Welcome to the October Newsletter, very late this month. I’ve been away, it’s been November and I’ve been sick. So here is a very detailed but short recap. Lots of cricket was watched in addition to the following concerts.
Concerts, concerts and more concerts
Mozart’s Haffner Serenade
So the first concert was in the City Recital Hall, featuring Andrew Haveron with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. It was 2 songs but the second had 8 movements. The pieces were written for the same event. March in D major, K.249, and Serenade in D, K.250. They were written for a party on the eve of Xaver Späth and Elisabeth Haffner’s wedding. Mozart and I must be related because he finished the March the day before, talk about just in time. It was a lovely program and great party music. Awesome to see Andrew doing the “concerto” bit out the front. You can listen to a version here on Spotify or here on YouTube Music. The program is available here.
Disney Fantasia in Concert Live to Film by Willoughby Symphony Orchestra
Thanks to the lovely Jen. Mara, Jen and I went to the Concourse in Chatswood to enjoy this concert. I must admit it’s been a long time since I’ve seen Fantasia and I think I might have only seen Fantasia 2000 once. So, it was very exciting to see selections from the film. Here is a brief overview of the concert based on the program
- Symphony No.5, Beethoven, Fantasia 2000 – Battle of the triangle butterflies
- Symphony No.6 (movements 3-5), Beethoven, Fantasia – My favourite on so many levels, Movement 3, Movement 4 and Movement 5
- The Nutcracker Suite, Tchaikovsky, Fantasia – Dancing fairies and mushrooms (Quality on YouTube not great)
- Claire de Lune, Debussy, Fantasia – Journey of a stork
- The Firebird Suite, Stravinsky, Fantasia 2000 – The bringer of spring and a volcano. The most amazing looking Stag
- Ponchielli Dance of the Hours, Amilcare, Fantasia – The dancing elephants, hippos, ostriches and crocodiles an absolute classic, first part, Second part, Third part
- The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Dukas, Fantasia and Fantasia 2000 – Mickey in one of his most famous roles
- Pomp and Circumstance, Elgar, Fantasia 2000 – Donald and Daphne make an appearance in Noah’s Ark. Funny and sad but happy in the end.
- Pines of Rome – I – II – IV, Respighi, Fantasia 2000 – Big Whales. Not going to say anything more than that, Part 1 and Part 2
- Bonus Carnival of the Animals Finale, Saint Saëns, Fantasia 2000 -Absolutely hilarious Flamingo with Yoyo
Schubert and Brahms
Miss Mara and I went off to the Utzon room at the Opera House for the Cocktail Hour after the Fantasia concert. To keep the fantasy theme going the first piece was Franz Schubert’s Fantasie in F Minor, D940. It was arranged by Alexandre Oguey for his wife Diana Doherty. It is one of their favourite pieces. When they first were dating he gave her a mix tape with the piece on it, how very cute. It was so beautiful.
The second piece was Brahms’s String Quartet No.3 in B flat, Op.67. It was a great performance but Brahms seemed to be trying a bit too hard.
The program is available here. I’ve put together a playlist on Spotify. Unfortunately, there isn’t an arranged version of the Schubert so it is the original for piano for four hands.
Takemitsu & Shostakovich
The most mind-blowing concert of the month. The first piece was a tuned percussion trio, 2 marimbas and a vibraphone. It was Takemitsu’s Rain Tree. It was beautiful and surprising.
The second piece was Henry Eccles’s Sonata in G minor arranged for Double Bass and Percussion by David Campbell. This has to be my most favourite piece that I have heard all year if not ever. David Campbell was inspired to take up Double Bass after hearing Gary Karr’s version of this piece. David’s version is a homage to that version. I found this recording of the David Karr version on YouTube and rabbit holed to the full interview and performances.
The third piece was Shostakovich’s String Quartet No3, Op.73. It was pretty dark. Shostakovich wrote it when he was out of favour in Russia in 1946. I must admit as brilliant as it was I was still so high from the Eccles that it didn’t engage me as much as maybe it would normally.
The program is available here. There is of course a Spotify playlist. There is no recording of the double bass arrangement with Jazz bass that I could find so I included one with ukelele, there are also great versions with orchestra and piano also available.
Daniel Müller-Schott performs Dvořák
This was my final Tea and the Symphony concert for the year and the last for a while as I’ve changed my subscription for next year. It was a bit of an end of an era for me. The concert was a lovely way to finish it off. The first piece was excerpts from the suites for Romeo and Juliet by Sergei Prokofiev. They were all from the second suite, Op64b. The music certainly took me through the story of Romeo and Juliet. Very well done. The orchestra was a full supersize, 8 double basses full brass, percussion and even a saxophone. Epic. The second piece was Dvořák’s Cello Concerto in B minor, B.191 Op.104. Daniel Müller-Schott and the conductor Eduardo Strausser were very engaging to watch. The concerto was great and had my full attention.
Yep, there is a link to the program and the Spotify playlist. This one even has a recording of Daniel Müller-Schott doing the concerto that he performed.
Cool things to look at
Amazing use of cross stitch to create everyday artworks of household items
Unlikely simultaneous historical events
Next Month
So I’m releasing this with one day to spare. So I know what happened in November. So the next newsletter will include Brisbane, more concerts, books, more cricket and maybe some sewing.
Have fun