Tchaikovsky Spectacular

By Nick Smith, 9th February 2023

Last night I had the great pleasure of attending a free outdoor concert at Melbourne’s Sidney Myer Music Bowl – a Tchaikovsky Spectacular consisting of a selection of his most famous works. You can view the programme here. 

Arriving the late afternoon to secure seats close to the stage, here you can see the large grassy area beyond the seating zone where people were already beginning to set up picnic blankets.

The performance was almost ready to start, and most seats were taken. Organisers estimated the eventual crowd at around ten thousand including those on grass.

This is Carlo Antonioli who conducted. A very articulate young man, with the evening’s presenter from ABC Classic FM.

The concert began at 7:30pm, and we were treated to a beautiful summer night with the temperature hovering around 20c. Eventually night fell and the mood shifted.

Our seats were quite close to the stage. The acoustics were not at the level I’d experienced in Melbourne’s concert halls and they used amplification for the benefit of those far from the stage -evident by a dimly perceptible echo of select frequencies- but despite this, sonically I could still discern various sections of the orchestra distinctly from one another in a way that never seems similarly possible listening to a recording.

Here you see the close of the performance. Suffice to say Tchaikovsky’s music is sublime, Swan Lake is particularly splendorous and finishing with the 1812 Overture (sadly no real cannons) was the ideal way to end the evening with a bang. Ambling back through the moonlight of the King’s Domain on this warm summer night with a jovial step and a glowing heart etched a smile on my face.

Thank you Marvellous Melbourne for a lovely evening. 

Often when deciding to attend a live music event I waver, but invariably come away profoundly grateful for participating in the experience afterwards. Music played passionately through real instruments weaves a particular spell on us, and even listening sessions through portable devices afterwards are infused with added magic as the afterglow of the effect lingers.