Voyagers without Luggage. Dewan Filharmonik PETRONAS, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
There we were in Kuala Lumpur with very little luggage, only two duffel bags less than seven kilos each. How fitting to go to a concert in which the first piece was Darius Milhaud's (1892-1974) 'Suite for Violin, Clarinet and Piano' (Op. 157b, 1936/7)). He'd written it to accompany Jean Anouilh's (1910-1987) famous play "Le voyageur sans baggages" (1936). In it, one Gaston, a soldier who survives the First World War as an amnesiac, is employed as a gardener; he's as friendly and docile as the plants and flowers he tends. Soon Gaston is 'recognised' by several families as one of their own. Apparently he's a scion of the Renaud family, and is soon identified - how very homeric! by a scar only an intimate would know (in fact: his own sister-in-law) - as their once violent and cruel, immoral and hateful son. Not able to come to terms with that past, he abandons his real family and is adopted into another without carrying his former "baggages". Quite a story.
We were also enthralled by Görgy Ligeti (1923-2006), 'Sonata for Solo Cello', and by William Penn's (1943) fascinating 'Capriccio for Tuba and Marimba'. The concert was closed by a magnificent rendering of Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953), 'Violin Sonata No. 2 in D' (Op.94bis). Each piece wonderful for a warm Sunday afternoon in the magnificent concert hall - appropriately air-conditioned - of the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra at the bottom - as it were - of the Petronas Towers.
This photo was taken looking from the main foyer out to reflecting pools in front of yet another skyscraper catering to the needs of a bank or insurance agency. Then we went home to our pre-dinner drinks...
Voyagers without Luggage. Dewan Filharmonik PETRONAS, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
There we were in Kuala Lumpur with very little luggage, only two duffel bags less than seven kilos each. How fitting to go to a concert in which the first piece was Darius Milhaud's (1892-1974) 'Suite for Violin, Clarinet and Piano' (Op. 157b, 1936/7)). He'd written it to accompany Jean Anouilh's (1910-1987) famous play "Le voyageur sans baggages" (1936). In it, one Gaston, a soldier who survives the First World War as an amnesiac, is employed as a gardener; he's as friendly and docile as the plants and flowers he tends. Soon Gaston is 'recognised' by several families as one of their own. Apparently he's a scion of the Renaud family, and is soon identified - how very homeric! by a scar only an intimate would know (in fact: his own sister-in-law) - as their once violent and cruel, immoral and hateful son. Not able to come to terms with that past, he abandons his real family and is adopted into another without carrying his former "baggages". Quite a story.
We were also enthralled by Görgy Ligeti (1923-2006), 'Sonata for Solo Cello', and by William Penn's (1943) fascinating 'Capriccio for Tuba and Marimba'. The concert was closed by a magnificent rendering of Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953), 'Violin Sonata No. 2 in D' (Op.94bis). Each piece wonderful for a warm Sunday afternoon in the magnificent concert hall - appropriately air-conditioned - of the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra at the bottom - as it were - of the Petronas Towers.
This photo was taken looking from the main foyer out to reflecting pools in front of yet another skyscraper catering to the needs of a bank or insurance agency. Then we went home to our pre-dinner drinks...