Monday 28 July 2008

A HIJACKING & THE NRSO!


My life has been hijacked! But...wait, that puts a rather 'violent' slant on things. Appropriated perhaps, though that sounds like something the pollies in the national capital do!

MUSIC is running away with my life, making off with little portions & giving them over to music. In this last week, when I wasn't tap-dancing, I was listening to the Sydney Piano Competition or practising piano , at choir practice or singing along with CDs of Handel or William James.

Yesterday, it was our 'local' Northern Rivers Symphony Orchestra's turn to spirit away my afternoon.As an unashamed crowd-pleaser, they did a "People's Choice Top Ten Countdown", based on votes lodged on the internet or snail mail for orchestral repertoire performed in the last 15 years. The results were fairly predictable favourites...but here's what the NRSO played.

10. Symphony no. 6 by Beethoven ....1st movement only.
9. Medley from "Phantom of the Opera"
8. William Tell overture by Rossini, and Romance from the 'Gadfly' by Shostakovich
7. Waltz of the Flowers by Tchaikovsky
6. Finlandia by Sibelius and Scheherazade by Rimsky-Korsakov ....Sinbad's tale only
5. Blue Danube Waltz by J Strauss
4. Symphony no. 9 by Dvorak....4th movement only
3. Barcarole by Offenbach
2. Morning from Peer Gynt by Grieg and Radetsky March by J Strauss and Adagio from
"Spartacus" by Katchachurian
1. 1812 overture by Tchaikovsky....disappointingly without canons and church bells....

Yes, very much orchestral pops, but then this is one of the retirement capitals of Australia. More importantly for the NRSO, it put 'bums on seats'. The orchestra receives no funding or sponsorship, and survives on ticket, program & CD sales, donations & Friends contributions.

Below, is maestro Barry Singh. His conductor's choice was the Medley from Jurassic Park by John Williams.


If you'd like to listen to the NRSO Cammerata with local Murwillumbah soprano Liza Beamish perform 'Let The Bright Seraphim', you can click here.

My life has been hijacked, but who's complaining?

4 comments:

Sally said...

What a delightful way to be captured and whisked away!

Re your comment on my DJs music post: ah, yes. We used to do two big shopping trips to town a year: one for 2 winter outfits and one for 2 summer outfits! I think Mum was pretty radical though and abandoned the gloves! Much to the chagrin of her step-mother I think.

GMG said...

Hi Caba!
Sorry for the absence these last weeks, but unfortunately it wasn’t due to some summer holidays… ;))
Thanks for your comments on Blogtrotter, now at the MoMA for Art and New York lovers! Hope you enjoy and wish you a great week! I’ll try to get back here to enjoy your posts with some more time during the week!

MmeBenaut said...

Well now CabaC, even I recognised some of those titles. Sounds like you're having a wonderful time. I've been hijacked by medical appointments and birthday bashes. Who would have ever thought so many people were born in July?

Alan said...

A yes, the necessary evil that is orchestral pops - for those bums in the seats. Thankfully our orchestra in town doesn't do too many of those and I don't have to attend them. My season tickets are for the "real" music - the Masterworks series they call it.

Though a more "fun" concert can be a nice change of pace from time to time - they do a movie music concert and play clips from the movies and snippets from the scores and encourage the audience to dress up as characters from the films for a free ticket. Fun for one night a year at least. :)