I do listen to classical music, sometimes. And one of my favorite guy is Tchaikovsky. In the end of October’s spirit, HBSO has organized a concert of Tchaikovsky and Beethoven, so I gave it a try. The concert basically has 2 parts:  Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat Minor, op. 23 by Tchaikovsky and Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, op. 125 by Beethoven. That was the first time I listened to live classical music, and it was ‘different’.

When I listen through headphones, due to the limitation of my hardware and digital format (even tried with .flac lossless), everything seems to be flattened. I can’t clearly distinguish the sounds of each instrument. But when listen to the live music, I could felt the vibration of each instrument sound wave travel through the air and go into my ear, amplified inside my cochlea. I could hear the sound of the piano here, the sound of the trumpet there, … Anyway, it’s a worth thing to experience.

Beside the music performance, I also enjoyed the French-like architecture of Saigon Opera House, the facade of the house is very appealing with 2 huge women statues like Starbuck’s mermaid. But inside the house, it’s smaller than I thought. Also because of its location, I could hear the bass noise from Nguyen Hue walking street nearby, this got me very frustrated for half of the performance of Beethoven.

Jere, Nov 2024