Sol3Mio in Sydney: a lesson in opera promotion

"I didn't think I liked opera!" said the young man from Colorado. 

I was sitting next to his wife and she told me they had bought tickets to the concert because her parents were visiting Sydney from the States and they wanted to go to a concert while they were here.

Sol3Mio (their Facebook photo)

"I thought these guys looked good," she said "but I had no idea we would be getting two for one, voices and comedy!" 

Sol3Mio are brothers Pene Pati and Amitai Pati and their cousin Moses Mackay, three New Zealanders of Samoan descent. They are classically trained musicians but they love just about anything that can be sung and on Saturday night they sang everything from their trademark Yellow Bird to a piece by Coldplay and Puccini's Nessun Dorma. 

Sydney audience dancing in the aisles with
Sol3Mio (photo from their facebook page)

The audience loved them.  Not only are they handsome fellows with lovely voices, they are funny. Very funny!  There is a strong Kiwi flavour to Sol3Mio's humour but that didn't stop the Americans enjoying it. In fact it would be hard for anyone not to enjoy the three members of Sol3Mio, they are just such genuine and unassuming people as well as having wonderful voices.

They all love opera and are wonderful opera ambassadors. 

Pene Patti has just won second place in the Neue Stimen (new voices) competition in Germany which is a major accomplishment (see him sing here) and Amitai Pati has just won the New Zealand Aria competition. These are only the latest of the many awards this group have garnered.

You don't realise they are so tall until you have
your photo taken with them (and I'm not short!)

My name was one of three drawn out of a hat for a chance to meet them before the concert and I can report that they are as delightful in the flesh as they appear to be in all their youtube videos.

I hope they scale operatic heights and I am sure that on their way there they will create many new opera fans. 

Go Sol3Mio!

Steven Isserlis and the ACO

Steven Isserlis's cello runs away with itself
(12 x 17 cm)

The virtuosic cello player Steven Isserlis is one with his instrument and the way he plays it makes you feel as if you are an extension of it as well. So yesterday when my watercolour cello ran away with itself, I let it go.

I was listening to Isserlis and an augmented Australian Chamber Orchestra with over 40 musicians play Antonín Dvořák's Cello Concerto in B minor. They were wonderful. The ACO are always exceptional and we are so lucky to have such an orchestra call Australia home.

Concerts are not usually the place where people discuss politics, especially not in Australia, but yesterday I ended up in political discussions with both the retired couple I met in the coffee queue beforehand and the people seated next to me at the concert. There seems to be an increasing awareness of the infiltration of our political system by big business and people want to talk about it.  Perhaps the recent pronouncements by our environment minister has tipped the balance?

Concentrating when it matters

What a charming fellow, explaining why you should turn your mobile phone off in concerts.

Marathon Music

Tonights concert was a musical timeline with snippets from 40,000 BC to now with accompanying pictures on the screen behind: paintings, the very first photo, movie and cartoon. Gregorian chant, Marlene Dietrich, Pink Floyd, Lady Gaga.

Sketch from a back row: Timeline Concert in Maribor

The musicians had seven hours rehearsal then played the concert that lasted from 7:30 to 10:30. They have gone to the pub to celebrate. Tomorrow is another concert, but that last. It is feeling like a marathon.