My wife and I are attending a symphony concert this Friday?

Hi, Glinzek! It took me a good many years to 'get' Sibelius. Even now I wonder if he's a little overrated sometimes. We are neither of us 'spring chickens' and I know you to be an open and educated musician. Therefore, I'm not sure anything *can* be said to convince you to give Sibelius another go. You have obviously given it a good try, but I wonder how long ago your last effort was and when you last heard Sibelius live in concert. Perhaps you will find your attitude has changed if you give it one last try? perhaps concentrate on the ingenious way Sibelius seamlessly moves from the first to second movements (two separate movements in his original version) and let his unique orchestral voice wash through you.

If you still afterwards that he's still not for you, then you've at least given it your best shot. We ALL have great composers we don't get on with (I have problems with some of Brahms's, Chopin's and Liszt's music and I'm not at all fond of Schumann's orchestral writing) and so we can't all like everything.

One last go...?

As a student, I would attend matinees, some evening performances. It seemed there was always some other standing outside who had either targeted one work on the program as the one they wanted to hear, and / or someone happy to get in to hear any of the program, more than willing to 'switch during intermission.'

The rest is a matter of if you are asking to recover half the ticket cost, lol, or just find a happy soul who would LOVE to hear the Sibelius.

Craigslist - find a worthy youngster or senior citizen on a limited income, I say.

Best of luck, and I hope both you and the missus enjoy what I think is Beethoven's most profound piano concerto.

Best regards.

P.s. Oi vey ist mir -- 'literalists.' It is not rocket science that you were looking to give away half two of this concert, BUT IT IS PERHAPS MURKY if stranger X is going to be sitting next to the missus :-)

Like many operas, I found that Sibelius is an acquired musical taste. When I was a young man in high school I purchased a recording of his Symphony #2 expecting it to sound at least like Tchaikovsky or at least have the typical movements that I found in other composers' music. It didn't. After one playing, I placed it into the collection where it wasn't played for years. In the mean time, my musical experience matured and after a performance on the radio by the New York Philharmonic under Leonard Bernstein, my ears were opened to its beauty. Sibelius doesn't write toe-tapping melodies and the melodies aren't always obvious. They sometimes need repeated hearings to appreciate. I strongly suggest that you remain for the second half of the concert and explore the Sibelius again....perhaps your ears will be opened this time if you have heard it at past concerts and had a luke warm reaction to it.

What are the chances I could get to your location and you do a ticket hand-off at intermission? I hardly think Sibelius has a "pointless self"

... perhaps you were thinking of Philip Glass instead.

imagine during sibelius 5th you are going over the river and through the woods,,,to hear/see sibelius's themes, 'cold' organic,chords gradually changing to the tonic

'My Wife and I are attending a symphony concert this Friday?'

This is not a question. Well it IS, but it seems as though you are very unsure whether or not you are actually going to this concert with your wife. And in that case, I wouldn't know, read your ticket.