and yesterday was the 2nd concert in the meet the music 09 series!

i've never seen SSO (sydney symphony XPP trust it to have the same acronyms) perform so maturely and stunningly and just jaw dropping beautifully...

considering that earlier this year i'd been to the first meet the music concert, and considered their performance rather mediocre (coughcough), i was pleasantly surprised last night. (which is a huge understatement XP i think i nearly fell off my chair XD)

but of course, there is always an explanation. andandand IT IS THAT ASHKENAZY WAS CONDUCTING! i nearly got killed (by mr wong, and other various ppl) for trying to imply that he is cute. HE IS CUTE! the way he conducts is so cute! he's just like this tiny ball of energy with a shock of white hair, who swings and looks like he's dancing instead of conducting. seriously. but gosh has he worked wonders as the conductor of the SSO.

the first piece performed was sculthorpe's kakadu (out of the 3 pieces in total. and don't scorn, the pieces were like, 20 min, 20 min, 30 min or perhaps longer. but it seemed like a mere few minutes. NOT ENOUGH!) it was my favourite =] hahaha maybe it was the impact of not expecting it to be that good but then OMIGOSH OMIGOSH AHH IT WAS AMAZING XP (see so it's better to have lower expectations)

starting with the superficial observations, the strings were in PERFECT sync. and i mean PERFECT XP the bowing was in PERFECT time, at the exact same angle, moving the exact same distance, up down up down up.
and then, there was the sound. they sounded like a single amplified duo. SERIOUSLY XP it was awesome - the exact same tone colour (beyond pitching already XP) and yeah perfectly in pitch

which brings me to the wind instruments! haha in kakadu's middle section there was this cor anglais solo and it was oh so musical and enchanting and elegant and rich and just oh so lovely! *swoons*

and, the whole orchestra breathed together. it has never been more evident. it's just when how there's this pregnant pause of absolute silence, and then there seems to be a slight swell (in sync) throughout the whole orchestra (almost like when the teacher yells out "SIT UP STRAIGHT" but much less perceptible, seeing as they are all sitting up straight already XP) and then, at the most natural of moments (esp if you're very into the music XD) everyone enters EXACTLY on time, with one single full sound, and no jarring discrepancies of millisecond differences in entry times. yeah, i've never seen breathing executed with such perfection XDDD

the whole orchestra was anticipating every single note, and could really hear that they were constantly aware of every other instrument within the orchestra, such that entries were blended in seamlessly at the optimal volume and tone colour.

hahaha this probably doesn't make sense. thing is, kakadu is very, very programmatic, and it's basically a musical description of kakadu national park of AUSTRALIA (<333 XPP). the atmosphere, the sounds of the rainforest, are all replicated through the various instruments. it's not a technically showy piece, rather it's the blend and tones of all the instruments, because they're imitating the various components of the rainforest? and it's kind of like, in the rainforest, there're constantly sounds fading in and out that you don't really notice, but it's only with all these sounds as a whole that you notice it, and yeah, to be able to enter in and fade out without causing much of a disruption to the whole atmosphere but still contributing a special something to that atmosphere.. quite difficult XP

there was something in particular which struck me. it was during a particularly tranquil section of the music, and i thought i heard this whispering, but delicate and sweet, birdcall. thought i was dreaming. XP but then it happened again, slightly louder. and again, more joyful. at this point i was scanning the orchestra whilst thinking "is it played? or is it playing from the speakers or something? ahh so cheap. bleahhh T_T" and yeah was quite disappointed when i couldn't manage to spot anyone who could've played the birdcalls, and concluded that it was some prerecorded sounds. BLEAH.
BUT. it happened again. and this time, I SAW THE PRINCIPAL VIOLINIST PLAYING IT ON HIS OWN (how could i have missed that. maybe too concentrated on the woodwinds/percussion) and and and THIS TIME SOON THE WHOLE VIOLIN SECTION JOINED IN. cacophony would be an insult, but in a way, it was really like i had suddenly stepped into a rainforest and all i could hear was birdcall and the rustling of leaves and feel the sun shining down and the humidity in the air.. andandand XPP HAHAHAHAHAHA yes.

oh it was so amazing. so so amazing. XD

urgh no it's late i'm going to have to cut my longwinded ramblings short. bleah...

anyway, 2nd piece was tintagel by arnold bax, and quite a... mischievious piece. puns everywhere (in the music). it was composed during his affair with a concert pianist, so there have been many speculations as to the hidden meanings? LOL. see, the piece portrays the magnificence of tintagel - the castle upon the cliffs overlooking the sea, and then shifts into a huge climax, in which it seems as if the waves are crashing and smashing upon the cliffs and yeah.. well, at the same time, it could imply the lovely and joyous relationship b/w him and the concert pianist, which then shifts into inner emotional conflict and turmoil as he has to make the decision whether to abandon his family (he's married with children) or go back. and seriously, imo, the music can represent both scenarios perfectly XP

it was very film music-ish! in fact, the mc went so far as to describe it as the predecessor of film music! hahahaha the paver of the way for film music XDD seriously, it was very very typical of nice film music, which means that well, it paints the picture really well XPP hahahahaha. but yeah, it's one step above film music that it doesn't complement the images, but rather it CREATES the images =] XD

AHHH NO I HAVEN'T TALKED ABOUT BELSHAZZAR'S FEAST.

tbc! need to go sleep now... weekend will be hectic:

tomorrow: musical rehearsals from 3:05pm - 9pm
sat: dental appointment at 10am musical rehearsals 12:30pm - 5pm music theory 8pm - 9:30pm
sun: church in the morning, bday party from 2pm - 8pm

fun. VERY fun. *coughcoughcough* XP