CLASSICAL DINNER at the 1926 Heritage Hotel

REGULAR READERS WILL KNOW THAT although I am not exactly a culture vulture, I do like a bit of entertainment with my food (or is it the other way round) and last night was a typical example of the sort of thing that I love.

It was the finale to the month-long George Town Festival, during which there were many things happening in town. We opted for the small-scale High Winds Ensemble performance at the 1926 Heritage Hotel in Burmah Road, where the orchestra from KL performed movements from fairly well known pieces, including a rather cheeky one from Beethoven's 5th Symphony (or rather 4 1/2, as Mac puts it).

We were also served with a 6-course dinner whilst the music was going on, starting with Oyster Rockefeller, which was nothing to shout about, but the Cream of Broccoli Soup was good if a tad underheated.

After that e had Roast Prim Rib of Beef which again although it tasted quite good, was lukewarm again. As there were nearly 70 pax that evening, I think the kitchen struggled a bit to cope with the numbers, as they also had a function going on in the garden at the back. For dessert there was Trifle, although not a hint of sherry really, coffee and Petit Fours (we didn't get that either!).

HOWEVER for RM80 pp, it was really quite reasonable, and as it was their first time, they are still learning. However, the orchestra more than made up for it - they were really excellent although seating was not good as where we were we couldn't really see a thing nor hear the Conductor speak as he introduced each session. Usually with "youth" orchestras they tend to be slightly "pitchy" (this is of course Randy-Yo-Dawg's way of saying "out of tune") but this wasn't at all.

They were extremely professional, and very very smooth. And no wonder, as High Winds is the first classical ensemble in Malaysia whose 11 members are all Malaysians, founded in 2004 by Mr Joost C Flach, Co-Principal Oboist of the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra. Makes you proud, doesn't it. Most of the soloists are professional or wannabe professional musicians. When you think I just about made it to Grade 5 on the piano (albeit with a DISTINCTION ahem ... ) I can tell you these people are seriously GOOD.


J P WONG of the 1926 Hotel assures me he intends to do this on a regular basis, and I will be more than happy to support him. A bit of koolcha combined with good food in Penang is only to be supported, and I hope to see you there. Watch this space for more news.