For my last night in Sydney (if you don’t count the upcoming two nights I’ll spend back in Sydney in between flights) I went to the Sydney Symphony concert at the Opera House – a performance of Haydn’s “Creation.” This was in the Concert Hall – a gorgeous venue seating about 2,000 people. The interior is beautiful, with great acoustics. It all reminded me a little of Disney Hall in LA – both buildings have somewhat nautical inspiration, with sails and other boat-like design elements.
The concert was excellent as well. I had a great seat about two-thirds of the way back (so that I could get a good blend of chorus and orchestra as my father recommends) and just slightly left of center. I’m not sure if I’ve heard “The Creation” live before or not, but I thought it was really well done. I also had a little “blast from the past” reading the program when I realized that Mark Elliott, the former marketing director at the Pacific Symphony, is now with the Sydney Symphony. I’m going to have to send him a note!
Before the concert I decided to have dinner at a place recommended in my Lonely Planet book. It’s called Firefly and located on a wharf in the Rocks area a little bit away from the main touristy places. It was billed as a tapas/wine bar and “compact, classy and never snooty.” (The “never snooty” appealed to me. I realize that a party of 1 is not necessarily very appealing to some restaurants.) I arrived around 6 (the concert started at 8) and apparently I was just in time! I got one of the last available spots along a bar looking out the wharf to the water. The restaurant was open-air and could only hold about 25 or 30 patrons. Several people were turned away after I arrived.
The waiter recommended that I order two dishes (since it was tapas style) so I got chicken chorizo with maple mustard sauce and parmesan thyme tartlets with wild onion jelly. Both were delicious! I also sampled a couple Australian Rieslings, one from West Australian and the other from Tasmania. I had my Kindle with me and alternately read and gazed out at the water. It was a lovely dinner!
The concert was excellent as well. I had a great seat about two-thirds of the way back (so that I could get a good blend of chorus and orchestra as my father recommends) and just slightly left of center. I’m not sure if I’ve heard “The Creation” live before or not, but I thought it was really well done. I also had a little “blast from the past” reading the program when I realized that Mark Elliott, the former marketing director at the Pacific Symphony, is now with the Sydney Symphony. I’m going to have to send him a note!
Before the concert I decided to have dinner at a place recommended in my Lonely Planet book. It’s called Firefly and located on a wharf in the Rocks area a little bit away from the main touristy places. It was billed as a tapas/wine bar and “compact, classy and never snooty.” (The “never snooty” appealed to me. I realize that a party of 1 is not necessarily very appealing to some restaurants.) I arrived around 6 (the concert started at 8) and apparently I was just in time! I got one of the last available spots along a bar looking out the wharf to the water. The restaurant was open-air and could only hold about 25 or 30 patrons. Several people were turned away after I arrived.
The waiter recommended that I order two dishes (since it was tapas style) so I got chicken chorizo with maple mustard sauce and parmesan thyme tartlets with wild onion jelly. Both were delicious! I also sampled a couple Australian Rieslings, one from West Australian and the other from Tasmania. I had my Kindle with me and alternately read and gazed out at the water. It was a lovely dinner!
No comments:
Post a Comment