An Evening at MPO Rare Rachmanioff Concert

Another trip to Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra (MPO) at Dewan Filharmonik Petronas, KLCC on Saturday evening. My previous trip was Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony Concert. Now we are in the mood for orchestra and classical music. I am checking out MPO next month performances hehehe…  

This time we attended the evening session together with our friends Alan and Janice from Hong Kong. It’s was relaxing and enjoying evening listening to the soothing music of the orchestra. We had dinner at Chinoz at the Park Suria KLCC then walked over to Dewan Filharmonik Petronas. I think is a great idea to bring oversea guest for an evening outing dinner then followed by a MPO concert. The surrounding, environment and evening view at KLCC just astonishing.     

The evening concert was slightly grander than then afternoon session. We watched Rare Rachmaninoff Concert conducted by Michael Francis with Alain Lefevre on piano. 

Michael Francis, British conductor

Michael Francis, British conductor is much sought after for his musicality and ability to elicit orchestral tone and shape suitable to the style of each composer. He was appointed Chief Conductor and Artistic Advisor to Sweden’s Norrkoping Symphony Orchestra. 

Alain Lefevre, Pianist

Alain Lefevre, pianist was acclaimed a hero (Los Angeles Times), a spectacular pianist (Fanfare) and a smashing performer (Washington Post). 

The concert kicked off with Ravel piano concerto in G major no.4 by follows the three movements and is deeply infused with jazz idioms and harmonies allegramente, adagio assai and presto. Then followed by Mathieu concerto de quebec, the solo version for piano.

After the 20 minutes interval, the concert continue with Copland symphony no.3 is interesting and unconventional in usual four movements. Molto moderato, allegro molto, andatino quasi allegretto and fanfare (molto deliberato) allegro risoluto all of them share the similar ABA form. Start with slow-quicker-slow pattern while the second and fourth movements just opposite fast-slower-fast.  

The concert ticket price is RM50 onwards. My friends from Hong Kong commented that the MPO was world class and they were surprised at how affordable the ticket price compared to Hong Kong Philharmonic. 

The concert started sharp at 830pm, so please have to be punctual and be seated 15 minutes before the performance start and follow the the dress code. You can check out the do’s and don’t in my previous post HERE. The air condition in the MPO hall might be a little be chilly, if you are afraid of cold then I suggest you bring a shawl along. 

There are food and beverages available during the 20 minutes interval.

I am looking forward to attend more future MPO performances, as long as I can afford it. However, the ticket price is affordable and every time is a different experience so I will never get bored.

We took a short walk at the park enjoying the astonishing Petronas Twin Towers 

view at night after the concert. 

For more information, ticketing and upcoming performances Malaysian Philharmonic check out the http://www.mpo.com.my or call 03-2051 7007