Beethoven and Carmina Burana with the Philadelphia Orchestra in Saratoga
As far as I'm concerned, summer's all about seeing music outdoors, whether it's at the beach, in a park, or out of town. Better still if it's in a place that has multiple forms of entertainment, such as Saratoga Springs, NY with its many fine restaurants, shops, gardens and, well, horses. For me, a good day in Saratoga has a formula: go to the farmers market in the morning, fill your water bottle at High Rock Spring, then check out the shops on Broadway before heading to the track. After that, it's a quick dinner at the Hall of Springs, followed by a performance next door at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center.
They do all kinds of shows at SPAC: everything from dance, to jazz, to rock and pop. The multi-purpose amphitheater is similar in size to the Koussevitzky Shed at Tanglewood (5100 seats), but in a different configuration, with two levels of highly raked seats down to the stage below. (An additional 20,000 can be accommodated on the even-steeper lawn outside, though the view from there has never been great.) Fringed by tall pines and a running stream, it is an attractive place to spend a warm summer evening, as it was last Saturday when I went to hear the Philadelphia Orchestra, which has been performing at SPAC since it opened its doors in 1966. (The amphitheater was designed with the orchestra in mind, under the guidance of its former music director Eugene Ormandy.)
Attendance has long been problematic for the Philly concerts at SPAC - last Saturday, the amphitheater was less than half-full - but noone seemed to mind, what with New Kids on the Block coming in the following night. For a while now, classical music has been a loss leader at SPAC, with most of the center's income derived from the shows booked by Live Nation, many of which sell out.
Continue reading "Beethoven and Carmina Burana with the Philadelphia Orchestra in Saratoga" »