Just got back from a pretty awesome concert!
Yes, LJ ladies and gentlemen, Bead got along to see the Israel Philharmonic for only....$25!!! (And she was in the seats that were $100+++) How I love student rush :)
They played Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade and Tchaikovsky's 5th Symphony, plus 3 encores: some bit/prelude (?) from Mussorgsky's Khovanchina opera; a second piece that was great but all memory of it has been wiped from my brain due to the 3rd encore, which was the Mask Dance and Death of Tybalt from Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet Ballet. That piece rocks a shocking amount (especially the 17 stabbings of Tybalt) and is an absolute beast to play. When I played it, 3 or so years ago, I could barely play it and now it scares the shit out of me, especially with a full orchestra tearing along at breakneck speed through the Mask Dance. I was absolutely aghast/in absolute terror/absolutely captivated :D
For me (and some of my friends), it was the woodwind that stole the show - they were absolutely sparkling and smooth and gorgeous. The brass were really fat and beefy which was great for the Tchaik, and the lower strings rocked my world.
The violins and the concertmaster though....*meh*. Very big Meh. It's not that they were incompetant or anything (they were very technically able), but there was nothing special or stand-outish about them. That, and it wouldn't be too bad if the concertmaster played AT THE FRICKING NUT once in a while. I swear, the man plays with 3/4 of a bow, nearly all the time. Mr Squiggle would have a field-day with him.
But it was $25 well spent and I hope to get along to the Schubert/Mahler tomorrow night :D
Oh, and before I forget...due to the IPO cancelling their American tour prior to coming to Aus due to security reasons...Many of my orch buddies had their stick bags/gig bags/instrument cases searched by the Federal Police, at the concert hall tonight. There were normal police, there were feds (all MIB wired up too) all over the place, and a solitary protester out the front with a sign that wasn't very nice :P
It's a concert, ffs, not a political demonstration.
Apparently, at the Sydney Opera House concerts, they had all the rubbish bins in and around the OH removed b/c of possible bomb threat type things.
In other news, I went to a fantastic craft show today with my mum and bought beads and lots of kewl stuff :) Also saw many great workshops, so be on the lookout for an outpouring of beadwork (and possibly some quilting) from Domestic!Craft!Bead :)
They played Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade and Tchaikovsky's 5th Symphony, plus 3 encores: some bit/prelude (?) from Mussorgsky's Khovanchina opera; a second piece that was great but all memory of it has been wiped from my brain due to the 3rd encore, which was the Mask Dance and Death of Tybalt from Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet Ballet. That piece rocks a shocking amount (especially the 17 stabbings of Tybalt) and is an absolute beast to play. When I played it, 3 or so years ago, I could barely play it and now it scares the shit out of me, especially with a full orchestra tearing along at breakneck speed through the Mask Dance. I was absolutely aghast/in absolute terror/absolutely captivated :D
For me (and some of my friends), it was the woodwind that stole the show - they were absolutely sparkling and smooth and gorgeous. The brass were really fat and beefy which was great for the Tchaik, and the lower strings rocked my world.
The violins and the concertmaster though....*meh*. Very big Meh. It's not that they were incompetant or anything (they were very technically able), but there was nothing special or stand-outish about them. That, and it wouldn't be too bad if the concertmaster played AT THE FRICKING NUT once in a while. I swear, the man plays with 3/4 of a bow, nearly all the time. Mr Squiggle would have a field-day with him.
But it was $25 well spent and I hope to get along to the Schubert/Mahler tomorrow night :D
Oh, and before I forget...due to the IPO cancelling their American tour prior to coming to Aus due to security reasons...Many of my orch buddies had their stick bags/gig bags/instrument cases searched by the Federal Police, at the concert hall tonight. There were normal police, there were feds (all MIB wired up too) all over the place, and a solitary protester out the front with a sign that wasn't very nice :P
It's a concert, ffs, not a political demonstration.
Apparently, at the Sydney Opera House concerts, they had all the rubbish bins in and around the OH removed b/c of possible bomb threat type things.
In other news, I went to a fantastic craft show today with my mum and bought beads and lots of kewl stuff :) Also saw many great workshops, so be on the lookout for an outpouring of beadwork (and possibly some quilting) from Domestic!Craft!Bead :)