How many concerts have you attended in a single day?

[Heather Harrison]

Yesterday, I attended three classical music concerts.  Upon thinking about this, I realized I had never attended this many in such a short period of time before, and I was happy that the city where I live provides such ample opportunities.  All three were at the University of Utah School of Music.  The first, in the early afternoon, was the harp ensemble.  They played a good variety of music from the late Renaissance to the present day.  It is nice to hear harps by themselves; usually, they just serve as embellishment for orchestral pieces.  The second, in the late afternoon, was the early music ensemble.  They played German music from the Middle Ages, Renaissance, and Baroque.  And finally, in the evening, the Lyric Opera Ensemble gave a very eclectic concert including a little bit of everything - Broadway, opera, religious music, and a hilarious cat-themed duet attributed to Rossini.  Total cost:  $3.50; the first two were free.  A thriving music school is certainly a great local resource.

Incidentally, I also attended a Utah Symphony concert the night before.  They performed Mendelssohn's Scottish Symphony, Spohr's Violin Concerto No. 8 (soloist:  concertmaster Ralph Matson), and Respighi's Pines of Rome.  Guest conductor Pavel Kogan coaxed a great performance out of the orchestra.  "Pines of Rome" definitely needs to be heard live.  I never was all that impressed with it in recordings, but the live performance brought out good qualities in it that I had not previously appreciated.

As much as I might complain about certain aspects of Salt Lake City (pollution, poor shopping, half-dead downtown), the classical music scene is definitely not on my list of complaints.

So has anyone here attended three or more concerts in a single day?  I wonder what the record is for this forum.

Heather

[Brian]

Three in one day is my record, too. I mentioned it here; it was a Rice University music marathon of six in one day (I missed one by arriving too late, another because I had to eat dinner - phooey! - and a third because I was just musicked out).

That marathon was part of two consecutive weekends of incredible quantities of concerts, approximately like this:
First weekend - one concert each Friday, Saturday, Sunday [opera, student orchestra, Houston Symphony]
Second weekend - three concerts on Saturday, one on Sunday [Rice marathon, Houston Symphony]

[johnQpublic]

Four

When I attend such events as Society of Composer meetings, they usually have one in the morning, two in the afternoon and one at night.

[gmstudio]

Yeah, probably 4 or so back in my college days.  BGSU used to host a "New Music" weekend with a whole battery of concerts in a 3-4 day period.  I'd go to just about everything.

[greg]

23

except my CD player is the performer, i'm the only audience member, and my room is the concert hall

[Brian]

23

except my CD player is the performer, i'm the only audience member, and my room is the concert hall

23 CDs in a day? Did you play them all the way through?

My music-listening record is nine hours in a day, I think. 2pm - midnight with a break for dinner.

[MishaK]

I don't think I ever went to several concerts in a day, I did, however, hear all 9 Beethoven symphonies and all 5 of his piano concertos at Carnegie Hall in December 2000 with Barenboim/Staatskapelle Berlin over the course of ten days or so (seven concerts).

[Renfield]

23 CDs in a day? Did you play them all the way through?

My music-listening record is nine hours in a day, I think. 2pm - midnight with a break for dinner.

I've gone over 15 hours.

And alas, the maximum number of concerts I've attended in one day is "one", due to their sparsity, here.

[jochanaan]

When I attended Nebraska All-State Fine Arts Camp on the University of Nebraska campus at Lincoln, almost every day there were morning rehearsals, afternoon recitals, and evening rehearsals or concerts.  This was in the 1970s, the summers after my junior and senior years in high school.  It felt like musicians' heaven!

[greg]

23 CDs in a day? Did you play them all the way through?

My music-listening record is nine hours in a day, I think. 2pm - midnight with a break for dinner.

lol, no, i just made up a number. But I wouldn't be surprised if i've had days where i've listened to 7 or 8 CDs before.

[Novi]

Last year at the Edinburgh Festival, I went to a handful of 3-short-concert evenings, although I'm not sure they really count, as each concert only featured one piece. A Beethoven symphony was paired with a Bruckner, with something else in between, but ticketed as 3 separate concerts with 3 different ensembles.

The ones I went to were
Beethoven 3; Mahler DLvdE; Bruckner 1
Beethoven 6; Brahms PC1; Bruckner 4
Beethoven 8; Messiaen Des Canyons Aux Etoiles; Bruckner 7

And the final evening of the series featured the combined weight of
Beethoven 9; the Hammerklavier; Bruckner 9
(I missed the Beethoven 9 but can imagine how draining that combination would be)

[Brian]

Beethoven 9; the Hammerklavier; Bruckner 9

Zoinks!   Sounds like the night a couple weeks ago where I listened to part of the Bruckner 7, Tristan's Prelude and Liebestod, the Mahler 5, and the Beethoven 9. But on CD. 

[jochanaan]

Last year at the Edinburgh Festival, I went to a handful of 3-short-concert evenings, although I'm not sure they really count, as each concert only featured one piece. A Beethoven symphony was paired with a Bruckner, with something else in between, but ticketed as 3 separate concerts with 3 different ensembles.

The ones I went to were
Beethoven 3; Mahler DLvdE; Bruckner 1
Beethoven 6; Brahms PC1; Bruckner 4
Beethoven 8; Messiaen Des Canyons Aux Etoiles; Bruckner 7

And the final evening of the series featured the combined weight of
Beethoven 9; the Hammerklavier; Bruckner 9
(I missed the Beethoven 9 but can imagine how draining that combination would be)

Ai-yi-yi!  Those are all massive pieces!  Even Beethoven 8 isn't something the orchestra (or audience) can take for granted, and all the others are downright demanding!  It's just a good thing there were different orchestras for each piece. *whew*