Rhythm Nation

Last night we went to The Opera House to see the Sydney Symphony perform The Shostakovich Centenary in the Concert Hall.

Mike had expressed his interest in seeing a performance in the Opera House shortly after his arrival here so it seemed like the perfect excuse for me and H to go as well. Neither H or I had seen anything in there when we lived here a few years back, although I did go on one of those tours that they do. I remember it being very impressive, as it was always going to be. Anyway, Mike recommended that we saw a Symphony. He has recently been to a couple in Singapore and raved about them. I was game so we went and booked our tickets last week. Over here they offer concessions if you are under 30. Mike and I blagged it. We opted for the cheap seats (actually the seats themselves are far from cheap, costing $2000 each to make), and were given $56 seats for the price of $32. Bargain. We chose to sit at the very back of the Concert Hall (which holds over 2500 people).

After eating out in Chinatown we arrived at The Opera House in good time to enjoy the hospitality of the Concert Hall bar - a bottle of fizzy plonk drunk on the terrace overlooking Circular Quay.





























I was pretty excited about seeing the Concert Hall again, let alone watching the performance, and as soon as I went into the venue I knew it was going to be a really good experience, even if I didn't enjoy the music. I have never seen classical music performed live, and if I hadn't moved to Sydney I don't think I ever would have bothered.

To be honest, it blew me away. I really, really enjoyed it. We had a cracking view and as soon as the rather excentric conductor got them all going the first, rather odd thing that came into my head, was that it reminded me of a Janet Jackson video, you know, the Rhythm Nation one where all her dancers are perfectly choeographed. Obviously they didn't sound like Janet (thank God), nor look like her, but it was the way the musicians hands or arms moved together at exactly the same time. Mikey and H thought I was mad. The sound was incredible. It was like listening to a CD. I stupidly thought they'd used microphones to enhance the sound. It was enlightening to be told otherwise by Mike at half-time. It was, after all, a Concert Hall and these things are designed with acoustics in mind.





























I have never played a musical instrument properly before (apart from the recorder at Primary school and a lesson on the trumpet with some teacher I didn't like) so had some trouble identifying the instruments, or even identifying what sound was coming from where. I was impressed to see some guy playing the triangle though, and another on the cymbals, which for me had to be the most nerve-wracking part to play. The pianist, who played during the second piece of music was incrdedible (he's not in this photo though).















Mike was worried that I might not enjoy the performance, given the fact the music was supposed to be quite dark, yet witty. I had promised to laugh whenever he did. However, I didn't need to as I seemed to get what was going on. On a couple of occassions I found myself quietly chuckling, although it was tempting to go into Waldorf and Stalter mode on occasion, especially during the applause. The conductor, who was amazing to watch, seemed to revel in the attention, walking off, and then back onto the stage at least three times at the end of each piece to receive more and more adulation. It was rather self-indulgent but I would have done the same I'm sure. I hadn't clapped so much, for such a sustained length of time, since Danny Coles kicked Leon Knight up in the air and Brighton beat Bristol City in the League One Play-off final a few years ago.















We all had a great time there, and I can see myself going again sometime.