Wednesday night was one of the MSO in the Bowl concerts with Ben Northey conducting. They opened with A Midsummer Night's Dream which was fascinating in that it was accompanied by a live Twitter stream which consisted of comments about the drama portrayed by the music as well as 'insider' type tips on parts which were difficult for the orchestra or showcased particular players. The Bowl was quite full so I'm estimating there were at least 5000+ people there, but only about 80 Twitter followers. I followed and added my two cents, but it became distracting (but this was probably due to the fact I'd never really used Twitter before, certainly not on my phone). Overall a great concert though. Rebecca Chan played the Bruch Violin concerto - she was stunning. Really captivating playing - she totally went for it! Till Eulenspiegel rounded out the program which was fun & lively. I got the most awesome surprise when Shostakovich's Festive Overture was the encore - one of my favourite pieces, and so good to see it conducted in 1, as it should be.
Friday night was a totally different affair with some students playing as a support act at the Corner Hotel. It was ridiculously loud but I was too self-conscious to wear my Musicians Earplugs, but I really should have. I'm not sure how to classify their sound...but indie/rock/psychedelic might somehow place them correctly. Either way their songwriting was fun and their orchestration interesting.
Saturday night was the next Bowl concert - Opera Highlights conducted by Richard Gill. The highlight for me was definitely the tenor singing an aria from Tosca. I had never heard anything from this Opera before and I was totally moved by it. I will have to see the upcoming Opera Australia production. It was such sensational music and he sang very emotively.
Melbourne Musicians - This was the first concert I'd been to in this group which I went to because a friend was depping. The ensemble was much smaller than I expected - I had thought it would be a full orchestra, but the strings were 3.3.3.2.1 with all wind parts covered as necessary. The program consisted of the Chopin Piano Concerto No. 1 (Ian Holtham, soloist), the Barber Adagio for Strings and Mozart Symphony 39. The Chopin was played very well, however the balance of the strings suffered at times, I think just because the wind scoring was quite full in tutti passages and it was just a struggle to hear 3 first violins. Other than that it came across well. Although I really like the Adagio as a piece I wasn't completely engaged by it for some reason. The Mozart was great and really worked for that size orchestra. The first movement Introduction seemed to start quite fast and then the Allegro seemed comparatively quite slow - in 3. But as a tempo itself it actually worked as the movement got further along. The second movement had a nice lilt to it and the forging ahead nature of the third movement was also good. Now, a few days later, I can't remember what I thought of the last movement.
The BEST Concert of the week (and possibly the month - even though it was only on the first day!) was Camerata Melbourne at the Abbotsford Convent. This was the first concert of a new orchestra set up by Roy Theaker, Co-concertmaster of the MSO. Most of the players are MSO members, casuals, ANAM graduates and the like.
The venue was small but again excellent for a small ensemble. The program - as discussed by the host - was to showcase classic chamber style works as well as present playable, listenable new music.
It opened with Company by Phillip Glass which I really engaged with. Immediately recognisable as Glass it brought back many fond memories of our Music History class last year - a moment that made me really glad I learned and studied all that I did last year. The piece was in several short movements, unconducted, for string ensemble. It's one I'll definitely be hunting for a CD of. I could imagine it being really good driving music - and I don't mean to degrade it in saying that - it would just be meditative. Then there was the Mendelssohn Octet, which I hadn't heard live before. It was well nuanced and all the interrelationships were brought out really well by excellent players. Seeing the communication was lots of fun. The second half was Schubert 5 which I thought was outstanding. Despite the small room the balance was great, the architecture (of the music) made exceptionally clear and I particularly liked the dynamics. Roy Theaker gave short introductions to the concert and each work - he spoke clearly and passionately and his brief insights really illuminated the works for the listened and gave more meaning to the music.
Their next concert is going to be Dumbarton Oaks, Piazzolla and something else so, purely to hear what I think will be a marvellous ensemble do the Stravinsky, I will be there with bells on.
Enjoy your concert with Musicians Earplugs
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