Hearing Emanuel Ax for the First Time...Barely

Several months ago, I received an email notification that Emanuel Ax, Yo-Yo Ma, and Leonidas Kavakos were coming to Hill Auditorium to perform a concert of Beethoven piano trios. Yo-Yo Ma would be the main draw for most people, having branched out throughout his career to appeal to many types of listeners.  For me, however, the draw was Emanuel Ax.  I've been listening to recordings by Emanuel Ax of piano music for as long as I can remember, and that being said, he's aging and I don't know how much longer he'll be performing live.  So, I bit the bullet, shelled over the $100 for a nosebleed seat, and waited for my ticket to arrive it in the mail.

(I must add here that I wasn't trying to exclude John from the experience.  I just knew that with little knowledge of the music, it wasn't worth it to pay $100 for him to go.  He could go to a free student recital at Michigan and have the same experience.)

Within a day or two, my ticket arrived in the mail, and I tucked it away in my purse where I keep all tickets and gift cards.  And I waited.

The concert began at 8:00.  I wanted to give myself plenty of time, because I know parking around Hill can be a nightmare.  So I left the apartment at 7:00 (it's only ten minutes to Hill from the apartment).

I pulled onto the street where the "freer" parking structure sits.  It's further from Hill but doesn't usually fill up.  There was a bit of a line, but nothing bad.  I kind of chuckled though when I saw an Asian family, running out of the parking structure towards hill like little bats out of hell.  Playing into the stereotype, I thought "Asians are always so uptight"...and followed that with my traditional thought, "And I wish I was as successful as they are."

Let me tell you people, I SHOULD HAVE REALIZED THEN.

I found a parking spot a couple of levels underground and walked up the stairs behind an elderly couple.  I was surprised to find that once they hit the pavement, I could hardly keep up with them.

ANOTHER CLUE.

When I walked through the doors at Hill, I was so pleased with myself that there weren't any people.  "Wow!" I thought to myself, "I got here early enough that I beat everyone.  I'm so amazing."

I even took time to go in the women's bathroom which had absolutely no line, nor any woman in it.

"This is amazing.  Why don't I use this restroom every time we come to Hill?"  I even took out my phone and checked FB while sitting on the toilet....

YES, YOU PROBABLY SEE WHAT WAS HAPPENING...BUT I DIDN'T.

As I walked out of the bathroom, I heard an announcement overhead that said everyone should take their seats as soon as possible.  I didn't hear the rest of it (or I wasn't actively listening), but I thought, "They sure are preparing for the rush of people they are expecting to come!"

I sauntered up the stairs and was surprised to see a bit of a line at the door.  Why were these people here so early?  I had brought my book club book and was excited to sit down and have a half hour to read before the concert began.

As soon as I got past the ticket checker, I SAW THAT EVERY SEAT WAS FILLED EXCEPT FOR MINE.  EVERY. SINGLE. SEAT.

And the announcer guy was on stage.

No joke, I looked down at my ticket and saw that the concert had a start time of 7:30.

Well let me tell you.  I was embarrassed to walk in so late, but at the same time, not knowing I was late was completely delightful.  I wondered as I sat down if this is how John feels, going through life, because if I had known how late I was, I also would have been exiting the parking cave like my Asian bat friends.

Emanuel Ax was perfection.  He's getting frail and thus the trio didn't exit the stage between numbers, but his hands, eyes and upper body are still young.  Something happens to me physiologically when I hear perfect piano playing, and it was only a few seconds before I was taking a deep breath and feeling the weight of the world leaving my body.

As a side note, there were SO MANY hoity-toity people in the crowd, and I lost faith in many of them when they applauded after the first movement.  Yo-Yo Ma was totally cool and rested his bow elbow on the piano and had a tete-a-tete with Emanuel while waiting for the applause to die down.  And the standing ovation before the intermission?  FAKERS!  And seriously, I wanted to vomit into my book, listening to the women behind me during intermission talk about the famous venues they had visited. It was a serious "I walked on the moon" moment.

But I guess that's what a famous classical artist does--draws in those people who value name recognition, sells out a venue, and humors them through their ignorance.  (Granted, a couple of us are there for sentimental reasons, appreciating every moment of the performance.) Thankfully though, the musicians still have the nerve to close the doors after the performance starts and not let the latecomers in until 25 minutes after the first trio is done.

Good thing I wasn't late! ;-)