September 16th 2005 – Inside the Opera House

Friday night we met after work in Circular Quay and popped into McDonalds for a quick bite before the show. We arrived almost an hour early so that we could appreciate the theater before the mobs started to arrive and we strolled around one of the two performance halls. From the box office to the back of the halls the steps keep going and going. We climbed our way to the back of the theater and found a quiet bar and small stage. Looking out over the water, we couldn’t avoid having a glass of wine and waiting for performance time. During our wait the regular conductor for the Sydney symphony orchestra gave us a brief outline of all of their selected pieces and their relevance to the career of the composer all having been based around a theater production called Fauré's Peleas and Melisande. Although I’m not musically inclined, even I could appreciate the wonderful performance that followed. For the first two pieces, we were front row center. For those like myself who are unfamiliar with symphonies, these seats are the cheapest along with the nose bleed section because the sounds don’t blend together very well from so close, but we were too busy watching the players, particularly the solo violinist, to notice. The second two pieces Laure recognized to be considerably noisier than the first because of the inclusion of a substantial contribution from the horns, so we took advantage of the intermission to relocate to the back of the lower sections for a better view and to salvage our eardrums. After a fantastic performance, we left the hall to the worst rain storm we’ve had in Sydney since we’ve arrived. It was so violent and unpleasant that even I – the one who once attempted to walk to Ottawa - was looking for an empty cab to avoid a miserable walk.