Billy Kitson wrote:

>It has been going on for a "While" without the Audience being Told in
>Sydney (& from the tone of the article = IN LONDON, Too?).  Both the
>"small" Aust Chamber Orchestra concerts & the "small" ensembles that
>Musica Viva "put on" have been discretely amplified for Most of this
>Year?? Yer can NOT trust yer own ears @ a live concert nowadays!!

It's been happening here in Brisbane as well and not just for the smaller
groups (mind you, in the dreadful acoustic of the SOH I'm not at all
surprised).  When Hillary Hahn played the Shostakovich #1 concerto with
QSO I was seated in the balcony of the Concert Hall.  Suspended from the
ceiling just out in front of the balcony are some speakers and these were
definately in use for the whole concert.  Most noticably for the concerto
however.  It was so badly done - the microphone that they had to pick up
her sound was so directional that whenever she moved (and she did this
quite a bit) the sound would drop out through the speakers.  The result
was a performance half amplified/half natural depending on the soloists
movements.  Extremely distracting.  What's more it was not required - when
she moved away from the mike you could still hear her as clear as a bell
(her fiddle certainly helped here - a "del Gesu" I believe).

Matthew Gillett <[log in to unmask]>