Symphony

On Saturday evening, Hotness and I went to the symphony to listen to Beethoven's 9th performed by the Seattle Symphony at Benaroya Hall, along with one of my co-workers and his wife.
Here we are:

(r-l: Hotness, Doug, his wife Roxanne)

From the program event guide for the evening:
"No other work approaches Beethoven's Ninth in its heartfelt humanity and ultimate optimism, another powerful reason it continues to hold sway in our hearts."

I LOVE this piece of classical music more than any other.
Hotness and I first went to hear it at the symphony when we started dating, and I jumped at the chance to see it again with her when they played it this year.
Whenever I play this (in the car, at home, etc...) it is never played quietly. In fact, I will gladly drown out the bass of the cars around me while I'm playing this in traffic.

There are four 'movements' (or separate sections) to this hour-plus long symphony.
The fourth movement involves the choir along with the orchestra and is the part most recognized as the "Ode to Joy".
When they get to this part I start to get goose-bumps, and this last evening was no different.
Here is the part of the fourth movement I'm talking about.
It's about 9-1/2 minutes long (the actual fourth part is 23+ minutes long) and specifically you'll want to pay attention to the 6:50 minute mark. (Be sure to turn up the speakers!)


What an awesome piece of music!
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Afterwards, we went to our favorite late-night, post-performance hang-out: Pomodoro.
Hotness and I shared an appetizer of seared Ahi tuna:
We almost got the calamari, but our waitress pointed out that the calamari is a staple item on the menu while the Ahi is only seasonal. We are so glad we decided to go with her suggestion. Absolutely wonderful!

For dinner, Hotness had a Cannelloni stuffed with lamb.
I had the special, Black Berkshire Pancetta:
Oh my goodness! Melt-in-your-mouth pork in a peach demi-glace. Fantastic!
The chef/owner asked which of us was having the pancetta. When I told him I was he said, "I'm jealous!" And well he should be. It was marvelous!

Last year during the Emerald City Comic Con, Hotness and I took a group of our friends here for dinner. It was a big hit and we plan on doing this again for the 2008 convention.
The staff is very friendly, and since they've gotten to know us it's always nice to bring new people to the restaraunt and be treated extra special.

All in all, a great evening;
The symphony in Seattle and great food at one of our favorite restaraunts.