe me, a Mahler 9 conducted by MTT with his own orchestra is a chance in a lifetime!
So we booked tickets for the matinee and found a good flight to get there.
So far so good.
Not good when in SF Pieter picked up a paper and read: musicians of the SFS on strike.
Friday's concert was cancelled.
So after the St. Patricks Party we crossed the street towards the Davies Hall to check and ran into picketing members of the Orchestra. We got into a long talk with the various Orchestra members and knew, when we walked back to our hotel, that there wouldn't be a concert on Sunday.
Sh*t.
(The strike was about bonuses and pay rises for the executives, a half billion dollar extension of the building and pay -healthcare- and pension cuts for the musicians. Holland or America - it seems to be the same everywhere!)
So here we are:
Without this concert we would probably not have gone to SF to start our trip. Then we would have missed this great city.
And now, with Sunday afternoon free, we'll have more time for the appointment planned before the matinee concert: meeting Wayne Vitale, attending a rehearsal of his Gamelan, and the lunch he invited us to.
I'll explain.
When we were planning this journey - 'American desert' - we looked at flights to Salt Lake City, Phoenix, Tucson. But they were expensive and never direct (we're speaking from Europe!).
Then I read an article about the HWY1 (LA-SF), and brought that into the negotiations.
We checked San Francisco, we saw reasonable ticket fares, we saw direct flights, we saw Michael Tilson Thomas (MTT) was to conduct the Mahler 9 with his orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony (SFS) and we saw there were two beautiful seats left for the Sunday matinee.
We're Mahler addicts and believe me, a Mahler 9 conducted by MTT with his own orchestra is a chance in a lifetime!
So we booked tickets for the matinee and found a good flight to get there.
So far so good.
Not good when in SF Pieter picked up a paper and read: musicians of the SFS on strike.
Friday's concert was cancelled.
So after the St. Patricks Party we crossed the street towards the Davies Hall to check and ran into picketing members of the Orchestra. We got into a long talk with the various Orchestra members and knew, when we walked back to our hotel, that there wouldn't be a concert on Sunday.
Sh*t.
(The strike was about bonuses and pay rises for the executives, a half billion dollar extension of the building and pay -healthcare- and pension cuts for the musicians. Holland or America - it seems to be the same everywhere!)
So here we are:
Without this concert we would probably not have gone to SF to start our trip. Then we would have missed this great city.
And now, with Sunday afternoon free, we'll have more time for the appointment planned before the matinee concert: meeting Wayne Vitale, attending a rehearsal of his Gamelan, and the lunch he invited us to.
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