a few activities to catch up on!
Went to the MSO season opening gala on Thursday 27 Feb at Hamer Hall. Just the one piece, Mahler’s Symphony no 2, ‘Resurrection’. Absolutely sensational, about the only thing missing was a pipe organ rather than the electronic keyboard which try as it might will never recreate the full sound required! But the rest of the orchestra, along with the soloists and the MSO Chorus, were wonderful.
(not my pic, just wanted to show the full setting of orchestra and choir!)
On Saturday afternoon just gone we went to see the Australian Ballet production of Carmen at The Regent Theatre. This was an interesting modern ballet take on the classic opera.
The set was minimal, but striking - there were rotating triangular columns, with mirrors on one side, what looked like louvres on another and the other side looked like lockers - these were moved around to create rooms, outdoor areas, and sometimes creating fantastical atmospheres with reflection of light and image.
The dancing - well, there’s no doubt they are talented dancers, and some scenes were particularly well done - the lead female played the seductress perfectly. But other bits were less ‘flowy’ and hard to understand.
There was some music played lived by Orchestra Victoria, but other music was from a backing track, and there was an annoying background sound during the in-between moments (almost like someone had re-used the backing tape and whatever had previously been recorded was still faintly coming through!).
Sometimes operas can drag on - the last time I saw Carmen the final scene took about twenty minutes and was SOOOOO annoying - you know what’s going to happen, just get it over and done with!! and it was good that this was an exception - about two minutes and job was done 
Saturday night headed back to Hamer Hall for ‘Joined with Gold’. This was a program based on the Japanese art of Kintsugi, where broken pottery pieces are put back together with gold, leaving a gold seam where the cracks were - a metaphor for embracing flaws and imperfections. The program included La Valse, by Ravel, then ‘A Sutured World’, a cello concerto by Liza Lim, the 2025 Composer in Residence, and rounding out with Tchaikovsky’s Symphony no 4.
Like many others, I really only knew Bolero by Ravel, so it was good to have my eyes (ears?!) opened to something new! La Valse apparently started as one piece, but was then re-written after the First World War - fitting in with the concept of creating new out of old.
The cello concerto was… interesting, but not really my thing. There were moments of absolute beauty, but for me they were few and far between. Too discordant for my tastes. As much as I adore the cello usually!
The Tchaikovsky piece was lovely. It was apparently written as he emerged from a period of depression, and describes the struggles of life. Really enjoyed it!
Next up is ‘Seasons’ at the end of the month; this has some pieces exploring the First Nations perspective on the passing of the year, along with Vivaldi’s well known four part violin concerti.
also…
speaking of ‘zimmers’… seeing Hans Zimmer next month!
