farmdoc's blog post number 233

Back before the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra became the acronymic MSO – I can’t remember exactly when, but I guess over 20 years ago – Sweetheart Vivienne and I began subscribing to the ‘Mozart Plus’ concert series. Each of the four concerts per year comprised Mozart compositions plus one non-Mozart. We chose to sit in the choir stalls – probably because they were the cheapest seats. But we soon came to relish sitting there. It was like being amid the orchestra, though the acoustics resembled stereo with a broken speaker. Each year we sat in the same seats. We got to know our neighbours. The years passed. Small children became adolescents and then young adults. Dark-haired men greyed. A few years ago the ‘Mozart Plus’ name and format went. Rebranded ‘Classical Connections’. Mozart thereafter only an occasional visitor. Our concert neighbours drifted off. New faces surrounded us. We became the veterans. And we continued to look forward to, and exult in, every single concert. Until last month when the MSO dropped its bombshell – starting in 2009 they’d axed fixed seating. In the ‘Classical Connections’ concerts. Only. We're disappointed. Heartbroken. Bereft. Disillusioned. The MSO declined to tell me the reason for their decision. Anyway we're not renewing our subscription. Our final concert was last Saturday. Mendelssohn’s Hebrides Overture and Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony. Sublime. But farewell, MSO. Until you change your policy.