Was at the
Plenary Hall of the KL Convention Centre for the
Prague Sinfonia Orchestra's concert on Saturday night. Arrived early in the midst of a light drizzle. At 8pm, it was still early for the Saturday party revellers to gather at the nearby discos / pubs / bars at Jalan Pinang and Jalan P. Ramlee.
The Plenary Hall's entrance was on the 1st flo
or. Upon arrival, collected the tickets from the organiser and they enquired whether I wanted to have a copy of the night's programme book (at a donation of RM20) ......
ahhhhhh OK, why not? What a man
(that must be in their mind) ...... hehehe leng luis asked that magic question so another RM20 departed besides the ticket price of RM80 (car park ticket was RM7).
I was told that the dress code was smart casual. When I saw the way people had dressed up, it was as if going they were going to a ball. Was there another function at another hall? The ladies were there to kill you with their dressing.
After getting the ticket, I went to the washroom. Was a bit blur blur and nobody was around as I was early and pushed open a door.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhh. I saw 2 ladies' reflection on a mirrow. Goooooooooooooooood thing I haven't step in. Stupid washroom signages. The difference between the lady and gent's signages were hard to differentiate. Can't proof my innocence as I didn't take a picture of it. I wouldn't want to be caught holding my phone camera taking picture right in front of the lady's washroom. Sneaked away to the guy's washroom which was at the other end.
Yeah, you have one signage guiding you from the Plenary Hall but once you reached the pathway where you need to decide, right? left? Nobody was around, nobody went in or out of any rooms.....so I took a good guess
Was at the last row but not of the hall. They have partitioned off higher seatings section as the crowd would not be that big.
Not a good place from where I was sitting, last row for the night and the corner of it. The sound was not too bad after all though I would have preferred a louder volume.
Out came the Prague Sinfonia Orchestra team led by
Christian Benda, who was bald at the top like the great inventor, Albert Einstein.....hehehe but the best part has yet to come.
There were two young couples in their 20s who sat in front of me. They were talking and laughing quite loudly and I didn't mind as the concert has not started.
But then just as the Prague Sinfonia Orchestra team members took their respective places, they played Malaysia's national anthem and it was just right to stand up, which everyone did, whether local or foreigners (lots of them indeed) in total respect.
One of girls
(seated in front) then said this "Waaaaaaah, so patriotic one ah!"
The guy said something which I didn't hear.
Both of them were yakking away and giggling
(loud enough) while the national anthem was being played.
Your Bangsa Malaysia guy here couldn't take it anymore, stucked my head in between both of them and in a low bassy voice said "Hello! Excuse me!!!!!"
From that time till the end of the performance, they were aware of my existence. First time attendees for an orchestra performance???
The music piece played by
Min-Lee (in red dress) with her violin was absolutely marvellous and captivating.
The soprano singer, Irma Lailatul, gave a solid rendition of the 'O mio babbino caro', a song which was dedicated to the late Luciano Pavarotti.
The Prague Sinfonia Orchestra team acknowledging the praise from the audience at the end of the performance. If you are going there for any function, please bear in mind that the air-cond is in tip-top condition. I could withstand the coldness of it and now I know why so many leng luis walked out of the hall halfway. They were dressed to kill, not knowing that the air-cond was so powerful, and almost killed themselves.
Tags: Prague Sinfonia Orchestra, Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, Smart Casual, Washroom Signage, Bangsa Malaysia, Christian Benda, Min-Lee, Entertainment, Classical Music