![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
khiemtranIt's a cold wet Monday night in Sydney town. Why are a couple of middle-aged parents on the loose in the city? Because Zubin Mehta is in town with the Israeli Philharmonic, and I've been lucky enough to win tickets to see them play Mahler 3.
The city at night is like a different country for us now. Adults sit in bars and restaurants, drinking and talking with not a child in sight. Where are their children? Shouldn't they be home by now? Businesswomen browse for clothes in brightly lit, nearly empty department stores. The streets all flow with a slow human tide, everyone travelling the same direction, some slow, some fast.
We begin our night with a spot of shopping for Hsiu Lin in Myer, then across to Yama for some Japanese food. We've got a babysitter booked till 11 and we're going to make the most of it.
After dinner, we catch the train to Circular Quay and the Opera House, collect our tickets (thanks to ABC Classic FM) and buy a programme and a pre-concert drink.
Our seats turn out to be in B Reserve up in the Circle of the Concert Hall. This is the first time we've actually sat in the main section of the hall. Normally, we'll get the cheap seats above and behind the stage. From this angle, we can finally see the entire stage unhindered, as well as getting a good view of the gigantic Grand Organ and the impressive ceiling of the hall. On the downside, we're quite a long way from the stage and Zubin Mehta, when he appears, could have been Zubin Mehta's driver for all I knew. From that distance, I had a lot of trouble picking out which instruments were playing on the crowded stage, except for some of the more expressive ones like the flautists who dipped and waved their shiny flutes as they played, and the harpists who tilted back their instruments like a kind of semaphore whenever they were in use.
The music was of a high quality, as you might expect. I've never been a big fan of Mahler, but I'm probably slightly more of one after hearing the third symphony live. Oddly, I do tend to enjoy Mahler most when I can let it wash over me, listening on the headphones at work perhaps, or lying in bed half-asleep. If I think too much about the music, it starts to be become a little tedious for me, which is the opposite of how I react to classical era or baroque music. Trapped in a crowded concert hall, trying desperately not to cough or sneeze, and straining to see what's going on, it's not quite as easy to relax and let the music come to me. There were some very beautiful moments certainly, especially in the slow movements and the high, fast, shimmering strings, but I came out definitely feeling like I'd had enough, rather than wanting more. On the other hand, I listened to Mahler 5 at work today, and found myself zoning out completely (missing a few hours of sleep the night before probably didn't hurt matters either).
There was one oddity, in that there was supposed to be a mezzo solo in the third movement and the mezzo and two(!) choirs in the fifth, but looks like the third and fourth movements were swapped around.
All in all, it was certainly an experience and a journey and a great night out. We gave Zubin and the gang something like five ovations, but there was no encore (understandable, perhaps, after just playing the one piece for one and a half hours).
The city at night is like a different country for us now. Adults sit in bars and restaurants, drinking and talking with not a child in sight. Where are their children? Shouldn't they be home by now? Businesswomen browse for clothes in brightly lit, nearly empty department stores. The streets all flow with a slow human tide, everyone travelling the same direction, some slow, some fast.
We begin our night with a spot of shopping for Hsiu Lin in Myer, then across to Yama for some Japanese food. We've got a babysitter booked till 11 and we're going to make the most of it.
After dinner, we catch the train to Circular Quay and the Opera House, collect our tickets (thanks to ABC Classic FM) and buy a programme and a pre-concert drink.
Our seats turn out to be in B Reserve up in the Circle of the Concert Hall. This is the first time we've actually sat in the main section of the hall. Normally, we'll get the cheap seats above and behind the stage. From this angle, we can finally see the entire stage unhindered, as well as getting a good view of the gigantic Grand Organ and the impressive ceiling of the hall. On the downside, we're quite a long way from the stage and Zubin Mehta, when he appears, could have been Zubin Mehta's driver for all I knew. From that distance, I had a lot of trouble picking out which instruments were playing on the crowded stage, except for some of the more expressive ones like the flautists who dipped and waved their shiny flutes as they played, and the harpists who tilted back their instruments like a kind of semaphore whenever they were in use.
The music was of a high quality, as you might expect. I've never been a big fan of Mahler, but I'm probably slightly more of one after hearing the third symphony live. Oddly, I do tend to enjoy Mahler most when I can let it wash over me, listening on the headphones at work perhaps, or lying in bed half-asleep. If I think too much about the music, it starts to be become a little tedious for me, which is the opposite of how I react to classical era or baroque music. Trapped in a crowded concert hall, trying desperately not to cough or sneeze, and straining to see what's going on, it's not quite as easy to relax and let the music come to me. There were some very beautiful moments certainly, especially in the slow movements and the high, fast, shimmering strings, but I came out definitely feeling like I'd had enough, rather than wanting more. On the other hand, I listened to Mahler 5 at work today, and found myself zoning out completely (missing a few hours of sleep the night before probably didn't hurt matters either).
There was one oddity, in that there was supposed to be a mezzo solo in the third movement and the mezzo and two(!) choirs in the fifth, but looks like the third and fourth movements were swapped around.
All in all, it was certainly an experience and a journey and a great night out. We gave Zubin and the gang something like five ovations, but there was no encore (understandable, perhaps, after just playing the one piece for one and a half hours).
