Night Out - Walt Disney Concert Hall

Last night my wife and I attended my office Christmas party, which consisted of dinner at Patina and a performance of Handel's Messiah at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles. This was my first time eating at the restaurant and seeing a performance at the concert hall.

Patina was a top-notch experience, and we had some amazing food and wine. My office is not large, so we were able to fit in a private room and had exceptional service from the staff. I ordered the filet mignon medium rare and it melted like butter when consumed.

Next came the performance. The Walt Disney Concert Hall only seats 2,200 people, so the setting was fairly intimate and there appeared to be no bad vantage point. The seating is "vineyard style" so the seats face the stage from all different directions. Handel's Messiah was a combination of a orchestral arrangement and a chorale accompanied by 4 soloists. The performance was great, and the acoustics were amazing. The only difficult part for me was that I couldn't understand the words the soloists were singing (perhaps it is due to my untrained ear) so it would have been nice if the program contained the words of songs inside. Another highlight though was spending intermission in the Founder's Lounge of the concert hall, where we had some delicious deserts and coffee.

Overall, it was a fantastic night out and a great chance to have some new experiences!

Brian