At the Phoenix symphony, the cheap seats are right up front, Dr. G and I discovered last night. Mostly what you get to see from row three are the black-clad legs of all the violinists. We couldn’t see any woodwinds at all, except for the occasional flash of an oboe. Which was fine, because hearing is more important than seeing at the symphony, even if you mostly hear the group of instruments facing you most directly. I was happy to be in the front; it gave me extra occasion to swish my puffy flame-orange skirt as we trod down the aisle. I only have occasion to wear the skirt about once a year so I have to take advantage of every swishable moment.

We were there to hear Dvorak’s Symphony #9 From the New World, an old favorite from which movie score composer John Williams has ripped off many a musical idea. “Here come the Storm Troopers!” whispered Dr. G at one point during the concert. Dvorak is one of the more rock n roll classical composers– not afraid of nice hooks, fast riffs, drums, or wild dynamics. What’s not to love, except a little bombast? I myself love a little bombast.

One fact that caught our attention on the program was that he was lured to America by a salary 25 TIMES as high as his music professor salary in Prague. Dr. G worked out that it would be like going from $50k a year, to $1.25 million a year, and added that he would quite happily settle nearly anywhere for that big of a jump. “Great!” I said. “Now, how are we going to get someone to offer you 25x your salary?” My idea is, we get him to stop a troubling crime trend with an apropos policy recommendation that captures Oprah’s attention. Then she bankrolls him as her personal crime consultant, so he appears regularly on the show and contributes to the reduction of crime nationally by bringing scholarly wisdom to the masses. It’s a win-win. Dvorak inspires me to think big like that.