Yu-chan no Megane

… was completely and utterly brilliant!

I watched In the Shadow of Beethoven by the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, featuring conductor Claus Peter Flor, Zhang Manchin on the viola and Ma Yue on the clarinet.

While I thoroughly enjoyed Wagner’s Tannhauser: Overture and Bacchanale (Paris version) and Bruch’s Concerto for Clarinet and Viola in E minor, Op. 88, the icing on the cake had to be Brahms. The majestic start and the crescendos and decrescendos were just mouth-watering. I haven’t been moved by classical music for a long time. There’s a huge difference listening to it performed live and on mp3. There are just some things that are impossible to capture on recording.

I wish I could’ve taken a photo but sadly photo-taking and video recording were not allowed. I did have my camera and was sorely tempted but I didn’t want to be rude. My first orchestra experience was just wonderful and I wish there was some way of commemorating it.

For now, violin lessons would have to do. (-_<)

Chiaki of Nodame Cantabile, played by Tamaki Hiroshi 玉木 宏. My first love for classical music developed from this very dorama. Behold the power of JCulture.

Rachmaninov has probably got to be one of the greatest recent composers of all time. I don’t know what it is about his music, but for some reason his orchestral arrangements call to me.

My favourite: Piano Concerto #2 in C minor Op.18 1st Movement. This piano concerto was written between 1900 and 1901 and is really the story about Rachmaninov’s depression and his eventual release from it. I first heard it on Nodame Cantabile and have loved it ever since. The story resounds with me a great deal. I don’t claim to know any musical history at all, but that’s what I learnt from Wiki, although I did get a sense of that when I listened at first to its haunting bell-like tolls and its gradual movement towards a victorious melody. I have to admit that I’ve never really been a classical music buff, nor have I been classically trained (I’m eager to learn at this point though).  But I’m starting to love it. Quite like the old fogeys.

I’m not sure what inspired this post, but I guess I want to share this with you. (^-^)