Martin Fröst and the ACO
Nov. 25th, 2013 07:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
khiemtranIt's Sunday afternoon, and we're at the Opera House to hear Martin Fröst and the Australian Chamber Orchestra play the Mozart Clarinet Concerto.
You can't complain about the view at the pre-concert lecture...
But it's a day for music, not sailing, so it's into the Concert Hall we go. We're sitting in "Choir" section, just behind the stage.
They're actually the cheapest seats in the house, but we're very close to the performers. So close that while we can't quite read the sheet music, we can read the titles. The only catch is the musicians are all facing away from us, towards the main audience. Note that there are no seats for anyone except the cellists and bassists: the ACO play standing up.
Which, as it turns out, is an especially good fit for Martin Fröst, quite probably the finest clarinettist on the planet, who doesn't just play but also dances at the same time. No photos during the performance, so here's a clip from youtube...
We also heard the Australia premiere of DTangled, written by Martin's brother, which is probably the most remarkable thing I've seen at the Opera House, featuring Martin's unique dancing and playing style and making it seem like the most natural thing in the world to move like that while playing the clarinet. Every other soloist is going to seem staid from now on, unless they can move like he can. No videos, unfortunately, but if you ever get the chance to see it - jump!
Also on the programme was the Never Truly Lost, a tribute to Paddy Pallin, a pioneering Australian bushwalker; A Finnish Myth by Rautavaara; Denisov's arrangement of the Paganini Caprice No. 9 and Mozart's 21st Symphony. As an encore, Martin Fröst and the ACO played an arrangement of one of Brahm's Hungarian Dances. "How many of you know Number 5?" he asked the audience. "Almost of all you... Ah, good, we don't have to play that one then."
You can't complain about the view at the pre-concert lecture...
But it's a day for music, not sailing, so it's into the Concert Hall we go. We're sitting in "Choir" section, just behind the stage.
They're actually the cheapest seats in the house, but we're very close to the performers. So close that while we can't quite read the sheet music, we can read the titles. The only catch is the musicians are all facing away from us, towards the main audience. Note that there are no seats for anyone except the cellists and bassists: the ACO play standing up.
Which, as it turns out, is an especially good fit for Martin Fröst, quite probably the finest clarinettist on the planet, who doesn't just play but also dances at the same time. No photos during the performance, so here's a clip from youtube...
We also heard the Australia premiere of DTangled, written by Martin's brother, which is probably the most remarkable thing I've seen at the Opera House, featuring Martin's unique dancing and playing style and making it seem like the most natural thing in the world to move like that while playing the clarinet. Every other soloist is going to seem staid from now on, unless they can move like he can. No videos, unfortunately, but if you ever get the chance to see it - jump!
Also on the programme was the Never Truly Lost, a tribute to Paddy Pallin, a pioneering Australian bushwalker; A Finnish Myth by Rautavaara; Denisov's arrangement of the Paganini Caprice No. 9 and Mozart's 21st Symphony. As an encore, Martin Fröst and the ACO played an arrangement of one of Brahm's Hungarian Dances. "How many of you know Number 5?" he asked the audience. "Almost of all you... Ah, good, we don't have to play that one then."
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no subject
Date: 2013-11-26 02:18 pm (UTC)But but but--not playing something because everyone knows it? (I however don't know Hungarian Dance No. 5. I will have to go listen to it! Take that, Martin!)
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Date: 2013-11-26 07:00 pm (UTC)