I'm just home after attending the M3 and on the whole, it was an enjoyable experience - especially as I got in for free: a very nice young woman with a spare ticket overheard me asking one of the staff which queue do I join to buy a ticket (apparently one queue was for new tickets and the other for collections) and she very kindly gave me her spare ticket and wouldn't take a penny for it. Thank you, kind stranger, whoever you are.
My seat was at the very front, a smidge to the right of the rostrum. It might not have been perfect for sonics, but I got a good look at the orchestra at any rate and took a couple of pics before the performance began.
The lead violinist was located about six feet to my left, and the tones from his playing were sweet to say the least - as was the playing of others as well as the mezzo-soprano's vocals. I felt there were occasions when the orchestra wasn't performing as one, however, but I reckon that's because I was too close to take in the bigger picture as it were.
Apart from the less than ideal sonics - which were free, after all - the only other let down was the quick onset of applause at the end. It wasn't as bad as the one that followed Bernstein's performance in the video above, but I would have liked another ten seconds or so of silence to let the final moment sink in. Oh, and the guy who was sitting to my immediate left clapped louder than the timpani, so that was a bit annoying as well.
Anyway, a great night all round and I look forward to going back for more...