Classical stuff: Musical masters in town
Last week, violins worth many millions of dollars have been arriving in town. Tuxedo-wearers were getting excited.
So what was all the subdued and refined excitement about?
“It (was) indulgence -– a slightly exhausting but exhilarating journey,” says Katherine Kemp, co-artistic director of the Musica Viva Festival. “You have to put in a bit of your own energy when you're part of the audience –- it’s that complicity you only get during live performances.”
“It’s more of a mind and spirit thing than a body thing,” Kemp says.
This festival of chamber music (as opposed to orchestras) at the Conservatorium covered variations from the old-fashioned to modern hybrid.
Pekka Kuusisto, a Finnish musician who performs anything from classical to solos at heavy metal concerts, says classical musicians do not self-limit themselves by building a brand.
Lady Gaga’s a sell-out, he thinks, but these musicians are after the purity of music, and all that jazz.
None more than the Takacs, a Hungarian-founded string quartet who –- for the first time in Australia -- performed the entire compositions of Barok, a between-the-wars composer.
But Kemp highlighted Sunday morning. “Piano power (saw) eight hands (four people) on two pianos,” she says.
“A lot of pop came from classical folk, and to have it all in one compact building will be just amazing,” Kemp said.
Musica Viva festival 2011 at the Conservatorium of Music
Pekka Kuusisto performs in the Verbrugghen Hall: Saturday April 30 9 a.m.-11.30 a.m. (rehearsal), Saturday April 30 7.30 p.m.-10.30 p.m., Sunday May 1, 3 p.m.-5 p.m.
Piano Power in the Verbrugghen Hall: Sunday May 1, 3 p.m.-5 p.m.
Conservatorium of Music, Cnr Bridge and Macquarie streets, Sydney
