Last night was the concert that I went to for my Music Appreciation class. We left the kids with my mom, and headed to Knoxville. While I write about going to Knoxville all the time, we rarely go into downtown Knoxville, so we spent about thirty minutes driving around trying to find the theater. The concert was at the Historic Tennessee Theater. Once we found the theater and parked in a nearby parking garage, we walked a few blocks down the street to a little restaurant called, The Bistro at the Bijou. We didn’t have a reservation, but they gave us a table with a good view of the gigantic picture of a naked woman. The bistro was full of people attending the symphony. Chris had the lamb chops with a blackberry glaze, green beans, and yam fries. After perusing the menu, I decided to try something I had never had before and ordered the shrimp and artichokes with capers. I found out that I don’t like artichokes or capers. The shrimp was great, though. We left there, and walked back up the street to the theater. I felt so glamorous walking arm in arm with Chris, my high heels clicking along the sidewalk. Chris looked mighty handsome all dressed up, and he smelled nice, too. With the tall buildings on either side of us, Chris said that it was reminiscent of when he lived in New York.
The Tennessee Theater was gorgeous inside. I had forgotten, but I had been there once before to a concert with a friend of mine when I was a teenager. With a little bit of imagination, it was almost like stepping back in time. The theater was ornately decorated in rich, plush carpets and draperies in gold, burgandys, and a sage green accent color. The enormously high, domed roof was gorgeous, and the seats were covered with a velvety burgandy uphosltery. Eighty percent of the audience were probably over fifty…maybe sixty…years old. They were oh, so glamorous. The men were in suits while the women had perfectly coifed hair, elegant clothes, and many of them were weariing fur coats.
When the lights dimmed, there was an air of expectancy that was almost palpable. The program for the night was Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun by Debussy, followed by La muse et le poete by Sain-Saens, and finally the Carson Newman acapella choir joined the KSO for Daphnis and Chloe by Ravel. I enjoyed it. I kept telling Chris to act like he had some class when he used the words “torturous”, “never-ending”, and “boring” to describe the last piece, which lasted about fifty minutes. I had to giggle, though, when he suggested that it would be better if they had Charlie Daniels come out with his fiddle for a solo. The last piece was a little long, since they performed both suites. If I understood correctly, it was the complete music for a ballet. I’m sure I would have not gotten bored with it if I were watching the ballet unfold to the music. Some of the parts were simply breathtaking. It is amazing the talent that those people have. If you are interested, you can click here for the night’s program.
All in all, it was a wonderful evening. What’s more romantic than dressing up, going to the city, and listening to French Romantic Music with your sweetheart?