It was the final Saturday the other day, but since it was already a day off
I didn't bother writing about it,
but I went to a classical concert.
The regular concerts of the Osaka Symphony Orchestra that I usually attend
are held at The Symphony Hall,
but this time at Fenice Sakai in Sakai City
it was the first installment of a series of concerts.
Fenice Sakai is a facility that opened in 2019
after rebuilding the Sakai Civic Hall,
but I wonder why such programming hasn't been organized until now.
I suppose it left a bad impression that they invited
the Kyoto Symphony Orchestra rather than an Osaka orchestra
for the opening commemorative concert.
The large hall at Fenice Sakai can hold up to 2,000 people,
and with seating up to the 4th floor and an unusually high ceiling,
I was worried the acoustics might be poor,
but since I had good seats, they weren't as bad as I'd expected.
The seats were thinner than at The Symphony Hall.
The stage was deep, with the conductor's podium positioned
quite far back from the edge of the stage nearest the audience.
Perhaps that's necessary so the back wall doesn't directly behind the timpani.
Since The Symphony Hall is specialized for acoustics,
the stage is small, and when you set up risers for the Ninth Symphony chorus,
the orchestra becomes quite cramped on stage,
but Fenice Sakai seems to have quite a bit of room.
Though Fenice Sakai does claim to specialize
in classical concert performances.
If this becomes a stepping stone to moving the regular concerts' venue
to Fenice Sakai,
I might quit my corporate membership.
I went there to hear
Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique, which was the second half program after intermission,
and I might not have gone otherwise.
Fenice refers to the phoenix, Fenix,
which I believe is a play on words with the Phoenix palms
planted as street trees along the road in front of Fenice Sakai.
The fact that Sakai is written as "SACAY"
is supposedly because that's how it appeared on old maps,
↑(the tree visible in the photo is a Phoenix palm)
but at the intersection in front of Fenice Sakai, the designation is
apparently they don't care much about respecting proper nouns.
Oh, that Don McLean's "American Pie" mentioned in the title
is one of my favorite Western songs,
and I tend to evaluate earphones and headphones based on
whether this song sounds better through them or not.
I didn't bother writing about it,
but I went to a classical concert.
The regular concerts of the Osaka Symphony Orchestra that I usually attend
are held at The Symphony Hall,
but this time at Fenice Sakai in Sakai City
it was the first installment of a series of concerts.
Fenice Sakai is a facility that opened in 2019
after rebuilding the Sakai Civic Hall,
but I wonder why such programming hasn't been organized until now.
the Kyoto Symphony Orchestra rather than an Osaka orchestra
for the opening commemorative concert.
The large hall at Fenice Sakai can hold up to 2,000 people,
and with seating up to the 4th floor and an unusually high ceiling,
I was worried the acoustics might be poor,
but since I had good seats, they weren't as bad as I'd expected.
The seats were thinner than at The Symphony Hall.
The stage was deep, with the conductor's podium positioned
quite far back from the edge of the stage nearest the audience.
Perhaps that's necessary so the back wall doesn't directly behind the timpani.
Since The Symphony Hall is specialized for acoustics,
the stage is small, and when you set up risers for the Ninth Symphony chorus,
the orchestra becomes quite cramped on stage,
but Fenice Sakai seems to have quite a bit of room.
Though Fenice Sakai does claim to specialize
in classical concert performances.
If this becomes a stepping stone to moving the regular concerts' venue
to Fenice Sakai,
I might quit my corporate membership.
I went there to hear
Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique, which was the second half program after intermission,
and I might not have gone otherwise.
Fenice refers to the phoenix, Fenix,
which I believe is a play on words with the Phoenix palms
planted as street trees along the road in front of Fenice Sakai.
The fact that Sakai is written as "SACAY"
is supposedly because that's how it appeared on old maps,
↑(the tree visible in the photo is a Phoenix palm)
but at the intersection in front of Fenice Sakai, the designation is
apparently they don't care much about respecting proper nouns.
Oh, that Don McLean's "American Pie" mentioned in the title
is one of my favorite Western songs,
and I tend to evaluate earphones and headphones based on
whether this song sounds better through them or not.