Where to sit at a Concert?

[faulty_damper]

I have to opportunity to see Ivo Pogorelich in concert and am wondering where the best place to sit would be?  I don't care to be splattered with his blood in the nose bleed section of the Orchestra seats or be able to see his nose hairs.  What is important is what I can hear.

The seating arrangement from closest to the stage is
Orchestra ($65)
Orchestra boxes ($75)
Rear orchestra ($50)
Loge ($75)
1st tier ($65)
2nd tier ($30)

And is Pogorelich even worth listening to?  I have no idea.  But he will be playing Beethoven's piano sonata 32, Opus 111, which is what I really care to listen to.

[BoliverAllmon]

I saw him perform this recital last week. He is phenomal well worth the ticket price. Get right up on the stage. he will have the stage real dim and you won't be able to get a good look at his hands from afar.

boliver

[BoliverAllmon]

oh and by the way his beethoven is like butter. absolutely flowing. the real interesting thing to listen to is his feux follets. he doesn't play it terribly fast, but his phrasing is amazing. He played in a brand new way.

boliver

[Rach3]

Oh this one always bugs me... even at my hometown's local performing hall, where I've perhaps heard a hundred concerts (literally), I still have to arrive very early to figure out where to sit (no assigned seating). Whenever I get to see a real high-caliber concert (Ax, NYP) it always means getting a really overpriced back-of-orchestra seat with simply awful acoustics. Face it: Atlanta has awful acoustics. Avery Fisher is pretty bad too, if you're in the back. In fact almost every building I've been in has generally lousy acoustics.

Almost always the best region is dead-center orchestra somewhere between rows 7-15 (depending on size of hall, rake...); if you have a choice it's better to be slightly further back than too far off to one side. Some halls have decent front rows - in most, the front row is about a yard below the stage and the sound goes over your head about ten feet in the air... you find yourself looking almost straight up. NEVER be under the balcony or within a close distance of being under the balcony. I mean it - never! It's possibly worse than not going to the concert in the first place. I never liked being on the balconies, the tiers on the side are simply pointless, the big one in the center back (forgot what its called) is sometimes ok, usually works better for very large orchestras (think mahler) where you need to be farther back and above for balance. Usually this is not helpful for piano concerts, solo or not (btw what is Pogorelich playing?) - it is much better to be close to the instrument and absorbing its sound than up in the balcony 'spectating' it from a distance (it sounds weak). Oh another factor - pianos obviously project in a straight line, if you're not alligned with the piano lid you will not hear the full power of the instrument. So being centerized is a must. If they don't give you a choice... what I usually do is just choose the orchestra section, it's always a gamble you know, but you at least have a chance at getting a good seat... and often if people don't show up you can try to sneak to another, better seat in your section (I love doing this! Except if you're unlucky some spoiled yuppies might show up for their seats after all, but they ALWAYS show up in between movements, or during movements, you know, and cause problems, and everyone has to move, I know they did this to me once at a SLATKIN concert! I mean omg! Front center and Slatkin conducting brahms 4 - and they don't show up until DURING the performance, interuppting hundreds of people... but I'm not resentfull, no I'm NOT, I don't mind people walking around in concerts, coming in late, or leaving randomly because they're bored, or have to go to the bathroom twice in a single movement, or have cell phones, or dropping COINS onto hard floors and letting them resonate for fifteen seconds, or stupid people whispering things like "that's an oboe!" "no it's a trombone!" or "so what's the big deal about mahler anyway?" (some don't even bother to WHISPER) or not applauding properly, or applauding between movements (ubiquituous) or not giving standing ovations when they are obviously deserved, or giving them when they're not, just out of habit (well actually I'm quite guilty of this...) or walking out of the hall IMMEDIATLY after the last note making it look like they're standing but they're actually walking out (ha! they'll miss the encore) or reading program notes during emotionally powerful passages because they don't care, or reading novels, or newspapers, or listening to iPods ( ? ) or playing gameboys (!!! this happened once during MAHLER 3!!!) or when stupid architects spend half a billion dollars on huge art-deco halls with acoustics so bad the walls literally suck the sound out of the air leaving a desolate dry silence because they think the appearence of the hall is more important, or young couples who think symphony concerts are 'romantic' and go to a shostakovich symphony, or people who don't understand shostakovich, or are confused by prokofiev, or music in general? Or who don't appreciate mahler! And sometimes the tickets are overpriced too, and they don't distinguish between sixth row center and eightieth row far left...

[Rach3]

I'd go with orchestra.

[Shagdac]

Pianist only:

Mid to Upper Orchestra section, middle left, lined up so I can see the pianist, his hands and the keyboard!

Orchestra and Pianist:

Upper 1st Tier/Mezzanine...this way I can view the entire orchestra at the same time.

Orchestra Boxes okay if centered, but if on the right or left I personally don't like having to turn. However they're great if you're going with a group and get one whole section for your group only. Also, the ones here have they're own bathrooms, foyer area with seperate entrances. Mostly the orchestra boxes are for people "wanting to BE seen, not to see"!

S

[faulty_damper]

(btw what is Pogorelich playing?)

https://www.performances.org/performances/performances.asp?PerformanceID=409

Pogorelich will be playing Beethoven's piano sonatas Opus 78 and 111, Rachmaninov's Musical Moments, and Liszt's transcendental etudes, including Feux Follets.

I think I've sat on the first tier once several years ago during a symphony.  It wasn't too far away and the sound was good.  The second tier might be too far back.

But I'm looking at the seating arrangement and I can purchase the ticket online and it will show me the exact seating I will get.  It doesn't look like the orchestra seating will be good because it will be off to the side and the first tier is too far to the left but the second tier, I can get almost dead center.  So I guess I'll be sitting sencond tier.

[Rach3]

Sounds like an awesome program!

I guess in your situation second tier would be the best compromise, depending on how far away it actually is.

Pianist only:

Mid to Upper Orchestra section, middle left, lined up so I can see the pianist, his hands and the keyboard!

Orchestra and Pianist:

Upper 1st Tier/Mezzanine...this way I can view the entire orchestra at the same time.

I used to care about watching the performers... when I was about ten. A good view is almost always a tradeoff from good acoustics, which for me are far more important. The left of the performer is especially bad, very little music is projecting in that direction.