March Music

 On 17th we had a double header, beginning with Music Matinee at Scots Church featuring a pianist playing 4 pieces (calling them 'tunes' seems disrespectful).  Details, including notes provided by the performer, are at  https://www.musicmatinee.org/mar-17.  

It was very enjoyable especially the 3rd and 4th movement of the Chopin.  I wondered about the comment by Anton Rubinstein who is said to have remarked that the fourth movement is the “wind howling around the gravestones”.  That was actually very accurate!

In the evening we went to an open rehearsal in Hamer Hall by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, preparing for concerts on the 19th and 20th. The notes commented that the conductor would decide which music was performed, and how!

I expected this would be the Rite of Spring, but instead it was the Joe Chindamo work. A bonus was that Joe was sitting in the stalls( the rabble - about 300 of us - were in the circle. It was an excellent event with about 1/2 of the time being actually playing the music, 1/4 discussing how the conductor wanted it played (a pause at one point to bring in a discreet microphone to bring the singer "into the house") and 1/4 a conversation with Joe Chindamo about his intentions with the work. (He had been involved in the discussion phase, explaining what he had in mind when composing.)

A very good event, and at $20 a seat, very good value.