Report from the Road: ACO in Japan II

3 October
This evening the orchestra performed at the Suginami Koukaidou hall which is about a one hour drive west of our hotel in Tokyo. Japanese locals, in particular younger female members of the audience go into hysterics when they get to meet our soloist Emmanuel Pahud at the conclusion of the concert. Little wonder that Emmanuel is in such high demand as a soloist here.

Like the hall in Fukuoka yesterday (Hibiki Hall), the Japanese really know how to build fantastic concert venues with marvellous acoustics. If only other countries like Australia learnt lessons from countries like Japan when it comes to public infrastructure. The NSW Government would be well advised to employ managers and officials from the Japanese rail network to solve our public transport woes back in Sydney. No crippling rail network breakdowns or long delays with trains here.

5 October
The orchestra has just arrived back at our hotel in Tokyo after performing at the Tamashima Cultural Centre in Kurashiki-shi this afternoon.

I know I have already said this but train travel here is really what public transport should be like back in Australia. You hurtle through space at over 200km an hour for 4 hours, leave exactly on time to the second from your point of departure, and arrive to the minute at your final destination even with 4 stops in between.

One curious thing about Japan though is the complete lack of public rubbish bins on the street although ironically the streets are absolutely devoid of any rubbish or waste. Perhaps public littering is as taboo as petty theft - another lesson for the West.

The only things you will never find a shortage of here are vending machines (almost literally on every street corner) and plastic packaging. Open a packet of rice crackers and each individual rice cracker has its own package; get your laundry back from the hotel laundry and each item is individually wrapped in plastic. Good way to keep your socks nice and fresh I guess.

Damien Low
Orchestra Manager

Report from the Road: ACO in Japan

The orchestra is just starting to congregate in the lobby of our hotel in Tokyo (The Tokyo Dome Hotel) before we make the journey onto Fukuoka this afternoon.

Yesterday the orchestra spent the morning rehearsing at the nearby Bunkyo Civic Hall with our soloist for the tour, Emmanuel Pahud. Although it has been just over three years since the orchestra last performed the Vivaldi Concerti with Emmanuel on an ACO Subs tour, it did not take long for the orchestra and Emmanuel to hit their stride together again.

After the rehearsal and after a short rest back at the hotel, the orchestra travelled onto the Australian Embassy in Tokyo where they were hosted by the Australian Ambassador, Murray McLean, and Alf Moufarrige from Servcorp who sponsored this concert. The concert was very well recevied by the Embassy staff, Servcorp guests and other notable dignitaries including four former Japanese Ambassadors to Australia. In particular the audience were particularly impressed by the skillful musician who appeared all too briefly on stage to play the claves during the performance of Arvo Paert's Fratres. (Not bad for an Orchestra Manager.)

Afterward a wonderful reception at the Ambassador's residence, Alf treated the orchestra to a post-post concert reception at the Tokyo Park Hyatt, or as Alf like's to refer to it, his home away from home. Although I am not a film buff I understand this film was featured in the movie "Lost in Translation." Certainly the bar prices were lost in translation...

Thank you again to the Ambassador and his staff especially Akiko, Naoko and Nancy for looking after the orchestra so well at the Embassy, and of course to Alf for presenting the concert and of course for his post-concert reception hospitality.

Damien Low
Orchestra Manager

ON TOUR: LUXEMBOURG

27 April: The orchestra has just completed its last concert for the tour at the Philharmonie in Luxembourg. The Philharmonie is quite a modern but beautifully designed building positioned in amongst numerous EU Government buildings in Luxembourg. The hall itself is also finished in a modern but stylistically striking way, providing acoustics of great clarity for the musicians to play in and no doubt for the audience to listen. Little wonder that this venue hosts the crème de la crème of orchestras from Europe and the US as well as seasoned concert soloists on a frequent basis- obviously no shortage of money here.

As I write this final entry the orchestra is enjoying its end of tour dinner in the nearby Sofitel restaurant ‘Oro e Argento.’ No doubt the sumptuous buffet the restaurant has provided to the orchestra tonight with keep them there for many more hours to come.

Damien Low, Orchestra Manager

ON TOUR: PARIS

26 April: Last night the orchestra performed with Ivry Gitlis in the recital theatre of the Musée d’Orsay.

The Musée d’Orsay, once a train station but reopened in 1986 by Francois Mitterand as a museum which now houses one of the finest collections of French Impressionist art in the world, was a great venue for the orchestra’s one off appearance in Paris on this tour.

Today the orchestra had the luxury of enjoying a free day in Paris although quite a large number of musicians elected to go on a tour of the Ruinart Estate in the Champagne region. No matter what people decided to do on their free day here, I am sure their days will end in the same way – dinner in a Parisian restaurant (three courses of course as one cannot turn down dessert here) and accompanied by local French wines.

Damien Low, Orchestra Manager

ON TOUR: PARIS

25 April: Yesterday the orchestra made its way (in some cases more directly) from Glasgow to Paris. For those who braved Easyjet, they were rewarded with an extra six hours here. For the rest of us who stayed on the group flight through Amsterdam, we arrived much later in the day, but still with enough time to experience as much of a Parisian evening as we could before we passed out from exhaustion.

Today the orchestra is no doubt devouring as much French culture, and of course, as much French food as they can before we travel onto the Musée d’Orsay later this evening for a one off concert with legendary violinist Ivry Gitlis. It will no doubt be a special evening, particularly for Ivry’s number one fan – Richard Tognetti.

Damien Low, Orchestra Manager

ON TOUR: GLASGOW

23 April: After a long and tiring train journey from London to Glasgow this morning the orchestra performed in the recently restored Glasgow City Hall. The journey was tiring in the sense that the incessant radio announcements on the train made it virtually impossible to get any rest during the five hour journey. The British really do need to have a lesson on long distance train travel from the Germans.

Compared to Edinburgh, Glasgow is more of a small town although with two of the most successful Scottish football teams here (Celtic and Glasgow Rangers) there is no shortage of passion or pride in its people.

Although the audience was a wee bit smaller in numbers by comparison to other performances we have done whilst in Europe, their reduced numbers were not evident during the final applause of the night. It must be all that practice the locals have from cheering on their team during local football derbies, or better still when the English visit.

Read the Glasgow concert review here.

Damien Low, Orchestra Manager

ON TOUR: VIENNA TO LONDON

21 April: Last night the orchestra performed in the Musikverein in Vienna. This was the first time the orchestra had performed at this venue for quite a few years because our last couple of concerts in Vienna in 2006 and 2003 were at the Konzerthaus.

It was terrific to see such a young audience at the concert which was impart due to the presenter, Jeunesse, who focus a lot of their marketing attention towards younger generations, but also because the Viennese and of course people from other European cities have such a strong affinity towards classical music and its history. Sport is still important here but it does not dominate the social landscape or the psyche of its people like it seems to in other countries.

Today the orchestra travelled from Vienna to London to perform at the comparatively small but incredibly prestigious venue of Wigmore Hall. Although the Wigmore is known more as a recital venue for singers, pianists and chamber music ensembles, the orchestra still managed to fit on the stage (only just though) to perform to a capacity audience of appreciative listeners.

After the performance Barry Humphries kindly hosted a function in the Bechstein Room before the orchestra moved on to a nearby restaurant called Sofra where they enjoyed a few more celebratory drinks.

Damien Low, Orchestra Manager

ON TOUR: VIENNA & DRESDEN

Courtesy of a little local knowledge from our tour manager, Reinhold Göggel, a small group of us opted out of the ‘all you can eat sushi’ option near our hotel in Regensburg and instead ventured down to the nearby banks of the Danube River to experience bratwurst sausages made my the oldest sausage tavern in the world – the Wurstkuchl. This tavern, which is situated right next to an original stone bridge that was built in the early 12th Century, sells pure pork sausages, their very own special brand of mustard and specially fermented sauerkraut. The recipes for these date back over 500 years to when stonemasons and dockers treated themselves to these refreshments at this tavern.

The concert itself in Regensburg took place at the nearby Audi-Max University. Once again the concert was incredibly well attended by a very loyal subscription base for this concert series.

At the end of the evening the orchestra helped celebrate Sol Gabetta’s birthday with some champagne and cake that was very kindly arranged by the concert presenter.

Yesterday the orchestra returned to Dresden to perform in the magnificently restored Frauenkirche in Dresden. Much of the city of Dresden was completely flattened by allied bombers during the Second World War and due to the government administering this part of Germany immediately after the War, much of this city remained in rubble (including the Frauenkirche) for decades after. In fact although many of the buildings surrounding the Frauenkirche have been rebuilt and restored since the orchestra’s last visit to Dresden in 2006, there are still many construction sites surrounding the main square. You only have to venture beyond the immediate vicinity of the Frauenkirche to be reminded of Dresden’s history since the War concluded as a lot of the architecture is quite distinctively Eastern European in design, and many of the city’s factories remain in a state of disrepair and are unused.

Similar to 2006, the concert in the Frauenkirche was completely sold out. This not only added to the great atmosphere of the concert in this incredibly beautiful church, but also markedly improved the acoustics which are normally extremely reverberant.

This morning the orchestra had a very early departure from Dresden in order to make the journey to Vienna. It is a shame that we are only spending one day in Vienna this time, but the orchestra is still very excited about performing in the famous Musikverein tonight.

Damien Low, Orchestra Manager

ON TOUR: LJUBLJANA

Today the orchestra is enjoying a much deserved rest day in the Slovenian capital of Ljubljana.

Compared to Maribor, Ljubljana seems to have a much younger and vibrant population which is probably due in part to the local university because there seems to be a lot of students in and around the city during the day and night.

The old town of Ljubljana is very picturesque with beautiful architecture and squares that are overlooked by a nearby castle which is perched high up on a nearby hillside.

For those members of the orchestra and staff who suffer from a propensity to go clothes shopping at any free moment, Ljubljana has provided them with an unexpected opportunity to invest heavily in the local economy.

On the subject of economics, since the orchestra’s last visit to Slovenia in 2006 the currency has officially moved from the Slovenian Tolar to the Euro. Consequently the cost of living here has jumped quite a lot in a short space of time.

Last night the orchestra performed in Gallus Hall which is apparently the largest concert space currently in Slovenia although there are plans to build a larger concert venue in coming years. The hall itself is built under a large Government building which now houses quite a number of foreign embassies. Little wonder then that the building’s basement contains a series of old converted nuclear fall-out bomb shelters that now act as dressing rooms for visiting orchestras.

Like Maribor, the concert last night was very well received by an almost capacity audience. So far the orchestra has been treated to very beautiful concert spaces with wonderful acoustics so let’s hope that this trend continues.

Tomorrow the orchestra will travel to Regensburg, Germany where they will be joined by cello soloist Sol Gabetta.

Damien Low

(Image source: flickr)

ON TOUR: MARIBOR, SLOVENIA

15^th April – Maribor

After a short delay this morning caused by a disorientated Slovenian bus driver the orchestra has reached the second destination of the tour in Maribor, Slovenia. It was indeed very interesting crossing the former border between Austria and Slovenia this morning, particularly as only two years ago the orchestra had to pass through a fairly rigorous passport control check-point before we could advance into Slovenia. These days, although the border control buildings are still there, the soldiers and duty free shop owners are not. It just goes to show that borders are merely a state of mind.

Last night the orchestra performed at the Stefaniesaal in Graz, Austria to a very full and appreciative local audience. They were particularly enthusiastic when Mark Padmore unexpectedly emerged from the audience during the final applause to sing a Schumann leid with the orchestra as an encore.

Tonight the orchestra will perform for the first official time of the tour with Mark Padmore and flute obbligato player Katy Bircher. It promises to be a fantastic concert because the orchestra’s memories of the hall in Maribor from last time are so positive.

After the concert tonight the orchestra is going to be taken to a local Slovenian wine cellar and restaurant to dine with the selected guests of the Maribor promoter as well as with the members of the Alumni Travel touring party. Although our stay in Maribor is only brief this time it has still been great to return to this reasonably small but culturally rich part of Slovenia.

Damien Low, Orchestra Manager

ACO ON TOUR: GRAZ 2

April 13: The ACO is now finally down to business and rehearsing in the Stefaniesaal in Graz, a beautiful hall ornately decorated with chandeliers, gold-leaf and wall paintings that pay tribute to the master German composers of bygone centuries, a perfect space for the Orchestra to be rehearsing Bach's Cantata BWV 82, Ich habe genug, with tenor Mark Padmore and baroque flautist Katy Bircher.

The orchestra will continue rehearsing for the rest of today and will finish with one final pre-tour rehearsal with cello soloist Sol Gabetta tomorrow morning before the concerts begin.

On the subject of jet lag, some members of the members of the orchestra are still battling the temptation of sleep come 4pm most afternoons. The coffee industry in Graz has surely experienced a sudden jump in sales since our arrival a few days ago. There are a few of us that thought they had slipped into the new time zone unscathed, although given the ridiculous hour I am sending this journal entry back to the ACO office, I obviously jumped to this conclusion a little early.

Damien Low, Orchestra Manager

ACO ON TOUR: GRAZ

Orchestra Manager, Damien Low's European Tour Blog:

The orchestra has now all safely arrived in Graz, Austria after spending the previous 24 hours on a series of flights from Sydney through Singapore and Frankfurt. Miraculously not a single bag missed the connection in Frankfurt from our Qantas flight to our Lufthansa connection. This could be attributed to the fact that our Austrian travel agent looked after every detail of our connection in Frankfurt to the extent that they had cordoned off a check-in counter for the exclusive use of the ACO, or perhaps it could just be that the God of Luggage Handling (Heathrow does not fall under his/her jurisdiction) was in a good mood and smiled upon us.

Whatever the reason we are all here and reunited with our suitcases.

Our tour manager for the next few weeks is Reinhold Göggel who has already managed to gain the orchestra’s respect and admiration by ensuring that all the rooms at our hotel in Graz were ready for us at 1030 this morning. No small feat for a group of 26 people.

The orchestra now has the next 36 hours to acclimatise to the time zone and climate of our new environment before they start rehearsals with our soloists for the tour, Mark Padmore and Sol Gabetta. Now doubt this period of acclimatisation will also involve some time for the musicians to reacquaint themselves with the shopping, food and alcoholic beverages that this part of the world has to offer, test their newly purchased cameras, and of course polish up on the repertoire we will be performing in Europe over the course of the next few weeks. I think I can already hear a violin being tuned in the room next to mine.

Graz is a beautiful European town that is dotted by hundreds of historical old buildings that were seemingly untouched by the hands of war all those years ago. Like so many other European towns, Graz is divided into two main areas – the old and the new town. Dividing these two main sections is the rapidly flowing Mur River that is presumably carrying with it the freezing waters from the nearby melting snow capped mountains.

What a great place to start our 2008 European Tour.

Damien Low