Of Annie's Wedding Dinner & An Orchestra

Weekend of 17th & 18th November

Saturday


This weekend I celebrated with many other friends a wedding that was to be celebrated sooner or later. It was Annie’s wedding dinner held at her home, although not grand (but the actual wedding dinner at her husband’s hometown will be grand, I’m sure), the atmosphere and food was fantastic and it befitted a bride that is just as fantastic, in terms of beauty, charm and personality. That night, Annie was the pearl in the ocean among a sea of people, dressed in a green dress with hints of peacock feathers that befitted her elegance that night. Just like a peacock in full feathery bloom, she was a beauty in full glamorous poise and attraction. Her efforts to impress were not in vain, that is for sure.

With her husband in tow, they complemented each other like the stars in a night sky. It is a marriage made in heaven, and I believe without doubt it will stay that way until time passes no more. There shall (and most realistically) be bumps and rough seas thoroughly the course of their matrimonial journey, but through patience, understanding and love, passing through the hard times will only make them stronger, and the love for each other will only be much more deeper.

I hope and wish to the both of you, the best and most rewarding of married times. Congratulations!

Abit more photos are available by clicking here!!!

Sunday

It seems my recent good fortunes are continuing to prosper. Last Friday I got a call from a friend of mine and she invited me to the ‘Cadaques Orchestra’, brought to us by Toyota from the ‘Toyota Classics’ series held at Shah Alam. Not being a big fan of classical music, I nearly said an emphatic ‘No’ to her until she suddenly mentioned that the tickets were free. I made an abrupt U-turn and accepted her fine offer with gleeful arms and gladly fetched her to the Shah Alam Auditorium. Joined by SL, we attended the event in full formal wear and embraced the characteristic passion and flair of the Spanish Zarzuela music for an unforgettable 2 hours and more.

With conductor Pablo Gonzalez, tenor Francisco Vas and special guest performer Sean Ghazi, it was an evening of sheer musical class and a performance befitting a King. Yes, even our Agong was there. But sad to say, the venue did not fit the standard of music on offer that night, as the ‘Auditorium Majlis Bandaraya Shah Alam’ was in a dilapidated state and the air-conditioning was no exception. The guests were all in evening gowns and suits. Just imagine the discomfort of everyone from the warm conditions.

But the event was for charity, so I guess the discomfort was for a good cause. I hope. Anyway, the night of formality was not without its funny moments. I caught an uncle, a few rows in front of me falling asleep!!! His head was dropping sideways almost to a 90 degree angle and was this close to falling sideways to the person beside him. And another funny thing is, the person beside him was trying to dodge his head by shouldering him away!!! And yet that guy was still asleep. That’s the magic of classical music, I guess.

Getting ready to enter the concert!!!

I noticed a few pretty ladies around the auditorium as well, so pretty in fact, there was one lady that I swear resembled Angelina Jolie!!! She was tall, slim, and elegant. When walking, one can feel she possess an aura of sexiness only sexy ladies can own (haha!). I was so tempted to ask for a picture with her (or an autograph. Or a drink with her. Or a night out. Anything) until something out of my wildest imagination could not possibly create happened….she scratched her armpits. 3 times. Oh good lord in heaven, why did this mismatch of beauty and brains occurred. Such a waste of sexiness, ‘cause there isn’t enough of it in this world you know that….

Anyway, putting my misadventures in an auditorium aside (and I had quite a few in my time), the energy-filled ‘Cadaques Orchestra’ performed a wide-range of tunes in-line with the Zarzuela spirit (Zarzuela, according to Wikipedia, “is a Spanish lyric-dramatic genre that alternates between spoken and sung scenes, the latter incorporating operatic and popular song, as well as dance. The name derives from a Royal hunting lodge, the ‘Palacio de la Zarzuela’ near Madrid, where this type of entertainment was first presented”). The lists of compositions performed are as follows:

1.) R.Chapi
Prelude to La Revoltrosa

2.) J. Serrano
“Te quiero morena” from El trust de los tenorios”

3.) F. Chueca
Prelude to El bateo

4.) A. Soriano
“Suena guitarrico mio” from El guitarrico

5.) J. Guerreros
“Fiel espada triunfadora” from El huesped del sevillano”

6.) G. Gimenez
“Intermedio” from La boda de Luis Alonso

7.) A. Lara
“Granada”

Intermission

8.) R. Chapi
Prelude to El tambor de granaderos

9.) R. Soutullo & J. Vert
“Bella enamorada” from El ultimo romantico”

10.) P. Sorozabal
“No puede ser Esa mujer es buena” from La taberna del Puerto

11.) F. Chueca
Prelude to Agua, azucarillos y aguardiente

12.) M. Torroba
“De este apacible rincon de Madrid” from Luisa Fernanda.

13.) Sean Ghazi
“Semalam”
“I Have Dreamed”
“Getaran Jiwa”


Well, Sean Ghali was a nice surprise, I didn't know we had a singer like him!!! I gotta check out his new album some day.

Anyway, here are some of the photos from the event!!!

On a side note, during the morning I went to 1 Utama to watch ‘Beowulf’ (great movie, the review in previous blog) and right after I came out from the cinema, suddenly a very tiny guy but very ‘leng cai’ and ‘yeng’ guy walked past right in front of me, accompanied by security guards and all. At first glance, I instantly knew who he was. It was Daniel Lee, the winner from Malaysian Idol (Season 2 I think). I could not get out my cam-phone out on time to catch a quickie photo with him (even though the guards will not let me), I caught a few photos of him while performing on stage at ‘1U’. He is soooooo tiny looking, but his voice is like a boom-box. What a talent. Apparently he said that this will be his last promo gig in the Klang Valley or Malaysia (I didn’t hear it properly haha, sorry). So, very sad for the Klang Valley fans. I guess he will be moving up to Taiwan where his prospect would be better? Anyway, he stayed to sign autographs and all that, but I got his autograph already hehe. An auntie of mine gave me Daniel’s signed CD of his latest album ‘Unaviodable’. Check it out!!!: