Yesterday, I had some unavoidable business to attend to, so
I took the day off.
Though technically, Wednesday is already my regular day off anyway.
Usually the regular concerts fall on Thursdays or Fridays depending on venue availability,
but this time it was unusually on a Wednesday.
It seems a considerable number of complimentary tickets—
ostensibly from some corporate patron member
（actually, I have the authority to issue about 5 sets of invitations myself）
were distributed widely,
so the area around me, which is usually quite empty, was packed with people.
Naturally, people were oblivious, so there were quite a few with poor manners.
Man, does that crinkly vinyl fabric noise really carry.
I don't remember if I was like that at first,
so I just put up with it.
But talking quietly is a different matter from being oblivious—come on.
The performance itself was excellent.
Maestro Yuzo Toyama, who is 91 years old,
came out to the applause,
and after the performance, the way he scurried back to the green room
amid the clapping seemed oddly familiar—
it reminded me of Yoda from Star Wars.
Actually, if Maestro Toyama really put his effort into it,
he might be able to leap from seat to seat around the hall
the way Yoda did when fighting Palpatine.
The reason my seat area is usually empty
is because I've had a regular seat in a hidden gem spot on the second floor side section.
Even in the center section downstairs, the sound is better than in the front half.
Which seats are designated S-class and which are A or B class
is decided not by the hall but by the orchestra,
and while mostly the same, there are slight variations by orchestra.
My regular seat is an A-class next to S-class, so it's essentially like S-class.
The back area of the first-floor center section, the spot with the best acoustics,
is usually always empty except for the ends of the rows
（kind of like the square hole in a mailbox）.
From what I hear, that's reserved
in case some big executive from a major corporate patron like Yamada ○ome or Rikru○ru shows up unannounced—
they can't say "there are no seats available"—
so they keep it empty. Yesterday though, even that was filled.
Yep, only well-dressed old guys sitting there.
The poster below the postcard in the opening image is this one,
but I'm not going.
It's a children's program like "Introduction to Orchestra" by Daisuke Yokoyama, the TV personality.
Separate from this sort of thing, I occasionally come across programs like
prenatal concerts, so-called "fetal education,"
but to my knowledge,
Satie's "Dried-up Embryo" or
Mahler's "Kindertotenlieder" have never been selected for those programs.
The next concert is July 22nd (Friday),
but separately, there's a possibility I'll close temporarily on July 12th (Tuesday).
Or rather, it's almost decided.
I apologize for the inconvenience, and I appreciate your understanding.
I took the day off.
Though technically, Wednesday is already my regular day off anyway.
Usually the regular concerts fall on Thursdays or Fridays depending on venue availability,
but this time it was unusually on a Wednesday.
It seems a considerable number of complimentary tickets—
ostensibly from some corporate patron member
（actually, I have the authority to issue about 5 sets of invitations myself）
were distributed widely,
so the area around me, which is usually quite empty, was packed with people.
Naturally, people were oblivious, so there were quite a few with poor manners.
Man, does that crinkly vinyl fabric noise really carry.
I don't remember if I was like that at first,
so I just put up with it.
The performance itself was excellent.
Maestro Yuzo Toyama, who is 91 years old,
came out to the applause,
and after the performance, the way he scurried back to the green room
amid the clapping seemed oddly familiar—
it reminded me of Yoda from Star Wars.
Actually, if Maestro Toyama really put his effort into it,
he might be able to leap from seat to seat around the hall
the way Yoda did when fighting Palpatine.
The reason my seat area is usually empty
is because I've had a regular seat in a hidden gem spot on the second floor side section.
Even in the center section downstairs, the sound is better than in the front half.
Which seats are designated S-class and which are A or B class
is decided not by the hall but by the orchestra,
and while mostly the same, there are slight variations by orchestra.
My regular seat is an A-class next to S-class, so it's essentially like S-class.
The back area of the first-floor center section, the spot with the best acoustics,
is usually always empty except for the ends of the rows
（kind of like the square hole in a mailbox）.
From what I hear, that's reserved
in case some big executive from a major corporate patron like Yamada ○ome or Rikru○ru shows up unannounced—
they can't say "there are no seats available"—
so they keep it empty. Yesterday though, even that was filled.
The poster below the postcard in the opening image is this one,
but I'm not going.
It's a children's program like "Introduction to Orchestra" by Daisuke Yokoyama, the TV personality.
Separate from this sort of thing, I occasionally come across programs like
prenatal concerts, so-called "fetal education,"
but to my knowledge,
Satie's "Dried-up Embryo" or
Mahler's "Kindertotenlieder" have never been selected for those programs.
The next concert is July 22nd (Friday),
but separately, there's a possibility I'll close temporarily on July 12th (Tuesday).
Or rather, it's almost decided.
I apologize for the inconvenience, and I appreciate your understanding.