50 and beyond

Let me tell you about the first time I heard Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto 2.

It was in a movie titled The Seven Year Itch. The main character in the movie gets infatuated with the new neighbour who just moved in upstairs. Marilyn Monroe plays the role of this new neighbour. She was quite a good comedian actress, by the way.

So, there’s this scene where the guy invites this neighbour down for drinks. He fantasises about her coming down for drinks. In the fantasy, he is playing Rach 2 on the piano and at the climax of the intro of the piece, he leans over to kiss her. Here’s the scene.

But what really happened was that when she came over for drinks, they ended playing Chopsticks on the piano and when he bent over to try to kiss her, she pushed him away. Here’s the scene.

It’s quite hilarious, isn’t it?

And by the way, this is the movie where the iconic image of Marilyn Monroe standing on top of the sidewalk grate with her skirt up and her legs showing originated from. Here’s the clip:

So, it was with great anticipation that I caught Rach 2 last week at the Esplanade. I tried to contain my excitement because last year, when I attended SSO’s performance of Beethoven’s fifth symphony, I was quite disappointed with the lack lustre performance.

I bought the tickets only two weeks before the concert and only gallery seats behind the stage were available. These are seats where choirs that perform with the orchestra would usually stand. They open up these seats for sale when they know that a concert would be a sell-out.

Sitting at gallery seats was a wonderful experience. My friend and I could see the pianist up close, his fingering and his facial expression. We could see the conductor’s demeanour throughout the performance. And we could see each musician very clearly. We could even see their musical scores! We fell in love with the French horn and the double bassoon. We also started to notice the various percussionists and their busying around with their various instruments. Boy! It was a fantastic experience!

And the performance was excellent! Garrick Ohlsson was so good. I just read the Straits Times article on his performance. Wah, the description is quite cheem. I can never write like that.

Let me attempt, in my little way, to describe the performance.

Once, when D1 was in Primary 5, he attended a National Day Parade rehearsal. He related to me later that when he sang Kit Chan’s song Home, something moved in his heart. I was quite tickled to hear that. Whenever I mention this to D1 now, he would cringe and beg me never to remind him of this incident, ever. And of course this is why I have to pen this down for the world to read.

So well, Rach 2 was like that. Garrick Ohlsson and the orchestra captivated and roused the audience throughout the evening. The piece evoked so much emotions. Rachmaninov was truly a genius! We clapped till our hands were sore, and Garrick Ohlsson had but to oblige and play two encores.

This year, I plan to attend more such performances. If you have any recommendations on what to attend, please do let me know.