from la roux to sir neville

got a bit of a night off last night, and attended the marriner festival at the melbourne recital centre.

what. an. amazing. venue.

i wished i could have heard sigur ros there instead of at the palais...

anyway, i was running a little bit late, got a taxi to the mrc. in the cab the radio was playing la roux 'bulletproof'. that's still filed under 'catchy and fun' in my mind, even though i'm not sure what i think of it musically. the driver turned it up for me, which was nice of him.

i made it to mrc with seconds to spare and just missed being locked out for the first work, which was a beautiful ralph "the lark ascending" vaughan williams. i love vaughan williams, like the good little popularist i think i secretly am, and this piece - Fantasy on a Theme by Thomas Tallis - was really quite quite lovely. cinematic and romantic. got me wondering if john powell (my new favourite film composer, since his stunning incidentals for hancock) was a vaughan williams fan.

the mco, formerly australia pro arte, are coming along nicely and looking to "fill the gap" of chamber concerts in melbourne. first violin and artistic director bill hennessy is quite delightful on stage, a real character, and i like that. (their website is aggressively orange though, so do be warned if you venture a click).

i also got to meet guest soloist, clarinettist andrew marriner and his mother, lady marriner, and all told it was a well-spent evening. lady marriner is now on my list of people i'd like to grow up to be like. beautiful, gracious, and kind.

the douglas weiland 9/11-referencing premiere was interesting, though not entirely to my tastes, but i do enjoy a premiere and clapped good and loud for it anyway.

the walton they finished with was excellent and i'm now adding english romantics to my list of favourite genres, along with french impressionists, russian ballets and post rock :)

it was so refreshing to sit in a beautifully designed acoustic space and hear gorgeous music played by world-class performers. i really should try to do it more often.

my thanks must go to the mco for the invitation and to the taxi driver, for cranking la roux

yours classily,

~ listener