Distant Worlds: Montreal 2013

This is the 3rd Distant Worlds concert I've attended, and I think the magic of it is wearing off on me. It is still a great experience, with loads of old music but something felt a bit off today. I am pretty sure some pieces were missing some lines, and I felt in some places the rhythm section kinda went off against the rest of the orchestra. The new FF6 Opera arrangement, (above) I felt the pacing was not as good as it could have been. The stretches between the voice actors felt really long between.

I left for home right after, didn't really feel the need to check out the merchandise like other years.

Thinking about it, it's probably the music, really. No Susan Calloway == really sad, and the other pieces aren't as inspiring as the previous two I've attended. Blargh. I think the most memorable was Dancing Mad with the Royal Albert Hall's pipe organ, that was amazing.

On the flip side, it's rather nice to hear an orchestra in the flesh again. I think it's been almost a year since I last hear a live orchestra.  The double bassess doing pizz is just sublime. 6 of them together? Bliss. Thanks to an orchestration course I'm attending at the moment, I'm keeping an ear on how things are orchestrated and am able to appreciate it so much more. The basses together with the tuba is a great sound when heard live.

Unlike the Royal Albert Hall's tiered orchestra layout, this particular orchestra sits on a flat platform, and the choir sadly is nigh impossible to see as they are all seated behind. I really should have checked out what the seating is like and perhaps taken a seat higher up behind. And bring some binoculars to check out who's playing what?

Let's see what happens next year...