A night under the autumn sky

I have never liked philharmonic orchestras much.

I hate the volume of the music. It’s like banging in the ears and you wouldn't be able to pick up the subtle pleasing elements, once the music piece is played by such a large group of musical instruments.

But I changed my mind last night.

I have never like philharmonic orchestras because I have never seen a good one.

I went to the Piazza Live Relay of the Berliner Philharmoniker performance last night. We were all sitting on the ground of the square outside of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre, in which the concert hall where the actual performance was housed.

Although the quality of the sound was not as good as in the concert hall for sure, the experience I hope was comparable.

“Music is alive” was what I summed up the whole performance. You could really feel that there was life to the music: It was not just a reproduction of the notes on the scores, but a resurrection of the spirit of the music captured in the various notes that made up the pieces.

Obviously the musicians, including the conductor, were top-notched, because they put the breath of life back into the music.

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As a side issue, I was enlightened again by my interaction with the fellow audience. Since we were sitting outside in the open air, and nobody needed to pay, the audience was fundamentally different from those sitting in the concert hall. Basically, people did not necessarily observe the basic etiquette of going to this kind of performance. People coughed, munched on their potato chips and biscuits, made laud gobbling sounds, and talked, during the performance. It’s true that they consciously kept to the minimum level of noise, but if you were in the concert hall, you would simply NOT do them.

I am a person who cares very much about what is right and what is wrong. The behaviours of these people sitting around me simply irritated and distracted me. This was most felt when I realized I missed the first 2 movements of Richard Strass’ Ein Heldenleben because I indulged in staring at the lady sitting next to me munching away happily at her chips and biscuits.

It was such a loss!!

If I had not indulged in such meaningless activities, I could enjoy the concert much more. This, I believe, is equally true if I have not indulged in complaining about the wrongs of myself or others around me, but move on with improving the life ahead of me.

Come to think of it, you only live once, so why waste your energy on such distractions?

Concentrate on meaningful things will be my motto henceforth.