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Post by Ross on Jan 19, 2009 4:40:53 GMT
Shortly I will have my 2 week summer holiday (NZ) and it involves a few concerts. I am going to spend 5 days camping at Duvauchelle ( not far from Akaroa).
It is the International Akaroa Summer Festival week in Akaroa which is run by the University of Canterbury Music School (yes the one Sophie goes to).
Monday 26th Jan I am going to Akaroa to see Dame Malvina Major presents My Life In Song which Dame Malvina will tell the story of her life in song featuring Schubert, Rossini, Puccini, Paganini and Verdi. Also appearing are Jamie Ling, Anna Argyle and Rachelle Pike from the Canterbury University music School.
Also there are going to be lunchtime concerts featuring the students from the festival which I will go to. (I am secretly hoping that Sophie might be there although I have no idea if she is).
Then on the 1st Feb I am going to Ashburton to see Fiona Pears again hopefully taking my mum.
Then I am going to spend another few days camping near the Benmore Dam in the Waitaki Valley, doing a bit of Windsurfing and kayaking.
Then on the 8th Feb I will be back in Ashburton in the domain to see Sophie and the Three Tenors in a four hour concert. I think I might need another holiday to recoup from this holiday.
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Post by gra7890 on Jan 19, 2009 19:11:53 GMT
Hi Ross,
It reminds me of my Summer Holiday 2008......... Saturday tour via Silbury Hill, Avebury, Stonehenge arriving at Romsey, Hampshire to see Hayley, All Angels and Blake in Concert . ...... Sunday evening Hayley concert at Wimbledon, Tuesday evening seeing Hayley live at iTunes at Camden Park, London...... Oh yes and on Monday and Tuesday till mid afternoon I was at The Ladies Open Golf at Sunningdale !
Yours sounds as hectic !
Enjoy and Best Wishes,
Graham
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Post by timj on Jan 20, 2009 2:54:16 GMT
Hey Ross, don't forget your camera.......TimJ
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Post by postscript on Jan 20, 2009 15:01:00 GMT
Shortly I will have my 2 week summer holiday (NZ) and it involves a few concerts. I am going to spend 5 days camping at Duvauchelle ( not far from Akaroa). It is the International Akaroa Summer Festival week in Akaroa which is run by the University of Canterbury Music School (yes the one Sophie goes to). Monday 26th Jan I am going to Akaroa to see Dame Malvina Major presents My Life In Song which Dame Malvina will tell the story of her life in song featuring Schubert, Rossini, Puccini, Paganini and Verdi. Also appearing are Jamie Ling, Anna Argyle and Rachelle Pike from the Canterbury University music School. Also there are going to be lunchtime concerts featuring the students from the festival which I will go to. (I am secretly hoping that Sophie might be there although I have no idea if she is). Then on the 1st Feb I am going to Ashburton to see Fiona Pears again hopefully taking my mum. Then I am going to spend another few days camping near the Benmore Dam in the Waitaki Valley, doing a bit of Windsurfing and kayaking. Then on the 8th Feb I will be back in Ashburton in the domain to see Sophie and the Three Tenors in a four hour concert. I think I might need another holiday to recoup from this holiday. Ross, you've made everyone on this forum green with unashamed envy, I am sure. I insist on failing to go green but I do know that had I the opportunity you have I would have done the same here, as to an extent I did with Hayley last year. Absolutely the right move to make and all the very best in your endeavours. Peter S |
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Post by Ross on Jan 26, 2009 21:50:01 GMT
i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gifGreetings from Akaroa. Although it is raining today, yesterday it was very hot. I went to the lunchtime concert where some young musicians played some lovely classical pieces. Since it is wet today I will probably go again today. Last night I saw Dame Malvina Major in all her majesty. She is certainly world class. She sang songs from when she started as a student through to where she is now helping new singers getting started. So she had two very capable students singing some songs as well. On the piano there was Iola Shelley. She started with IF I Can Help Somebody by Alma Androzzo Nun's Chorus by Johann Strauss (Casanova) was with the two singers doing the chorus. Only a Rose by Rudolph Friml (The Vagabond King) Then Jamie Ling and Polly Ott sang Der Hirt auf dem Felsen by Franz Schubert (Shepherd on the Rock) they had lovely voices. With help from Jamie Ling Dame Malvina sang Un Bel Di and Flower Duet by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Madame Butterfly). It is in these opera songs that you see how great Dame Malvina is. Her facial expressions help portray the message of the songs.She also gets on with the audience and is very humorous. Dame Malvina then does another Mozart piece Laudamus Te (from the c minor Mass). At the interval I had a lovely white wine outside as it was hot in the hall. Polly Ott opened the second half with by Mozart (Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail) Dame Malvina did two more Mozart Porgi Amor and Su'l aria Duet (Le Nozze Di Figaro) The two girls did Depuis le jour by Marc-antoine Charpentier . And they did by Jacques Offenbach (Les Contes d'Hoffmann). Dame Malvina came back and did Quando m'en vo (La Boheme) and O mio Babbino Caro (Gianni Schicchi) by Giacomo Puccini. They then finished with by Giuseppe Verdi (I Vespri Ciciliani). After some very enthusiastic applause they did an encore with a song from The Black Widow. So it was a great concert from a lady at the top of her profession and I went and have a nice coffee at a cafe watching the sun go down on the Akaroa Harbour.
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Post by Richard on Jan 27, 2009 9:19:41 GMT
Thanks for the report, Ross!  Actually 'Madame Butterfly' was by Puccini, not Mozart.  Best Wishes, Richard  |
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Post by gra7890 on Jan 27, 2009 17:50:50 GMT
Hi Ross, Sounds like a great start to to your Musical Holiday. Thanks for the report, Best Wishes, Graham |
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Post by Ross on Jan 29, 2009 23:06:17 GMT
It is my last day in Akaroa. I didn't have a good start with a flat tyre on my car which is getting fixed at the moment. Today is the last of the lunch time concerts. I have been to them all this week. The students vary in age from about 7 to the mid twenties and come from around the pacific area. They are all very talented musicians and some even play more than one type of instrument. On Sunday I will be in Ashburton seeing Fiona Pears. I will post some photos of around Akaroa later.
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Post by Ross on Jan 30, 2009 23:14:02 GMT
Here are some photos of around Akaroa. First one is from top of the big hill you have to drive over to get to Akaroa from christchurch. The first bay on the far left is where I camped. The narrow peninsula at the front is an old Maori pa where the local tribe was killed by an invading tribe in 1832.  The camping ground at Duvauchelle.  Akaroa  High above Akaroa  |
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Joe
Administrator
Supporting Hayley since 2003!
Posts: 6,715 
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Post by Joe on Jan 30, 2009 23:54:16 GMT
Hello Ross!
Those were some amazing pictures! Thanks for sharing! I hope things have gotten better since that puncture.
Have a good second week on your musical holiday, and enjoy Fiona's performance on Sunday!
All the best,
Joe
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Post by gra7890 on Jan 31, 2009 9:29:48 GMT
Hi Ross, Looks to be lovely scenery, not unlikely Scotland, but with better weather I am sure ! Hope you get over your burst tyre and enjoy the rest of your Holiday.  Best Wishes, Graham |
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Post by graemek on Jan 31, 2009 20:14:40 GMT
Hi Ross,
I love the whole area around Akaroa. Spectacular !!!!
Thanks for the very good pics.
Hope to see you this year,
Graeme (& Marianne)
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Post by Ross on Feb 2, 2009 0:23:24 GMT
On Saturday night in the Hagley Park in Christchurch they had a twilight movie (outdoors) of Mama Mia. It was the sing a long version so it was good fun singing all of the ABBA songs. On Sunday I went to Ashburton which is where I was born and raised on a nearby farm until I was about 28. I am a founding member of Lake Hood which is a man made lake (65 ha) just East of Ashburton for boating, windsurfing and fishing. I had a lovely lunch in the new restaurant of Salmon. Here are some photos of the lake:-  launching area for boats  Someone on a jet ski  looking up the lake  Restaurant on the right and housing on the left (I wish I could win lotto) Afterwards I went to the Fiona Pears concert in the Ashburton Art Gallery, you can see a report of the concert under the Fire And Light Tour topic under Fiona Pears (Other Music). After the concert I stayed the night at my parents place. I have decided to stay in Christchurch for my second week as on Thursday in Hagley Park there will be the Classical Sparks concert with the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra where there will be 80 - 100000 people. |
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Post by postscript on Feb 2, 2009 17:34:52 GMT
Hi Ross,
Please keep the posts flying. Your Dame Malvina evening report was superb. I'll bet the Merry Widow encore was the aria she sang at St James.
I am sure she will do this sort of thing again, perhaps before Sophie leaves, but perhaps Sophie isn't within Dame Malvina's compass? How wonderful were that to happen and then, as a surprise ending, she (Dame Malvina) singing a duet with Hayley--perhaps all three of them?
Peter S.
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Post by gra7890 on Feb 2, 2009 20:14:09 GMT
Hi Ross, You seem to have the Scottish 'Summer ' ( or lack of it !) weather now as well as the views Graham |
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