Apparently my previous post was my 255th. The number 255 used to be the max value for many rpg character attributes, in the times when I used to play lots of computer games.

Anyway, in more trips back to the past, I watched a Chinese Orchestra concert: "十大华樂世纪金曲” (Top Ten Chinese Classics) by City Chinese Orchestra. Why I watched it? Thanks to GEK1519 Science of Music... I have write a concert review.
But anyway here is my non-graded, non-objective review of my experience.

Some background. Well, I spent about 5 yrs in Chinese Orchestra before abandoning it for Canoeing. I played the pipa, which is basically a 4 string chinese lute: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pipa

This was the line up:
西北组曲（一） Songs from Xibei (1st movement)
二泉映月 Reflection of the Moon on the Erquan Spring
瑶族舞曲 Dance of the Yao Tribe*
月儿高 The Lyric Moon**
茉莉花 Jasmine
龙腾虎跃 Leaping Dragon Crouching Tiger*
梁山伯与祝英台The Buttefly Lovers
春江花月夜 Blossoms on a Spring Moon-lit River**
十面埋伏 Ambush from All Sides
花好月圆 Full-Blown Blossoms Under The Bright Moon*

*=played before in CO, ** have the mp3 somewhere

The concect was held on Sunday 5pm - 7:30pm at Esplanade Concert Hall.

Well, to be frank, many of the songs which I heard for the first time were a bit Zzz... mostly due to their length. One particular thing about classic Chinese Orchestra pieces is their lengthy sequences of trying to express certain boring or low points of life through music. Yeah, and that's what it sounds: unmelodic and even quite bizarre at times. But the melodic parts that reflect jubilation etc literally send positive vibes through my body. Somehow the Chinese scale and timbre just has a certain magical, very characteristic element to it. The yangqin, the erhu, gaohu, dizi, guzeng, and of course the pipa all have this very unique quality. Of course I still think the cello is a very cool instrument. Some of the other instruments I sadly could not really here or identify during the performance due to lousy seating position (3rd row from the front, but near the side). So I couldn't really pick out many parts that the zhongruan or liuqin played. The gaosheng and zhongsheng I also could not hear much. The suona of course was very evident. It was the frist time I saw a disheng though. And there were a unique set of ancient looking bells / gongs being used too.

However my most significant experience was this weird, nostalgic feeling when I witnessed the performance of songs I used to play in CO. I mean, I could literally imagine myself playing many of the pipa parts! And the attachement to these pieces was at a totally different level. It's like how I could imagine myself waiting for the cue from the symbols before the next part begun. And how I paused as the cellos took over the melody. Hmm, but actually now when I relive those moments, it's still different, because the people actually playing the instruments were familiar faces! Actually CO is pretty cool in that sense. You and your friends, everyone playing their own part to construct a musical performance.

Alright, back to the actual Chinese Orchestra pieces, 3 instruments in particular were highlighted through solo (with accompaniment) pieces: Gaohu/erhu (二泉映月 / 梁山伯与祝英台), Drums (龙腾虎跃) and Pipa (春江花月夜). Interesting to note though, was how many of the songs were adapted from pipa solos: 月儿高, 十面埋伏.

Well, my personal favourites were easily all the songs I was familar with, haha. Somehow nostalgia and familiarity just add so much more enjoyment to a song.

On the whole I think City Chinese Orchestra is a good orchestra. Just based on my unprofessional obsevations lah. Their key players are all very highly skilled and composed. The soloists were renowned players in their own right. However, a very large number, maybe half the orchestra consisted of young people, many teenagers who were maybe 15/16 yrs old? They seemed competent lah, but definitely did not carry the high level of the seniors. This reminds me of the trip in lower secondary to Beijing. I can't remember the name of the Middle School orchestra, but they were really in their own class. You could just tell from the style of playing, the confidence they eluded from their strokes.

Ok, enoungh random blabber, time to get down to writing the actual concert review.