QSO Matinee

To be honest, I did not even know that QSO did matinee concerts on Thursdays.  But, they do.  A series called "Morning Masterworks", this one was "QSO Plays Elgar".  I only found out about this because my brother was called in as a casual, and then was issued with some complementary tickets, and I don't work until after lunch on Thursdays...  Free concert!

I arrived at the concert hall just before the 11am start, and discovered that my seat (18) was right in the middle.  And everyone else had already taken their seats.  Excuse me, excuse me, excuse me, so sorry, excuse me.... The other thing about sitting in the middle (and near the front) is that it looks like the whole orchestra is staring at you.  I had to keep reminding myself, they're looking at the conductor, they're just turned that way, the stage lights mean they can't see anything really.  Still, it was a little unnerving.  Also unnerving was the woman to my left turning her head several times during the harp concerto.  I know she must have been looking past me, but it really felt like she was staring at my nose.  I resisted the urge to return fire.  And, out of the 8 cellists, I could only see 7 - guess which one I only saw during a page-turn?

It has been a really long time since I've been to a concert at the QPAC Concert Hall.  I picked up a program but didn't really need to look at it.  This is what years of musical study has achieved.  I saw that it would be a Haydn symphony, a harp concerto, and Elgar's Nimrod Variations.  For the Haydn, I could predict the basic layout of the movements, and it was a bit like seeing well-known people as every expected bit happened.  Same with the harp concerto (played by Marshall McGuire).  Except, for most of that I was thinking of The Emperor's New Groove and the dress/robe argument.  And trying not to giggle.

Ah, Elgar.  It's been several years since I've heard Nimrod, and I don't think I've ever played it.  He really knows how to write a heart swell.  It was really something. 

Some orchestras, you get the feeling the players have all done this a thousand times, they're just playing the notes so they can go to the bar for a drink (for example), it's just a job.  Today, this group of players were, mostly, really into it.  The expressions on their faces and the movement of their bodies described a passion for this music that I wasn't expecting, to be honest, but really appreciated.  Although it felt really decadent to be at a classical music concert, late morning, on a weekday, to see and hear people living a passion was very inspiring.