Jersey Boys

Thanks to some wonderful deals, my musical escapades around town haven't stopped for the summer!  Last week I was able to enjoy Jersey Boys: The Story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons at the Toronto Centre for the Arts.  Yet another example of a theatre that has changed names, I remember when this place was the North York Centre for the Performing Arts.  Back in 1993 I saw Show Boat there which opened the theatre prior to starting it's Broadway run.  Until Jersey Boys arrived, Show Boat was the longest running show at 88 weeks.  Jersey Boys is now into it's second year and just announced it's closing on August 22.  Our seats were near the back in the centre orchestra section, but were really good.  It's not that large a theatre and even the back row probably had a good view.

Unlike Mamma Mia! I didn't go into this knowing all the music.  In fact all I knew of it was the snippets of "Sherry" and "O What a Night" that are played in the TV ads.  I recognized several others as the performance went on and really enjoyed it.  We had the understudies for the characters of Tommy DeVito and Nick Massi, (Grant Tilly and Matt Cassidy respectively) but I don't see how the originals could be any better.  These guys are all very talented.  Other than Frankie (Jeff Madden), they play instruments (guitar for Tommy, bass for Nick and keyboards for Bob Gaudio, played by Quinn Vanantwerp) in addition to the singing and dancing.  All their voices are great and meld very well together.

I liked how the story was told as a personal narrative with each character taking their turn at explaining how the events unfolded to bring the group, which over time when through a multitude of names, from Jersey to the big time.  Presumably, the personalities are somewhat accurate for each character:  Tommy getting into trouble with money, Frankie having family problems and even losing a daughter to drugs, Nick quitting just when things were starting to turn around, and Bob being the song writer and still honouring the business agreement he made with Frankie on a handshake.  The ending where each character described their current life (unfortunately Nick has died), was also very well done.  You think it might end on a sad note, but then they all come back to do one last song and people leave humming.

The last 3/4 I liked the best, since the beginning seemed to rush through a lot of segments of songs without much focus.  The set was effective too with an overhead catwalk adding an additional level for entrances and exits, as well as a place for the trumpet, trombone, and saxes to play during one of the hit numbers (which of course I now can't remember).  During the preface to one song, which Bob wrote specifically for Frankie, they showed how it took some serious selling to the record company and radio stations to get it played.  Through the whole segment the name of the song wasn't mentioned.  Just when  you'd expect someone to say the name the scene would switch to Bob trying to convince someone new to agree to play it.  Finally it's "play the song already", which was exactly how I felt, since they were giving this unknown piece such a big build up.  The song ended up being "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You" which was well deserving of the tension.

Other songs I ended up having the "they did that?" reaction to were "Earth Angel", "Walk Like a Man", and "Working My Way Back to You".  If deals are still available, I may get a chance to see this one again before it leaves.  Only 1 month left, if you haven't been...GO!

Independence Day Celebration

Cross it off the Bucket List!  Ok, I don't actually have a hard copy Bucket List, but I managed to pull together a whirlwind trip to Washington DC to see the 30th Anniversary of the "Capitol Fourth" concert LIVE.  I've grown up watching the PBS show and have wanted to see it in person for ages.  Plus the last, and only, time I toured around Washington DC was about 8 years ago, and I wanted to go back with a new knowledge base and see the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum again.

Having gained some unexpected time-off, in 3 days I arranged accompaniment, accommodation, directions, maps of downtown and the Metro subway system, and a very rough plan.  I even found the prohibited items list for the Capitol Hill lawn (good thing since I would have taken my umbrella for shade and ended up losing it) and discovered a great piece of info...there was a dress rehearsal open to the public the night before the show!  Never one to turn down seeing what was sure to be a great concert more than once I added that to the list of things to do.  Now onto the concert.

The magnitude of things was certainly what I expected.  The Capitol Building is huge, and very impressive in any light.  Being there extra early for the real show we got to take pictures as the sun was setting and it's very pretty.

We were standing at the base of it for the dress rehearsal (the centre lawn had been opened at 3pm and filled by 5pm), and it was a good spot.  Thankfully I had remembered my binoculars, and you could see the stage and narration hut quite well, even if the performers were small.  The added bonus of attending the concert this year was not only that it was the 30th Anniversary, but also the first "Capitol Fourth" that my favourite, Jack Everly, was conducting.  He's replaced Erich Kunzel who had conducted the National Symphony Orchestra in this and the Memorial Day concert for the last 20 years.  I'm probably bias, but I think they made an excellent choice and he did a wonderful job.

Funny things happen in rehearsal and with professionals I guess it's no exception.  First Gladys Knight and Darius Rucker weren't there, so they had stand-ins who lip-synced to the songs they were going to sing.  The Darius Rucker guy (seen in photo) was really quite entertaining and the stand-in fiddle player was very energetic in his air fiddle playing.  Jimmy Smits hosted, and after introducing the people who weren't there tongue-in-cheek, he was especially sincere with the introductions of David Archuleta, Lang Lang and Reba McEntire since they actually were performing.  Lang Lang's intro included some background on one of the pieces that didn't make the final concert.  At the rehearsal his first piece was "the theme from a movie starring Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour called Somewhere in Time.  Also known as Rachmaninov's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini Variation 18" [my paraphrase].  After stumbling over "Rachmaninov" and having the audience say it with him, Jimmy said he'd just refer to it as "the theme from Somewhere in Time" which is what he did the next day.  During the end of the rehearsal with the orchestra playing the "1812 Overture" and a few other marches, they showed fireworks from previous years on the large screen, but they had the real cannon fire!

July 4 was hot, full sun, with not a cloud in the sky, and we arrived just as they opened the security line at about 2:45pm.  The concert started at 8pm, so yes a long afternoon waiting.  However, it really didn't seem that long.  When we arrived the real Darius Rucker was practicing, there were always people milling around on stage, and watching the lawn fill in, as well as the people who picked spots on the Capitol Building steps (the poor people, the steps were in full sun and they had 5 hours to wait!), eliminated the bore factor.  Plus I had the fun of constructing my own lean-to for shade using chairs, a sheet, and clothes pins.  The fence we sat in front of helped immensely.  What do you think?  Do I get my Girl Scout badge? :)   Hehe, interestingly enough the book I was reading is visible in this photo.  A biography of Irving Berlin, one of America's great songwriters who's "God Bless America" has probably been in this concert for all 30 years.

The real concert was worth the wait.  It started with David Archuleta singing "The Star Spangled Banner", then Gladys Knight did her set of songs, followed by a taped history segment with NSO background music, and the real Darius Rucker in the mid-lawn stage.  Watching what actually happens on the stage preparation wise that you never see on TV was really neat.  There's all the instrument additions and removals (the drum set for the back-up bands and the grand piano for example), plus the orchestra and chorus relaxing.  Well not exactly relaxing, but the chorus got to sit, and the Maestro removed his jacket at every opportunity, it must have been brutally hot up there.  The orchestra was featured in the overture to the musical "George M" which included Cohan songs such as "Yankee Doodle Dandy", "Mary's a Grand Old Name" and "Grand Old Flag".  It was a crowd pleaser, as was Lang Lang's performance of Horowitz's "Variations on the Stars and Stripes".  Really there was nothing to say after him but WOW, even the orchestra was applauding.  There was a nice tribute to Erich Kunzel by John Schneider singing "When the Saints Go Marching In" and the Marine Drum and Bugle Corps played the "Washington Post March".  This was by the fountain of the Capitol Building which was hidden behind walls of people so we couldn't see it except on the large screens, but they sounded good.

Reba McEntire played two of her popular songs, then was awarded the National Artistic Achievement Award.  Patriotism took over as she sang "God Bless America" and the fireworks started.  Unfortunately trees were in our way since we were on the side of the centre lawn.  People had started leaving as soon as she was given the award and I wondered why, the concert wasn't over and they'd sat there all afternoon!  Turns out they were going around to the other side of the trees to get a good view of the Washington Monument since the fireworks originated behind it.  With the emptying out of people though I was able to move up closer and watch the orchestra during the "1812 Overture" and the two marches they played at the very end which is when the following picture was taken.  One I think was a much longer version of the "Washington Post March" the Marines had done.  The musicians use clothes pins to attach the music to the stand so it doesn't blow away.  I don't there there was enough of a breeze to cause that, but better to be safe than sorry!

The fireworks were pretty amazing, they just never stopped!  The display certainly goes much longer than you get to see on TV, and you never get to hear the full orchestra at the end either, they usually cut the broadcast off shortly after the "1812 Overture".

The concert and just July 4 in Washington DC was a great thing to be able to experience.  I've now done the Canadian and American capital bashes.  They are very different, but both fun.  I didn't hear an official crowd estimate for this July 4, but previously I'd heard something like 500,000 people attend.  Everyone we chatted with was friendly, and it really is fun to sing along to the US National Anthem and God Bless America, and the other patriotic songs that are great pieces of music, but are rarely heard (and understandably so) north of the 49th parallel.  But for one day, I got to be an honorary American!

Day of Firsts with Ballet and Bruckner

Thursday was a great day!  I was able to enjoy an afternoon and evening of culture :)  There is nothing better than taking advantage of the deals offered to young adults in the city of Toronto and my entire day cost less than one full price ticket to either the National Ballet of Canada or the Toronto Symphony.  For all you other young folk out there check out DanceBreak and tsoundcheck.

So lets start with the ballet.  What caught my attention was West Side Story, which is why I wanted to go.  Other than The Nutcracker I've never been to the ballet, and quite honestly I don't much care for the National Ballet's current version of The Nutcracker, and find the Royal Winnipeg's much more entertaining.  But I digress.  Since this was my first experience, I did a bit of research.  Primarily this consisted of reading the ballet notes online and listening to the music.  The other two ballets on the program were a new commission by Finnish choreographer Jorma Elo called Pur ti Miro and Jerome Robbin's Opus 19/The Dreamer.  Pur ti Miro is set to Beethoven's "Violin Concerto in D, movement III: Rondo", and "Consecration of the House Overture", while "Pur ti Miro" is from "L'incoronazion di Poppea" (The Coronation of Poppea), an opera by Claudio Monteverdi.  The Beethoven pieces were easy enough to find on youtube (versions of the concerto by Itzhak Perlman as well as a rather young Pinkus Zukerman and the Overture), and are quite lyrical and lovely to listen to by themselves.  I particularly like the joyous aspect of Perlman's performance.

Opus 19/The Dreamer is danced to another violin concerto in D major, this one by Sergei Prokofiev (who incidentally also wrote the music for the ballets Romeo and Juliet and Cinderella).  I found this on a CD from the library and honestly did not like it at all.  The ballet notes described the piece as a "brilliant concerto...dissonant, bittersweet, [an] oddly compelling work with its blend of romanticism and modernity".  Well I got the dissonant part, but not the compelling.  So I was expecting to enjoy at least the music in the first ballet and of course Bernstein's score to West Side Story.

I picked a seat in the front row, since I've never sat in the front row of any performance, and I wanted to be able to see the orchestra.  Well I needn't have worried about the second part because the pit at the Four Seasons Centre is more in front of the stage than under it making for a wonderful view from the audience.  At times there was far too much going on to take it all in with the dancers, orchestra, conductor, and even singers, providing visuals.  Through my research I also found out there was a pre-ballet talk about the various works and I'm very glad I went.  Ballet Master, Lindsay Fischer provided insight into the choreography, story lines, and artists through a very engaging and heart felt talk.

The surprise of my experience was how something can completely change when you put movement to it.  I thoroughly enjoyed Opus 19/The Dreamer.  The violin soloist, Benjamin Bowman, was phenomenal in both Pur ti Miro and Opus 19.  So, I would probably have had a new appreciation for Prokofiev's piece just with that; however, add the abstract story of the ballet and it was incredible.  The music and movement fit so well that it all came alive!  Abstract or not I understood more of the searching and yearning to fit in showcased in Opus 19, than I did the more narrative story of Nero, the emperor, and Poppea, his mistress, in Pur ti Miro.  Granted the pas de deux between Tanya Howard and Jiri Jelinek was beautiful and the lifts throughout were breathtaking, but I didn't feel like she really loved him.  Maybe she didn't and that's the point, but he looked at her loving, while she looked at him almost with distain.

West Side Story was fun, and lively and everything it should be.  The conductor, David Briskin, was enjoyable to watch, sang along at parts and at times had a similar beat style to my favourite conductor :)  One dancer fell in "The Prologue" as the guys were skidding across the stage, although he was up again so quickly you almost had to second guess if it actually happened.  I imagine that's a very shocking experience for a dancer.  A nice job was done of singing and acting "America" by Jordana Damec as Anita and Stephanie Hutchison as Rosalia.  These dancers are obviously very multi-talented!

Several hours later, the evening began at Roy Thomson Hall for what was originally marketed as Yannick and Yundi.  Yundi, a Chinese pianist who recently won the Warsaw Chopin competition was to play Chopin's "Piano Concerto No. 1 in E Minor", with Yannick Nezet-Seguin conducting.  The evening was completed with Bruckner's 9th Symphony.  Unfortunately, Mr. Nezet-Seguin (who I was looking forward to seeing) was unable to make it due to scheduling conflicts, so with 9 days notice another French-Canadian conductor Jean-Marie Zeitouni, stepped in.  He conducted "The Messiah" this past Christmas.

This was also my first experience with Bruckner.  I've heard various interviews which give the impression he is the epitome of classical music, and while technically I'm working backwards by hearing his final, unfinished symphony first, might as well start with the one that would showcase all his experience.

There was a fair amount of dynamic contrast and the piece progressed at a lively tempo, so it certainly wasn't boring.  Near the ending there were repetitive notes in the strings and horns which got a little dry though.  The sound from the four French horns sounded so much louder than usual, which I assumed was because I was sitting in the choir loft directly above them (great place to watch the conductor from and Mr. Zeitouni was very expressive making it quite entertaining).  Then when leaving I noticed there were four other horns sitting behind them!  No wonder the principal clarinet (side note: he appeared to use a synthetic reed) put in an ear plug when the volume increased.  It was also neat to see that of the full stand of mallets/sticks laid out the timpani player used at least 4 different sets.

In conclusion, I think I like Bruckner and will go searching for his other symphonies.  Unfortunately, both the TSO and National Ballet seasons are drawing to a close, so for the summer months this blog might expand more to CD/movie reviews.  Stay tuned!

Irving Berlin: From Ragtime to Ritzes

Last week, May 15 to be exact, was another great evening of music with the National Arts Centre Orchestra as they presented their final Pops concert of the season, splendidly conducted, as usual, by Maestro Jack Everly.  The programs title appears to have changed from when it was first announced, with "Ragtime" being replaced with just "Rags".  Personally, I like the "Ragtime" since Irving Berlin's first big hit was "Alexander's Ragtime Band".  Also a wonderful movie which I watched this past week twice!

It seems quite an undertaking to boil down over 1500 songs (which is just the published number, apparently Irving Berlin wrote over 3000, talk about a prolific writer) to a two hour concert, yet Mr. Everly and his team have done a wonderful job!  Medleys abounded yet it never felt short changed with just choruses, and several songs even included some less familiar verses.  I counted 37 different songs, not including any snippets that may have been hidden between the main themes.  The show had all the classics from “White Christmas” to “Oh How I Hate To Get Up in the Morning” and even a few I hadn’t heard before.  One advantage of having so many songs to choose from is that perhaps this show can live an extended life by swapping new ones in.  For example, "I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm" in  the holiday medley, or "Something to Dance About" in with the other dance songs.  Maybe even "It's a Lovely Day Today" mixed with "Blue Skies"?  So many options exist!

The cast of singers was phenomenal.  Tony DeSare held his own among the other Broadway veterans, although seemed more at home during his two piano numbers.  He played both without music and I believe I detected a bit of "Rhapsody in Blue" mixed in with "I Love a Piano".  It also had a great little swinging clarinet line (I'm always listening for those!) from Mr. Sykes.   I expect Tony really shone during his post concert Cabaret.   

The "Sisters" medley was lots of fun and included "You're Just in Love" (one of my favourites from Call Me Madame with Ethel Merman and Donald O'Connor) and "You’d Be Surprised" which I hadn't heard before. Natasha Yvette Williams performed it so well!  I've been searching for a recording and haven't been able to find anything as well sung or acted as her version.   Ashley Brown (the original Mary Poppins on Broadway) has a lovely voice and looked stunning throughout the evening.  If only I lived in Indianapolis as she's doing "Ashley Brown's Broadway" with the Indianapolis Symphony next season, which is sure to have some fine music.  It was great to hear Hugh Panaro again too.  He was just as enjoyable as when he debuted with the NACO in "Guys and Dolls: In Concert".  The lively footwork and singing of James T. Lane was extremely entertaining.  The whole ensemble together had a sound that blended well.  Ashley and the men in "Heat Wave" generated a strong reaction from the audience, as did the "Easter Parade" section of the "Holiday Medley" courtesy of James's Easter bunny.

Maestro Everly was also in fine form.  It's clear he really enjoys this music and, while always fantastic to watch, if possible appeared even more animated than usual.  His knowledge of the repertoire is obviously very vast and the delivery so honest.  This was evidenced by his introduction to "Remember" where he described that Berlin gave the rights to three of his songs to his future wife in an attempt to win the favour of his eventual father-in-law.  Mr. Everly listed "Remember" and "Always" then without missing a beat admitted he couldn't recall the third one.  We never did find out what it was.  Was anyone there on Thurs. or Fri. night that could fill me in?  Additionally, his concluding thanks to the orchestra, other staff, and audience ("we couldn't do it without you, well we could but it wouldn't be nearly as much fun" :) ) was completely genuine.

The closing numbers for the first and second halves were flipped from what was listed in the program.  A wise decision, since "Irving Berlin's America" (a medley including "This is the Army, Mr. Jones", "How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning", and of course "God Bless America"), which was the original finale, really had that USA patriotic feel to it right down to the men in white and the ladies in red and blue dresses.  Granted Berlin was a strong patriot, but I appreciated leaving singing "Puttin’ on the Ritz" rather than "God Bless America", even if they did make it more inclusive by sliding a "North America" into the last refrain.
 

To quote a song that appeared in a few section throughout the evening and has become the show biz anthem, “The costumes (they were fabulous, especially the finale dresses which gave that elegant white tie and tails look so well), the scenery (who needs it with such a great orchestra? but there were even banners depicting various songs), the make-up (the performers all looked beautiful), the props (does a Santa hat, Easter bunny, baton or instrument count?), this show had it all.  As for “an audience that lifts you when you’re down”, with such a wonderful evening of great music and two standing ovations, I don’t know who could have left unhappy.

Thanks NACO for a great season of popular music!

Change of Pace: Mamma Mia!

It's the 10th anniversary of the North American premiere of Mamma Mia!  which occurred in Toronto, and the North American touring company is making a return visit.  Having missed the show the first time, I wasn't going to miss it again and unbeknownst to me ended up going on Opening Night.

I didn't really know what to expect given that my recent theatre/performance experience has been with the rather stoic TSO audiences, but Mamma Mia! indeed.  It's was a totally fun, electrifying show that spilled into the lobby (a group of teenagers belting out "Dancing Queen" at 11pm is an experience) and onto the street.  The audience seemed fairly young, although there were a few grandmother-ish types in the row ahead of us who mentioned they'd seen it last time it was in town.

I was unprepared for the applause that greeted the opening chords of the overture!  Throughout various numbers people started clapping along.  It was nice that people around us didn't join in the singing until the uproaring encores (although I can see how one can get that desire) but at that point I was right there joining in with the dancing (subtly), clapping and singing along.

The set was very simple yet very effective.  By flipping two curved walls they were able to create the interior and exterior of multiple areas of the taverna.  The lighting worked very well too, with spotlights highlighting the character performing a soliloquy type song while the ones being sung about were in shadow.  Plus the strobe lights in some of the dance numbers made things look appropriately hectic.  Very creatively done.  The post intermission "nightmare", complete with fog rolling into the orchestra pit, black lights, and dancing in flippers was pretty impressive too.  I wondered how "Under Attack" fit into the plot.

My main critique of the performance was the sound mixing.  At times the band overpowered the vocalists, Donna especially during the quieter moments of her solos.  Also, I expect the background vocals were not all live.  Sam who seems to have the most solo numbers I would not pick as having the best voice.  Harry was lovely to listen to and the "Our Last Summer" duet with Donna was well done.

Start of side note regarding theatre in general.
I'm not really opposed to change, but I remember when inside a theatre was a no eating/drinking zone, and I preferred it this way.  Save the candy for a movie, and the guys walking the aisles selling ice cream for baseball games.  What bothered me most though was having to smell the rum in the drink of the guy beside me through the first half and his beer through the second.  Then at the end of the show, the theatre gets left in a mess!  Is the mark-up on the food that high that it counters the extra cleaning costs?  I suppose the lack of these issues is still an advantage of the Symphony...and may it stay that way.
End side note.

The entertainment value of the performance though never lacked through all the organized chaos.  The ripped gentlemen (Sky and Harry in particular) provided plenty of eye candy and it's introduced a whole new generation to Abba's music and hopefully musical theatre overall.

Tales from the Symphonic Strip

What happens in Vegas, may stay in Vegas, but what happens at the symphony gets blogged about!  This past March 31 and April 1 were phenomenal, days I won't soon forget.  Why you ask?  I enjoyed "Pops Goes Vegas" with the TSO, not once, but three times.  Yes, it really is that good a show!

The stage was set with a Vegas theme, including a sign and plant which proved to be interactive.

Mr. Everly proved to be his usual, engaging self, interacting with the audience right away as he silently called for the stage hand to remove the previously mentioned plant.  At a groan from the audience, he turned and said "oh no, nothing tacky in these hallowed halls", before giving a jumping upbeat to the orchestra and displaying the back of his characteristic white jacket, however it was no longer plain white.  Instead "VEGAS" appeared in red lights and what looked like fiber optic stars sparkled around it and down the sleeves.  Great start to the glitz and glamour of the evening.
The jacket lasted through the Overture and "Las Vegas" (which it's taken me all week to discover is from an unproduced musical by Jerry Herman of Hello Dolly fame called Miss Spectacular).  The non-powered white jacket was delivered by one of the show girls (because it wouldn't be Vegas without them) and Mr. Everly changed without skipping a beat and started into a brief history of Las Vegas.  Apparently it started as a railway town which required entertainment for the workers and so there was "legalized gambling, legalized alcohol, and [glances at showgirls]...well lets just say lots of things were legalized." ;)

The vocalists were all top quality.  Allison Briner even took a break from her current Broadway role in Mamma Mia! to do the show.  Scott Beck was very easy to listen to and on the eyes, while Joe Cassidy from a distance resembled Rodney McKay from Stargate.  But he could sing and channeled Frank Sinatra for a wonderful arrangement (courtesy of Fred Barton) of "I Gotta Be Me/My Way".  The two songs intertwined amazingly well.

The highlight performer though had to be Martin Preston as Liberace (haha, Mr. Everly introduced like that too, with the "famous for"'s and drum rolls).  He dazzled quite literally.  The first costume even contained Swarovski crystals and apparently weighed 35 lbs.  The mannerisms and even some of his opening talk were right from Liberace himself.  Then there was the piano playing...wow!  From Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto #1, I'll Be Seeing You, Beer Barrel Polka, to audience requests (even mine of Rhapsody in Blue and then I Got Rhythm in the evening because no one else was suggesting anything), Liberace played it all.  He even debuted a piece that hadn't been played by anyone else with the Toronto Symphony, the classic "Chopsticks".  But it turned into a pretty impressive theme and variations version.

The orchestra was by no means overlooked.  For that big band sound there were additional musicians particularly for the trumpets, trombones, and saxophones.  They shone in an original orchestration (also by Barton who had worked with Coleman) of "Big Spender" from the Cy Coleman musical, Sweet Charity, "New York, New York", and throughout the whole evening.  It was a real pleasure to see several musicians appear to really be enjoying themselves (the principal violin and cello specifically).  The evening had all the segments of Vegas from a tribute to the top stars (such as Sinatra, etc) to the lounge acts designed to keep people in the casinos at all times.  To represent the declining talent lounge aspect Mr. Everly made a deadpan introduction "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the final 3am show at the Last Call Lounge.  Now here they are...Joe and Ally" which started a skit/song/dance act telling the story of the turbulent relationship between the married couple Joe and Ally.  My guess is this is a take off of Steve Lawrence and Edyie Gorme.  Allison's impersonations of Barbra Streisand, Liza Minelli, Bernadette Peters, Charo, Cher, and Ethel Merman were played for laughs and succeeded.  At each performance, Ethel especially, got a big reaction from the audience and even bow wavings and stomps from the orchestra!  A few times Mr. Everly even had to rein in a chuckle before continuing with the next introduction.  All of that makes the night feel personal, like you're not just watching a detached group of people, but that they're enjoying the moment as well.

I could go on with way more details of the show, but I've probably raved enough.  This was a friend of mine's first introduction to the symphony and she's interested in going to more Pops shows next season.  So Maestro, as you mentioned in your closing remarks, I agree there's nothing like live music and I'm trying to do my part in expanding the audience.  Hope to see more people at the symphony!

March Music Month continues with a Spanish Flare

March 25th it was back to the TSO for an evening of Joaquin's and Hector.  The program featured Joaquin Turina's "La Oracion del torero" otherwise known as "The Bullfighter's Prayer", Joaquin Rodrigo's "Concierto de Aranjuez", and "Symphonie Fantastique" by Hector Berlioz.

I was prepared for Symphonie Fantastique, having even gone to the basement the night before and dug out my grade 12 music notes to re-familiarize myself with the story line.  Yes, I know you're all thinking...what? she has grade 12 music notes?!?  What can I say?  I'm a bit of a pack-rat.  I even found all the clarinet test pieces I played that year.  I need to try playing those again to see if I've gotten any better...but I digress.  I knew the Symphonie story involved the artist drugging himself with opium in an attempt to commit suicide but not quite getting there, and that the main theme represented "his beloved" and was characterized by an idee fixe.  But the beginning movements I had forgotten about, so it was nice to read my rather short synopsis of "Reveries and Passions", "A Ball", and "In the Country", the first three movements.  "The March to the Scaffold" is where my memory started kicking in, since this is where he dreams he's killed his beloved and is executed.  "Dream of the Witches' Sabbath" has the idee fixe return but morphed in a grotesque way.  I believe Berlioz used the word grotesque himself for describing it, and so that has continued ever since in any description I've read.

Before the concert Rick Phillips had a Pre-Concert Chat, where he described what I mentioned above, as well as the first 2 pieces of the evening.  He read Berlioz's own descriptions of each movement which was really neat to hear.  The first movement introduces the beloved theme about 5 minutes in.  The whole symphony is slightly autobiographical since Berlioz was infatuated with an actress (apparently to the point of stalking her) and eventually married her, although it wasn't really a happy marriage and they continued their separate lives.  Then in the second movement you hear snatches of the idee fixe as if the artist was capturing glimpses of his beloved across a room.  He's all alone in the third movement, which takes place in the country, and is quite a pretty reflection at times.

This piece uses a large orchestra, maybe that's part of why I like it so much.  The stage was full!

There were 2 sets of timpani, 8 basses, 2 huge bass drums (one played by the principal keyboardist, so it was neat to see her playing a different instrument), 4 bassoons, 2 harps, 4 horns, 3 trombones, 2 tubas, plus the other brass, woodwinds and strings.

Great symphony all around with a bit of everything.  It tells a story, contains a theme you can follow and notice how it changes, there's some very pastoral type sections reminiscent of Beethoven's 6th Symphony (it was written 3 years after his death and was quite ahead of his time), unique playing techniques with the string players using the wooden side of their bows to hit the strings, and great power.

The first two pieces were also really good.  "The Bullfighter's Prayer" was just for the strings, and the "Concierto de Aranjuez" for solo classical guitar and a small orchestra.  The soloist was Pepe Romero, making his TSO debut, part of the famous Romeros Quartet which initially was his father and 3 sons, although members have since changed, but are still all from the Romero's family.  The second movement of the Concierto was instantly recognizable, having been used in various other venues.  But that's what's so great about going to the symphony, you get to hear the whole thing, and discover that the famous section is just the tip of the ice burg to a great piece of music.

The conductor for the evening was Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos.  An older gentlemen obviously well versed in this music since he used a score only for the "Concierto".  He first guested with the TSO in 1970!  So quite a range from first time performer to veteran.