Category: Culture

… to experience the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra as it draws on its vast repertoire in Wellington, NZ.

Source: New Zealand Festival 2016 Presents A Night With Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra 26 Feb – 20 Mar 2016

Last night was an experimental musical trip to the Michael Fowler centre.  Live jazz- not something we have done often. I am certainly not a big follower of jazz music but as with other things, sometimes it is important to try, have an experience and learn.

The music was great. A mixture of jazz classics from the past as well as pieces written or arranged by the orchestra themselves with as beautiful piece for the encore by the main man himself- Wynton Marsalis. He is well renowned in the jazz world. Kirsten said he was the best jazz/classical trumpeter in the world.

He, along with the other artists, could play so flexibly and make their instruments produce such a variety of sound. I was particularly impressed with the drummer- not someone who usually receives attention. Along with the pianist and bassist he provided the backbone of the sound. He plays constantly and the precision and subtlety of his playing was amazing.

So certainly a good evening and a further prod to experiment with listening to more jazz. Though as feared, listening via Spotify and the single speaker doe snot seem to do the music justice. The quality and the appreciation of the skill when watching and listening live does not come through with these means.

A late update yet again.

It is the start of the international arts festival which we have attended lots of times before.

The opener which we went to on Friday was the Edinburgh Military Tattoo.

As an event it is very well known and so we decided to give it a whirl. One needs to try different things. The programme included a mixture of military bands; of course the pipes of the Scottish regiments plus bands of other British regiments-the Royal Marines Portsmouth included. There were other choreographed performers too.

There were Kiwi military bands as well as other Kiwi performers.

The kapa haka group was great. The pipes were great. The Swiss drummers brilliant and the Norwegian Guards Band and Drill Team were fantastic.

However there did appear to be a reasonable amount of average quality filler.

A good evening and worth seeing something really quite different.

Not a cheap night out-$190 each!

Saturday evening comprised our annual trip to  see the choral event of the Christmas season. The first time we went to see a performance was a long time ago at the Albert Hall. Since we have lived in Wellington we ave been maybe close to ten times. This one was quite a big event as it was being held at the Michael Fowler Centre. The NZSO and I presume big soloists and a famous conductor. Not famous to me but that does not count.

Unfortunately we found the performance a bit flat. We were sitting at the sides of the stalls ans so under the upper level which may  have blocked out so of the sound. Was the choir a bit small? The male voices seemed a little overpowered by the the female ones. I found the conductor a little ‘showy’.

So good but not great.

Sara requested that we go see it a performance in New York. Nice idea but not easy.

The French film festival has hit Wellington. We booked to see two films, the first of which was last night. Une Nouvelle Amie came with a good intro and appeared to have potential. However, it fell extremely flat with me and Shaz.

The premise is that a newly widowed man is a transvestite and his behaviour is re-ignited by the death of his wife and his wife’s best friend becomes part of this world. The film did not really seem to know what it was portraying and came over as ridiculous and farcical with the twists and turns of what was happening. So 0/5 for that one.

Before that we had been to see Salt of the Earth a documentary of a Brazilian photographer , Sebastião Salgado, who is a renowned for his social documentary work and later natural work. It was very good but unlike EQ and Swen we did not cry at the images of human misery that he documented around the world: Rwanda, Ethiopia and the former Yugoslavia.

We are maybe just too hardened by history and work to be affected in the same way now. The beauty of youth and the progression of aging?

EQ and I continued our interest in the ballet.
She has recently returned to the dancing world after a couple years off; both for the activity, the enjoyment and the completion of her exam sequence as she has one  more to complete.

Anyway- St. James theatre. The New Zealand ballet put on a ballet that(as usual) we had not seen. In fact we went in knowing nothing of the story but it it was simple to follow and enjoyable to watch. The music was a simple accompaniment rather than a real treat in itself as with some ballets. The costumes were bright, the set good and a simple humour about it. The delivery was slapstick in parts and quite camp in others.

The group dancing was well done. The individual performances were good even if a little formulaic in the way they were squeezed into the story line at time.

A positive review too.

Overall a good experience and a lovely evening with one’s daughter.

As Eleanor is back for Easter, it  was a good reason to enjoy the ballet again, and so we went to see a ballet that we enjoyed in the past.

The theatre was not full which seems to be a sign of the times, be it the arts festival, or on as different tack, the rugby at the stadium.

We were sat to one side which meant we could not see the balcony scenes, important of the first act-somewhat annoying. However, the performance was good and act 2, set in the workshop when the toys or mannequins come to life was really well done. The lead ballerina did not have a perfect night however.

Still it is great to got to these things and the company was good.