Celtic Christmas with Leahy

The Toronto Symphony went Celtic for Christmas this year.  I almost didn't go having found the concert a few years ago with a similar theme somewhat boring, but I'm certainly glad I did.

Donnell Leahy and Natalie MacMaster
(all photos from TSO Facebook page)

The special guest this year was Leahy.  Headed by Donnell, he was joined by two of his fiddling brothers (I'm not sure what the relation was with the pianist and drummer), his wife the incomparable Natalie MacMaster, their six children, and a few of their cousins.

Steven Reineke

With Steven Reineke at the helm, the TSO got the Christmas theme rolling with a rich and dense "Holiday Overture".  They played my favourite arrangement of "Winter Wonderland" (by Ralph Hermann) and a familiar but not overplayed version of "Carol of the Bells".

Reineke's arranging skills were featured in a gospel take of "Go Tell it on the Mountain".  Vocals were provided by the Etobicoke School of the Arts, the standard choir for the TSO Christmas concerts.

Step Dancing

Leahy took the stage with enthusiasm and infused the audience with their spirit.  Highlights were the introduction of the children step dancing in the last piece before intermission.  At each phrase of the music another youngster, getting younger and younger danced out for their turn in the spotlight.  The audience leapt to their feet at the end.

Michael Joseph

Michael Joseph (there was also a Joseph Michael) at 7 years old made his TSO solo debut playing "Silent Night" on a small fiddle.  As Donnell said it only took him about 40 more years (as Leahy was making their debut as well) to get to the same spot.  The rest of the children also demonstrated their music skills joining Michael for "Away in a Manger".  Donnell was very gracious, thanking the TSO for the opportunity for multiple generations to have the experience of playing with a wonderful symphony.

As always the evening concluded with a sing along.  But wait!  There was an encore with one of my favourite songs.  The entire Leahy clan, the TSO, and choir joined forces for the very fitting "Christmas in Killarney".

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

The Best of the Beatles

What do you do with The Beatles?  "Best of" can be a misnomer as each listener has their own definition of "best" and their favourite tunes.  A fact that was not ignored and even acknowledged by a member of Rajaton saying that he hoped peoples favourites were included in the show.

But let's go back a step.  The TSO Pops season opened with Finnish guest vocal group Rajaton in an evening of Beatles music.  Known for their acappella work, Rajaton were mostly accompanied by the fine Toronto Symphony, except for "Lady Madonna" in the second half and "Eleanor Rigby" as an encore.  It seemed an odd choice for an encore as it's not a very happy ending to the evening.  Although as a vocal showcase it was impressive.  As it turned out, "Let It Be" was a second encore which actually concluded the evening.

Principal Pops Conductor, Steven Reineke's approach to the Beatles was to program the album Sgt.

Steven Reineke

Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in its entirety as the first half.  The second half featured a selection of number one hits.  The Sgt. Pepper era is not my favourite of the Beatles music.  A lot of the songs from the album I don't know.  I enjoyed "When I'm 64" which was probably my favourite.  "With a Little Help from My Friends" will always remind me of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's 2009 performance at the National Arts Centre gala, a year after he won re-election with a minority government.  Not that I was there but it made the papers and, as with everything else, it's on youtube.

Features from the second half included "Yesterday" (interesting to hear with a slight Finnish accent), "Ticket to Ride", "She Loves You", "Penny Lane", "All You Need is Love", and "Hey Jude".  The transition between these last two was great with the trumpets picking up the "Hey Jude" tune.  I probably will never understand the appeal of that song, but it did get the audience singing.  Rajaton had tried to get us clapping along earlier and it worked briefly but then fizzled.

Rajaton

As always the orchestra wasn't left out.  The evening opened with what I believe was Reineke's arrangement titled "Ed Sullivan Welcomes the Beatles".  It was a medley of the five songs the Beatles played on his show in February 1964, "All My Loving", "Till There Was You" (apparently they didn't know this was Meredith Willson's song from The Music Man until much later and never sang anything from Broadway again), "She Loves You", "I Saw Her Standing There", and "I Want to Hold Your Hand".  The orchestra also opened the second act with "Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da".

There were some audience members who had also been at Maple Leaf Gardens when the Beatles played Toronto in September 1964.  50 years later, the appeal of their music has clearly not waned.

Ashley Brown Joins the TSO for Christmas

The TSO Pops Christmas is a tradition that helps get everyone in the holiday spirit.  This year Ashley Brown joined the celebration as the guest vocalist.  There aren't enough adjectives to describe how great she is and how well she hosted the concert.  Apparently it's a program she jointly created with TSO Pops conductor Steven Reineke, well at least the vocal parts.  Ashley mentioned collaborating a year ago on creating medleys and introducing Steven to a new song, a feat she was particularly proud of given his vast knowledge of the music world.

One of the collaborations was the "Holiday Hits Medley" which closed the first half.  It was a mix of popular songs from the radio that are rarely heard in a concert setting.  Backed with a strong percussion section, Patricia Krueger on piano, and the rest of the orchestra Ashley demonstrated her pops singing style.  The medley started with Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas is You", moved to "Hard Candy Christmas" delivered with a twinge of Dolly Parton twang, and finished with the always popular "Feliz Navidad".

I can't believe I missed
her red shoes in this photo!

Shifting back to earlier in the program, Ashley brought a Judy Garland swing sound to "Winter Wonderland Medley" and even wore shiny ruby slippers :)  Cindy Lou Who's version of "Christmas, Why Can't I Find You" from The Grinch and "The Secret of Christmas" (popularized by Ella Fitzgerald, this was the song Ashley introduced to Steven) were touching and tender.

There were also multiple times where Ashley was just herself as she talked about her family, the meaning songs held for her, and sang in her beautiful clear voice.  One of my favourites was "Yes, Virginia" which is from a
musical created in partnership with Macy's based on the popular letter to the editor of the New York Sun.  It's a great song and she's clearly no stranger to interacting with children as she invited kids from the audience to join her on stage as she sang.

Ashley's final song, "O Holy Night", proved there was no need to visit Yuletide Celebration with the Indianapolis Symphony this year.  She sang the same arrangement I expect Yuletide host Sandi Patty did and it was fantastic!

Santa getting in on the
conducting action!

The orchestra wasn't left out and showed their skill with steadfast tempos and dynamic variations in "Little Bolero Boy" (one of my favourites), and got swinging to show off the brass in "Jingle Bell Rock".

Yet another wonderful Christmas concert with everything except "Sleigh Ride" (which I heard someone else comment on when leaving).  But that's okay because dropping it every now and again leaves room for some new music, and I thoroughly enjoyed the new pieces I hadn't heard before that were included this year.  Merry Christmas!

Symphony Meets Circus

A symphonic concert is typically meant to be a feast for the ears and less so for the eyes.  That wasn't the case on October 15 at the  opening concert of the Toronto Symphony Pops series.  Cirque de la Symphonie was in town and there was plenty of eye candy in addition to wonderful playing.  

Principal Pops Conductor Steven Reineke, looking classy as always, and the TSO opened the program with "Festive Overture" by Shostakovich.  I've seen this on multiple programs but have never attended those concerts.  Now I know why it's popular.  It has a great opening fanfare that fit the circus theme of the evening.  Perhaps what thrilled me the most though was hearing a very short transition melody in the lower brass about 40 seconds in that is identical to that used in a piece called "Christmas Prelude" (from the ISO Yuletide album) as a transition into "Deck the Halls".  No doubt musicians playing "Prelude" for the first time would get the in joke right away.  It may take me a while longer (ok, like 4 years longer) but I was excited to piece the two segments of music together.

The Cirque artists acts were set to classical pieces that one has likely heard, at least in part, before.  There were a few I didn't recognize but then ones like "Capriccio espagnol" by Rimsky-Korsakov (featuring Mark Skazinetsky with the violin solo) accompanied by Aloysia Gavre and Sagiv Ben Binyamin with an act that was a bit tango dance, balancing, contortion and hat swapping.

Aloysia and Sagiv (Photo by Matt Gade)

Aloysia reappeared to close the first half of the program with an aerial hoop routine to "Bacchanale from Samson and Delilah".  This was stellar!  She didn't just flip or hang from the hoop while suspended, she got is swinging!  The tight spin while hanging from the hoop and flying off the floor was dizzying and exciting to watch.

Aloysia (Photo by Matt Gade)

The second half opened with a no less impressive, but less death defying than flight, quick change act.  This featured the mime and juggler Vladimir, and Elena Tsarkov (who would later perform a lovely

Elena in Clair de lune
(Photo by Matt Gade)

balance/contortion segment with exquisite movements that fit the music of "Clair de Lune" beautifully).    

Then the evening really entered the acts with a major "wow" factor.  Sagiv started his aerial rope routine to "The Ride of the Valkyries" by hoisting himself all the way up the thick rope using just his arms!  He then hung, spun, twisted and even flew over the orchestra landing what looked to be very close to the cello section at one point.

Christine and Alexander
(www.pitchengine.com/artspr) 

Alexander Streltsov and Christine Van Loo performed a duet on aerial silks to the "Valse" from Swan Lake.  Dressed in white with red silks they were impressive.  He flew over the orchestra and audience and she ended the routine by wrapping the material around her waist and slowly spinning back down to the stage.  That's always a crowd pleaser.

The most stoic act was the finale Jarek and Darek, the gold covered strongmen.  Set to "Finlandia", they walked out to a small platform centre stage and proceeded to demonstrate amazing feats of strength and balance.  They fluidly moved between hand holds and other positions including a single handed balance by one on the others head!

Jarek and Darek (www.cirquedelasymphonie.com/photos)

It was an exciting spectacle and I don't know how the orchestra was able to concentrate on what they were playing but it sounded as good as it looked!

MGM at the NAC Completes a Cycle

Ten seasons ago Those Glorious MGM Musicals debuted at the National Arts Centre.  I was in the audience attending my first symphony concert.  The rest, as they say, is history.  Thursday June 20 Jack Everly was back on the podium, at the venue, and with the concert that hooked me.

With each viewing there are different stories and new things to see and hear.  The content of this program was the same as the Naples Philharmonic version, except with a new guy in the song and dance man roll, David Elder replaced Nick Adams.

David Elder
(michaelcassara.net )

David's first number "Steppin' Out With My Baby" was entertaining if not as athletic or high flying as Nick's.  Although I enjoyed David's interpretation of Groucho Marx's "Lydia Oh Lydia" more.  His "Singin' in the Rain" at the end of the program was joyous and always one of my favourites.  The others in the cast were Nick Fitzer, Scott Hogsed, Kathy Voytko, and Dan'yelle Williamson.

Let's see, new stories from Everly this time around were in the introduction to a medley from "Meet Me in St. Louis".  Originally the casting was to be Gene Kelly and June Allison, however when Kelly broke his ankle and the role went to Fred Astaire they re-cast the leading lady as well.   Judy Garland was deemed a better fit for Astaire.

The final piece in the opening half was a "Hollywood Hit Parade" medley which featured "You Stepped Out a Dream" from Ziegfeld Girl; "Easy to Love" which I'm familiar with from Anything Goes, however was introduced in the musical Born to Dance and allowed the orchestra to show their skills free from vocal additions; "Wonderful Day" from Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, "Most Unusual Day" from A Date with Judy; "San Francisco" which was sung by the choir and from the movie by the same name; "Be My Love" from The Toast of New Orleans, was the first song sung by Nick in a powerful tenor voice; "Get Happy" from Summer Stock the Garland classic, was again performed beautifully by Dan'yelle.  It concluded with "Sing Hallelujah" from Hallelujah! and had costuming direct from patriotic America, by design or not I don't know (the ladies wore lovely red and blue ball gowns while the gentlemen were dashing in black tuxes).  It wasn't quite the "360 hits" mentioned in Everly's intro, but it covered a lot of the wonderful classics.

Peter Webster
(nac-cna.ca)

Following Kathy and Dan'yelle's "Can't Help Lovin' That Man" duet, Jack took a moment to say how fitting a piece that was because a 41 year veteran of the orchestra was retiring.  Violist Peter Webster was coaxed to his feet to take a bow while the audience enthusiastically recognized him for his contributions.

The "That's Entertainment" encore, is perhaps a piece that's growing a bit thin with entertainers.  Jack started by saying how it was Kathy's favourite song so they had to include it in the program.  Meanwhile she's motioning that it's not her favourite at all.  I enjoyed it for the conclusion of "Hip Hooray, the Canadian way..."  It was a nice touch.

With that a cycle of sorts has been completed for me, going back to the same show having spent a wonderful 10 seasons of experiencing all orchestras have to offer.  I have no intentions of stopped now, there's always much more to hear!  Many thanks to the orchestra and program who started it all.

West Side Story With Orchestra

Getting in on the movie of the year (several orchestras have had it on the program recently), and following up on the successful Oz with Orchestra from last season, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra played the score to West Side Story live, accompanied by the movie, at the end of May.  For me the movie was indeed secondary.  I don't much care for the plot (what can I say, I'm a sucker for happy endings), but adore the music!  The dancing is worth watching too.

50 years after it's debut in 1961 MGM released a restored, high definition print of the film.  It's pretty stunning.  I watched an older DVD not that long ago and didn't notice some things, but the colours just popped out in the HD version.  Of course watching it on a huge screen above the orchestra might have helped too.

High flying Jets  (MGM photo)

The tech behind the concert is impressive as well.  A sound technology developed by Audionamix was "taught" to distinguish between the orchestral score and all the other sounds in the movie.  The score was removed and everything else (vocals, sound effects etc.) remained.

But there was a problem with the score.  Namely there wasn't one.  The original musical arrangements for the film were lost.  Research uncovered papers from the original orchestrator Sid Ramin, conductor/music director Johnny Green, director Robert Wise and producer Walter Mirisch that were used to piece together a new score.

Then of course the conductor needs some indications of what should happen when in order to keep everything synchronized.    In addition to a click-track, in fact the orchestra wore single ear headphones for the concert, conductor Steven Reineke had a monitor playing the movie with timing indications superimposed.  Quite simply these were bars that moved across the screen.  I found myself watching that more often than the big screen.  From what I could determine the white bars and flashes were a steady beat, a green bar was start, red for stop, and magenta bars for tempo changes.

TSO pre concert

Regardless of how it's heard, the music is the best part of West Side Story.  But there really is something special when it's played by a live orchestra.  Unfortunately I couldn't see the brass section because of the screen, and there's so many good brass parts.  Nothing I heard though indicated any problems.  In fact the French horn solo at the end of the opening credits and to close the first half, was spot on.   The percussion was certainly on top of things as well.  I imagine the rhythms in the mambo section of "Dance at the Gym" aren't easy at the best of times but when it has to be spot on with the film, it seems it would be an extra challenge.  That piece and "America" are probably my favourites from the movie and they were perfect to my ears, as was the whole evening.  It was touching and a testament to how much the audience enjoyed the concert that they cheered for Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim, and others in the credits.

Next year they're doing Casablanca.  Stay tuned.

The Music of James Bond

Bond through the years
(www.torontovka.com)

Conductor John Morris Russell, another of my favourites, returned to the Toronto Symphony this past week bringing with him the original scores from some of the best music in the 23 James Bond movies.  Composed by various people such as John Barry, Monty Norman, David Arnold, and even John McCartney, the person who really gave Bond his sound was someone not nearly as well known, arranger Nic Raine.  It was those arrangements the TSO brilliantly performed, and appeared to have an enjoyable time doing it.  

The night opened with the "James Bond Main Theme" before

Capathia Jenkins
(broadwayworld.com)

moving on to some of the hits from the Sean Connery era.  Guest vocalist Ron Bohmer made his TSO debut singing "Thunderball" to great effect.  Capathia Jenkins followed with "For Your Eyes Only", also her debut performance.  She has a gorgeous sultry voice that totally suited the James Bond style.  I think that was my favourite vocal song of the evening, although Bohmer's "From Russia With Love" was a close second.  Both singers, but especially Jenkins, seemed so pleased with the audience reaction and generously indicated their thanks to the audience and orchestra.

As usual the orchestra was not left out.  They played a short suite from Dr. No, complete with a recorded voice over of the most famous line in movie history (according to Conductor Russell), "martini, shaken not stirred".  

Mrs. Peel

Opening the second half was a series of orchestral selections featuring guest saxophonist John Johnson and brassy solos by trumpeter James Gardiner.  It started with the "Soul Bossa Nova" better known as the theme from Austin Powers, then moved to the piece that started the spy-fi genre, the "Peter Gunn Theme".  Russell broke in to continue the history and stories he was providing between pieces to discuss the appeal a character named Mrs. Peel, who "wore leather and kicked butt", had for a young boy growing up in Ohio.  The orchestra followed with the theme from the TV series The Avengers.  

Ron Bohmer
(www.imdb.com)

Also included were Mission Impossible with it's identifying 5/4 time, the Pink Panther, and the theme from Shaft where Bohmer reappeared in his own leathers.

Moving on to more recent Bond movies, Jenkins sounded just like Adele singing "Skyfall" then switched to Gladys Knight for "Licence to Kill".  "The Look of Love" from the original Casino Royale had Russell get in on the non conducting action to join Jenkins for a classy slow dance.  Bohmer returned a final time to sing "You Know My Name" from the Daniel Craig as Bond version of Casino Royale.

Of course one couldn't leave until perhaps the most popular Bond song, made famous with the Shirley Bassey vocals but left as an orchestral encore piece, was played.  The evening was brought to a final close with "Goldfinger"!

Check out a photo of the TSO in rehearsal

TSO rehearsal with Maestro Russell (www.680news.com)

and a pre-show interview Maestro Russell gave with 680 news here: http://www.680news.com/2013/04/02/interview-john-morris-russell-guest-conductor-for-the-toronto-symphony-orchestra/

Love Will Keep Us Together

The Toronto Symphony's new Pops Conductor, Steven Reineke, introduced something new this season, a love themed concert, titled Love Will Keep Us Together that occurred a week after Valentine's Day.  I'm not sure how I feel about Valentine's concerts, there's no lack of good "love" music, but being single it can feel like a slap in the face from the world sometimes.  But I went with a friend and we just enjoyed the evening.  It will be interesting to see if this trend continues since the house was not full on the Wednesday evening I attended.

The opening piece "Love's Theme" by Barry White could have been a bit stronger, there was some muddling in the horns and it just didn't have the hook that gets you on the edge of your seat for the remainder of the evening.

Principal trumpet Andrew McCandless nailed a few wonderful solos throughout the evening.  The first was glorious and soaring in the "Cinema Paradiso Suite", then in "Almost Paradise" from Footloose he showed versatility with a much more jazzy sound.

Reineke, Eldred, Wolfe, and the TSO
(www.theatromania.ca)

Guest vocalists were Mike Eldred and Betsy Wolfe (making her TSO debut).  Mr. Eldred was okay, I enjoyed him best in "Sarah".  It's a piece from the musical The Civil War, and he just let the story and lyricism unfolded naturally.

Wolfe in one of many lovely evening gowns
(www.tumblr.com)

Ms. Wolfe has a lovely voice that was well suited to the heartfelt and belt portions of "The Music That Makes Me Dance" from Funny Girl.  I don't recall hearing the piece before, but then can't say I know much from Funny Girl, but I quite liked it.

They joined forces for a humerous version of "Anything You Can Do" from Annie Get Your Gun.  When they got to "anything you can buy, I can buy cheaper" and started throwing out numbers of "50 cents", "40 cents", "30 cents" etc.  Betsy side barred to the audience "the song's a bit outdated".  A true fact but it hasn't lost any of Irving Berlin's magic, even if the value of money has changed.

There were a few orchestra only pieces as well.  "Unchained Melody" made the list, and while melodically there isn't a lot of variation, they threw it around between the violins, winds, and celli which helped keep it interesting.  "Copacabana" was a good choice to open the second half with some energy.

The evening concluded with a lively encore of "Love Will Keep Us Together", complete with dancing vocalists and conductor while the orchestra played along left mostly to their own devices.  The audience didn't jump to their feet to join in, but there was a healthy applauce and light steps as people left the hall.

Return to Yuletide Celebration

Finding myself with some days off at the beginning of December, I decided on a road trip to the best concert for getting in the Christmas spirit, Yuletide Celebration with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra!  Two years ago I made the trip for the 25th anniversary concert (that review here) and while I wasn't expecting the elaborateness of that milestone, the 27th version came pretty close.

Justin Stahl, Lobby
Organist

The lobby decorations were as gorgeous as ever, and the cookies just as delicious.  Entertaining concert goers and showing off the Wurlitzer Theatre Pipe Organ to great effect was Justin Stahl who played before and after the concerts.  When leaving I noticed his closed music book, it was the "Reader's Digest Merry Christmas Songbook" which I also have! (although anything I've played didn't sound nearly as good).

Angela and Ben

The show opened with a new arrangement of "O Come, All Ye Faithful" by music director and maestro, Jack Everly.  It had English lyrics, Latin lyrics, and even the "wonderful, councillor..." quote from The Messiah.  Featuring the whole cast, it also served as an introduction to the voices of the hosts, opera star Angela Brown and Broadway leading man Ben Crawford.  I've seen Ben in other Symphonic Pops Consortium concerts, and have always enjoyed his voice.   This concert was no exception.  Angela and Ben joked around introducing each other with Angela playing the opera diva and claiming herself as sole host because she's from Indianapolis, which garnered audience applause.  At the matinee I attended however, Ben's announcement at being from Tuscan, Arizona created a stronger audience reaction.  Maybe he stacked the crowd with friends and family.  Being an out of towner I cheered for him :)

Anthony Kniffen & Grinch

After a solo by Angela of "Sleigh Ride" (because really what concert is complete without the Leroy Anderson classic, which incidentally was written in Georgia when the temperature was 105 deg. F) the orchestra was showcased in a medley from The Grinch Who Stole Christmas.  I haven't watched the movie in years and wasn't recognizing anything.  Then all of a sudden I noticed the tuba player, Anthony Kniffen, disappear from his spot at the back of the stage balcony.  He reappeared centre stage wrapped in a sousaphone and wearing a Santa hat to play "You're a Mean One Mr. Grinch".  The Grinch himself (he was wondering around the lobby earlier), even poked his head out from the window above the stage drumming his fingers together in an evil fashion.

Ben and cast decked out in Christmas bling

The costumes and gowns were extravagant, and none more so than Angela's dress for "Sparklejollytwinklejingley" from Elf: The Musical.  It was all gold and so glittery under the lights it was hard to look at.  Ben, by contrast was wearing a classic black tux and was accused of needing some Christmas bling.  He obliged by removing the tux to reveal black sequined pants and a red sparkly jacket.  The singers and dancers all sported major sparkles and glitter during an energetic dance interlude.  I hadn't heard anything from Elf before, but quite liked this and the selection later of "There is a Santa Claus".  That piece has a lyric about Rudolph's nose really glowing and a red spot light swept around the hall to emphasis the point.  It was a simple but effective bit of lighting design.

Christmas Eve Radio Highlights

The highlight of the first act for me was being taken back to December 24, 1942 for the "Christmas Eve Radio Broadcast".  A WISO sign descended from the stage complete with "On Air" and "Applause" indictors.  After a jive style dance number to "Hark the Harold Angels Sing" (or at least part of it) by Anne Nicole Beck and Joseph Perkins Jr., Ben and several Yuletide ladies performed "Fum, Fum, Fum".  The "broadcast" then officially started complete with an ad for Hazel Bishop lipstick.  I looked it up and it was the brand of the first non-smear lipstick although it wasn't an incorporated company until 1950.  But who says you can't adjust history to suit the needs of a show? :)  The catchy Chiquita Banana jingle was part of the segment as well, complete with Ben in a grass skirt and coconut bra.  Three singers with great harmony did an Andrew's Sisters style song similar to "Boogie Woogie Buggle Boy" only about "Roly Poly Santa Claus".  Mike Runyan (ISO librarian) was featured with his "Cowboy Harmonica Christmas" that contains half a dozen harmonicas in various sizes and songs such as "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer", "Up On the Housetop", and "Holly, Jolly Christmas".  That was one of my favourite parts two years ago and it was really fun to see him again.  The segment concluded with Angela singing a touching rendition of "I'll Be Home for Christmas" with harmonica accompaniment.

The traditional tap dancing kick line of Santa's brought down the curtain for intermission.  The second half opened with "The Enchanted Toy Shoppe" a feature which I believe was new at last season's concert.  Angela began by telling the story of a toy maker and how one magical night his toys came to life.  She also sang the beginning of "Once Upon a December" from Anastasia (Liz Callaway was a host last year and the singing voice of Anastasia in the movie, which may have influenced the song choice, but it fit in well).  The fairy waved her wand to a slow version of the "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" theme bringing the toys to life.   Included in the toys were a music box dancer and doll, who danced, en pointe even, to something by Tchaikovsky from "Swan Lake" I think.  By magic a juggler (Cirque de la Symphonie artist Vova Tsarkov) stepped out of building blocks that were stacked together before our eyes.  I liked the following rag doll segment the best of the Cirque acts.

Check out that Statue of Liberty style tiara!
(Angela photo from her facebook page)

Alina Sergeeva as the doll 'danced' with the juggler as he picked her up and she flopped back over into incredible positions that showed off her amazing flexibility.  The way she carried momentum and flopped at the slightest touch was so realistic of how a doll would behave.  "Hedwig's Theme" was used as the music for extracting the aerial silks artist (Rachel Bowman) from the "empty" Toy Parts box.  Then Ben returned to sing "Somewhere in My Memory" for the silks act.  It's a lovely song and the move where the aerialist wrapped herself in the silk and then fell as it unravelled always make me catch my breath.  The variety of pieces that appear in arrangements by Jack Everly and company is second to none!

Presumably while they cleared the Toy Shoppe props away behind the curtain, Angela took the front of the stage and performed "My Simple Christmas Wish".  Apparently this is a popular cabaret act song, but I was unfamiliar with it.  Some lyrics were changed to be family friendly and a new line about not being Oprah so don't look under your seat (a joke about Oprah giving gifts away to audience members) shot by so fast it took a second to process, but once people got it, there were giggles.

Not to be outdone, the curtain opened on a now empty stage and Ben walked out to sing "Believe" from The Polar Express.  The most popular version is likely with Josh Groban, but I much preferred Ben's.  Groban's seems heavy to me, but Ben had hope and a bit more lightness, not to mention his wonderful voice.

Zach and Jack

An exciting instrumental version of "Good King Wenceslas" featuring ISO concertmaster Zach De Pue was introduced by Jack Everly.  He said the lyrics were added to the tune in 1853, and a new Christmas song was born, but we'd never heard it like this.  So true!  The arrangement, by Alex De Pue (Zach's brother), had more notes than it seemed possible to play and ones higher than I thought a violin could hit.  It was great to see a little Time For Three style jammin' going on!  Check out the same arrangement with Alex playing the fiddle accompanied by a hammered dulcimer (it's better with full orchestra but I was excited to find the arrangement in any form!).

Not that the audience needed any waking up after that, but the ensemble got their own lively number with "All I Want for Christmas is You".  The highlighted voices weren't all my taste, but the guys shoes sure stood out...red with white inserts sure fit the Christmas bling criteria.

Slowing things down Angela and Ben combined forces for "The Prayer" with Ben taking the Italian part of the duet and creating a beautiful deep sound.  Their voices and talents were highlighted the best here.

Full cast in "The First Noel"

Ben continued with the beginning of "The First Noel" singing it straight and with meaning, until the curtain rose on a stained glass style backdrop and the full cast joined for the concluding verses and chorus.  After an almost instant standing ovation (the powerful arrangement by David Clydesdale almost draws you out of your seat) we were seated again and treated to an acapella "Silent Night" by Angela before joining our voices with everyone else's for "We Wish You a Merry Christmas".  I love singing with a full orchestra!

Thank you to all the friendly people I met (and especially to one I still haven't), the performers and everyone behind the scenes who work together to create such a wonderful show.  My mission was accomplished, Christmas spirit attained and should anyone be in the need for some I highly recommend this method of acquisition!  Because it's really true that...

(All photos except where noted from the Indianapolis Symphony, some via The Examiner and The Star.)

Some Enchanted Evening with the TSO

Tuesday evening the Toronto Symphony opened its Pops Concert Series with new Principal Pops Conductor Steven Reineke at the helm for an evening of Rodgers and Hammerstein hits.  At first glance in the new, all glossy pages program (which had the side effect of condensing the piece order list to 1/2 a page!) I wasn't entirely thrilled with the pieces listed.  It seemed like a rehash of what's typically done at Pops concerts.  However my opinion changed once things got started.  While some of the these pieces are well worn and typical fare the vocalists made them come alive again!  Additionally some pieces often done by soloists were done by the choir combination of the Orpheus Choir of Toronto and the University of Toronto MacMillan Singers.  There were even a few included that often get overlooked.  "We Kiss in a Shadow" for example,  I don't recall ever hearing before. Obviously it's been a LONG time since I've watched The King and I.

The arc to the evening was chronological.  Reineke briefly described the plots of each musical and mentioned some of the historical significance Carousel and South Pacific had being the first to include subject matter regarding abuse, sexism and racism.

Ashley and her husband Daniel
looking lovely at their wedding
( www.patsybrownblog.com)

I have no complaints about any of the singers, they all had good voices, Ashley Brown though is spectacular!  Just wow!  She looked stunning as well in two lovely gowns.  Total side note: I couldn't help noticing a ring I didn't remember before.  Turns out she's been married almost a year (thanks google) and congrats Ashley!

I've heard her before and was so excited she was going to be coming to Toronto.  In fact all the singers were making their TSO debut.  In addition to Ashley was Aaron Lazar, and it was great to see Canadian talent on the program with Jonathan Estabrooks (see his interview regarding this concert here).

The choirs were highlighted as well, beginning with "It's Grand Night for Singing".  They also got to show off their whistling skills in their other main numbers "There is Nothin' Like a Dame" and "I Whistle a Happy Tune".  "Nothin' Like a Dame" was probably the most enjoyable selection as they passed around a mike singling out individual lines.  There was one guy in the front row who stood out even before his solo with his apparent enjoyment and great expressions.  It's great fun watching people like that.  Back in the audience, I don't think the young gentlemen in front of me had heard the song before because he was cracking up at some of the more humerous lyrics.

Carousel was apparently Richard Rodgers favourite musical and is Reineke's as well.  Here Ashley embraced a variety of vocal styles from the twang of "June is Bustin' Out All Over" to the serious romantic "You'll Never Walk Alone".  Later in The King and I section she shared the loving romantic "I Have Dreamed" with Jonathan for probably my favourite piece of the evening.  Such a wonderful combination of melody and voices.

Jonathan (operatoonity.com)

While a bit repetitive with the gestures in "Soliloquy", Jonathan showed impressive stamina throughout the 7.5 minute long song, which follows the character's wondering over all the fun he could have with a son, lamenting that his child may be a girl,  deciding that might not be so bad after all, and resolving to do all he can to support her!  I think it's one of the first times I haven't been bored by the full version and the ending was just as powerful as the start.

Aaron Lazar
(www.phototv.fr/aaron-lazar.html)

South Pacific selections in the second half allowed Aaron to reprise his Lt. Cable days (he performed the part at the Hollywood Bowl) with a nice rendition of "Younger than Springtime".   Jonathan got the ever popular "Some Enchanted Evening".  If I closed my eyes at the start of "A Wonderful Guy" I could have sworn it was Kelli O'Hara singing.  It diverged from there, but Ashley started out so similarly.

It's always nice when the orchestra gets its chance to be centre stage as well.   Here they were featured in the opening "Orchestral Interlude" which included segments of songs that weren't elsewhere in the show such as "Everything's Up to Date in Kanses City" (from Oklahoma) and "Shall We Dance?" (from The King and I).  The second half opened with the "Waltz" from the 1957 made for TV movie Cinderella.  Rodgers and Hammerstein took that project just to work with Julie Andrews and we all know what became of that collaboration.  It was a nice to hear the waltz live with full orchestra and I had forgotten that "10 Minutes Ago I Met You" was part of it.  I couldn't resist quietly singing along.  It was actually the Lesley Anne Warren remake from 1965 that I grew up watching and remember having to fast forward the commercials.

Hill Twirl
(www.the-sound-of-music-guide.com)

The evening concluded with the final R and H collaboration The Sound of Music.  The "Prologue and the Sound of Music" performed were the arrangement from the film.  It's been a while since I watched it but the start of "Prologue" sounded like dissonant contempoary music at times, with the flitty flutes (reminiscent of birds) and chime of church bells.  The horns calling with the mellow opening line "what will this day be like, what will my future be" in "I Have Confidence" was just enough to pull it back into context.  When Ashley walked to the front of the stage to start "The Sound of Music" I was so hoping she'd do the Julie Andrews twirl at the top of the hill, but she didn't.

After Jonathan's "Edelweiss" solo he invited the audience to participate in the second time through.  Nothing beats singing with full symphony orchestra!  The vocalists then all joined together for the concert conclusion "Climb Ev'ry Mountain".

After a standing ovation and several sets of bows, the orchestra returned to their seats for an encore (yay!) of "Do Re Mi".  At the first line from the choir of "Let's start at the very beginning" there was applause and cheers from the audience!  I absolutely agree it would have been no trouble to sit through the entire concert again.

I will venture that the A-list of symphonic pop artists isn't huge (well ok, maybe it is, but I've only been exposed to a limited number, so still think it's small) and Reineke and Ashley have worked together before so let's hope that this is only the beginning of her collaborations with the TSO.  Hmm, how about a dream team concert?  My votes go to Hugh Panaro, Ashley Brown and Ben Crawford...could you imagine an evening with them...heavenly!

Kudos also to the sound mixer.  It was perfect!  The singers didn't sound over amplified that I've sometimes noticed before, and their voices were melded beautifully with the orchestra.

Diamond Jubilee Proms

The Toronto Symphony 90th anniversary season concluded (well practically, there was one more concert featuring the guest trumpet soloist a few days later) June 20th with the standard The Last Night of the Proms.  This year there was the added theme of celebrating the Queen's Diamond Jubilee year.  As I've been very lax in getting this written, it covers highlights only.

Conductor Bramwell Tovey, who was absent last year, was back and making her TSO debut was trumpeter Alison Balsom.  Rounding out the cast were soprano Laura Whalen and baritone James Westman.

The concert opened with a special appearance by the Fort York Honour Guard and Fife and Drum group who stood guard on stage during "O Canada" and "God Save the Queen".  The orchestra then continued with the "Crown Imperial March" which is one of my favourites.  Maestro Tovey was very engaging with the audience, particularly the late comers as he started to tell us about the piece "most of you have just heard".  He also promoted the volunteer committee's flag selling efforts at every opportunity.

One of the most humorous parts of the evening was when he asked those in the audience who were bearers of the large flags where they were from.  The first few who proudly displayed the Union Jack or St. George's Cross were from Lake Simcoe, Bobcaygeon and Toronto.  It took a few more people to find a true Londoner.  Perhaps the best response, that even had the orchestra laughing, was "Quebec".  Tovey replied he was looking forward to hearing them sing the finale "Jerusalem".

Alison Balsom
(beta.wosu.org)

Ms. Balsom, wearing a lovely white gown, started her part of the evening festivities with the well known "Trumpet Voluntary" then moved onto the "Prayer of St. Gregory".  What an amazingly beautiful sound!  When she returned in the second half, this time in a stunning red dress, with "Casta Diva Variations from Norma" by Vincenzo Bellini I think everyone's jaw was on the floor by the end.  How anyone can play that many notes with so few breaths is astounding.  I don't know of many trumpet guest soloists, and she's definitely one worth having back.

The red, white, and blue wardrobe theme was concluded by Ms. Whalen who had the blue gown and for the finale wore the Kate and Prince William flag from last year's concert as an additional shawl. Not to be outdone was Mr. Westman.  After demonstrating his vocal skills with "The Lost Chord" and "When Britain Really Ruled the Waves" he complemented his Union Jack handkerchief by revealing his Canada flag boxers.

Luba Goy as Queen (cbc.ca)

A special guest appearance was made by Queen Elizabeth II herself (in the form of Royal Canadian Air Farce actress Luba Goy).  She was accompanied by several hobby horse riding RCMP officers who managed to keep a straight face while she chatted with Tovey and indicated "60 years is a long time to be on the throne".  It took a second for the double entrendre to sink in and the audience laughter to start.

Mr. Tovey arranged several selections for the evening including "A Novello Rhapsody" consisting of parlour songs such as "I Can Give You the Starlight", "Waltz of My Heart", "Music in May", and "We'll Gather Lilacs" by Ivor Novello sung by Ms. Whalen and Mr. Westman.  In a tribute to Mr. Tovey's mother who passed away last year and the World War II veterans, of which there were a few in the audience, he played the piano in his own arrangement while Ms. Whalen sang "(There'll Be Bluebirds Over) The White Cliffs of Dover".  It was a tender, touching and quiet rendition that would have been easier to be sucked into without the distracting coughing from the audience.

The concert was bittersweet in that The Last Night of the Proms tradition is going on hiatus for a few years.  It was 20 years ago that Bramwell Tovey made his TSO debut, and I'm not sure how long after that the Proms started, but he's probably been the conductor of the concert since it's inception.  He shook hands with not just the concert master but all the front row players, then went to the bass row which consisted of the older veteran players he's probably known for most of those years.

I've only attended twice, but I like that the concert is a mix of Canada Day and Remembrance Day combined.  It's fun, and funny, but with its share of poignant and important moments as well.  The Wed. evening performance was quite full and I expect it will be missed next year.  So in the words of the encore song, until the Proms and the next TSO season return, "I'll Be Seeing You".

Thanks to everyone who made the 90th season a joy to attend!