A chamber music concert was harder to find than you’d imagine! But luck eventually smiled and today we ventured out to the Opera House (over 25 years since I’d been to an event there!) to see the Tinalley String Quartet perform Beethoven, Shostakovich and Tchiakovsky in the amazing Utzon room.

We started our afternoon with lunch at fratelli fresh, then took a wander about the foreshore before the concert started to soak up the beautiful day. What a lovely city we live in! 

Amazingly I left my phone at home and didn’t miss it a bit (who is this person?) – borrowed Don’s for the pix.

I was pretty surprised at the diversity of the audience – probably the most diverse crowd I’ve seen at any event anywhere! Very multicultural and ranged from the very old to very young, from the formally dressed to those in running clothes (I kid you not). I’m easily prone to distraction, so probably could have done without the three very wriggly children in my direct line of sight, but at least they were quiet and wriggly.

We both agreed that the Tchaikovsky was by far the stand-out, though the Shostakovich had some wonderful moments. There’s probably a reason the Beethoven was never intended to be played in public (okay, not that bad, but just waiting to be said). 

Lovely time and beautiful afternoon.

Would we go again? Quite probably, but we’re keen to experience something classical on a bit of a grander scale – must include that in the 55 project!