I've mooted this before, but I think I'm certainly swearing off any more lobby Jumbotron concerts at the Philharmonic. They are free, concededly, and everyone's very nice, and making an effort as part of the broader initiative to open LC up to the surrounding neighborhoods. But they turn the lights out completely, there's hubbub from cafe in the room, the music volume is very low, and the blase and loud UWS retiree demographic in the room is a group I'm growing increasingly weary of.
I've blogged about a few concerts, and it was useful for prompting a bit of writing about music in real time, but in this city, art can be a trap set by the wealthy for the unwary. It's a bit peculiar -- all they had to do was pipe sound into the lobby and let people listen, but instead they built a movie theatre, presumably because they're dry-running for streaming to digital cinema eventually.
Look elsewhere for the music, even in considerable difficulty. There might be something useful in the actual room, but avoid the shadowy, airless lower floors.