Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Symphony in the Park

A couple weekends ago, we met up with some people from Bryan's work at the Singapore Botanical Garden to see the Singapore Symphony Orchestra perform. Apparently the orchestra does this from time to time, as part of a series called "SSO Classics in the Park." The orchestra performs from the Shaw Foundation Symphony Stage (which looks like a giant clam), and the audience sits on a hill that provides pretty much perfect stadium seating. It was a great atmosphere- families and friends sitting on blankets on the grass, picnicking and drinking wine, surrounded by beautiful flowers and lovely music, and it wasn't even as hot as usual!

The pieces were mostly ones that I've heard played by plenty of American orchestras- composers like Dvorak, Mendelssohn, and Debussy. Interestingly, the only piece by an Asian composer was "Rhapsody for Orchestra" by Yuzo Toyama. The composition had a variety of influences, including Japanese Kabuki theater and old Japanese folk songs. It was great, but I think I enjoyed "Clair de lune" just as much- I guess, like a lot of people, I always enjoy music that I recognize.

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