Friday, September 05, 2008

Return to Zender*

Last night P&B and I went to the South Melbourne Town Hall to hear Steven Davislim sing the Hans Zender (version? arrangement?) realisation of Schubert's Winterreise. It's an amazing experience and Zender has produced an amazing interpretation of the song cycle, utilising an extraordinary range of instruments, from a conventional string group to accordion, melodicas and wind machines.

In the second half the whole thing gradually falls apart, though without actually losing sight of Schubert's original. I've had a recording of it for a few years and it was a real treat to hear the work performed so well. The musicians certainly seemed to enjoy themselves, as did most of the audience; I understand there were some departures at interval.

In other news, spring is definitely here - I've got a lovely arrangement of Freesias and tulips in my garden with more to come. And the Pittosporums are out all over Melbourne. Bliss!

* Sorry.

Monday, September 01, 2008

A weekend in the country

As I had a rostered four-day weekend I was missed most of the unfortunate business at work - tomorrow will be interesting. I went up to Newstead for a couple of days but came back on Saturday evening to be ready for Sunday's concert. It was great to get back there; Friday was a glorious day, though Saturday turned a bit plain.

The concert went off well; the Ligeti in particular was possibly the best we'd ever done it. It was quite scary but once started it seemed to just roll on inexorably to the end. I think the audience liked it. For me the highlight was the Rautavaara which finished the concert. I'm going to see what recordings of his work I can find - I found his writing interesting and very exciting.

In the evening B&P, LE and I went for a very delicious dinner at The Commoner in Fitzroy. It was a set menu evening and they just kept bringing tasty dish after tasty dish. Afterwards I walked LE home (and increased my daily steps at the same time).