Live classical music on the Zuiderdam

[feathersandnananose]

We have previously "found our home" with the Adagio group (twice a piano/violin duo, and the last trip an actual string quartet).  Have they been replaced by "Lincoln Center Stage?"  And is LCS as intimate as the Adagio was?  I loved sitting in a small room (a "chamber") listening to chamber music.  It was perfect.  

We'll be on the Zuiderdam in June, if that makes a difference.  If it's Lincoln Center Stage, is it in a smaller room with casual seating, or more concert seating?

 

Just prepping my expectations.  

 

Barb ("Feathers")

 

[Turtles06]

We were on the Zuiderdam in August/September, and it is indeed Lincoln Center Stage.  The musicians play in a relatively small space.  So small, in fact, that if you wanted a seat, you generally had to get there pretty early.  This photo shows just a bit of that room, but it will give you an idea of the seating.

 

We enjoyed the LCS musicians very much, but over the course of our 20-day cruise, their repertoire [set by folks on the shore] was very limited, with many programs repeated.  (Which was also the case with the Billboard Onboard pianists.)

 

 

(photo by turtles06)

Edited January 7, 2019 by Turtles06

[POA1]

It's a smaller space, taking up about half of the former Explorer's Lounge. The room was split into the Digital Workshop, Explorer's Lounge and the Lincoln Center Stage - as you can see courtesy of the Wayback Machine.

 

 

Lincoln Center Entrance

 

View from a seat you can score if you are willing to arrive 20 minutes early.

 

Your view from a seat in the middle of the room. (Please note that this was taken between performances. The musicians do not disappear onde you get to the 5th row of seats.

View from the back of the room. There are 9 rows of seating with about 65-70 seats if you count the padded bench seating along the side.

[3rdGenCunarder]

Too deep and narrow! It looks like a concert in a train car. But I appreciate that they're expanding the program to so many ships and trying to provide as much seating as possible.

 

I'm going back to the K this winter, and I am so happy that they moved Lincoln Center into an actual room, not just an area off a hallway. I don't think HAL expected this to be as popular as it is, or that people really wanted to LISTEN. There is no chit-chat during these sets. They even had to put signs and a person in the hallway to remind people to be quiet as they walked through the "music walk."

 

[POA1]

Too deep and narrow! It looks like a concert in a train car. But I appreciate that they're expanding the program to so many ships and trying to provide as much seating as possible.
 

It's the same width as the the old Explorer's Lounge. I shot that one photo in wide angle to take in the full seating area. If I had to guess, I'd say that the seating area is about 15% wider than we used to have for Adagio. (The old set up lost space around the perimeter.)

Lincoln Center is much more like a small music performance venue. Lots of sound insulation. Quiet is expected during performances. (There are signs in the corridor.)

You'd have to knock out the walls and part of the kitchen to make it wider.

[feathersandnananose]

Thanks for the answers.  Now I know what to expect AND to make sure I get there early!  Is there bar service or do I need to get my own glass of wine before going to sit?

 

And I have already found that they do have a limited number of pieces that repeat..... sigh.  

 

And do they play more than once an evening (for those of us on different dinner plans)?

 

Thanks again!!!!!

[POA1]

15 minutes ago, feathersandnananose said:

Is there bar service or do I need to get my own glass of wine before going to sit?

 

There is bar service before the performance. Once it starts though, no.

[POA1]

The programs on our cruise in December 2018 were:

 

• A Night at the Ballet
• All American
• Bernstein to Buble
• Brahams
• Dvorak
• La Musica Latina
• Movie Classic
• Piaf to Peanuts
• Schumann
• Women in Music

Some programs will repeat so that early and late dinner guests can catch them. If you see something like "La Musica Latina," and you see it once, you don't need to see it again. It will be a repeat.

[Tennessee Titan]

IMHO: Much higher quality than the old Adagio

[feathersandnananose]

Thanks to all!  Now I'm excited for one more thing!