can anyone recomend soem stuff with alot of violin instruments in it. i liek teh fast tempo stuff. like if anyhas ever seen queen of teh damned. when hes playing teh guitare . stuff like taht . any recomendations?

 

Last Friday night the CPO put on a show called "Scottish Fantasy". The reason for this title is because the guest violinist, Pip Clarke (from England), played Max Bruch's (1838-1920) violin orchestral masterpiece which he had named the Scottish Fantasy, after a trip to Scottland. I have this piece of music on cd, with James Ehnes as the violinist and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. While Pip is a very good violinist, I feel that James Ehnes' version with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Charles Dutoit is far superior. This is likely because James is a better violinist and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra is a larger and better orchestra than the CPO. Nonetheless, Pip did a marvelous job with her violin as did the CPO. It was very entertaining to listen to the entire orchestra with all of its musicians and instruments, especially in the finale. This piece of music is about 30 minutes in length and can test the physical conditioning of the solo violinist. Pip Clarke by the way, is in great shape. She is very good looking and easy to look at.

The 2nd symphony on tap tonight was Felix Mendelssohn's (1809-1847) "The Hebrides", which was a 10 minute work of beautiful and intricate music with all of its colors and textures superbly laid out by the CPO.

The 3rd musical work was Antonin's Dvorak's (1841-1904) sympnony no.7. This work is based on taditional Bohemian folk type of music and is emotionally powerful and very richly scored with many sonorities to be heard. It is a dark and brooding symphony but which ends with a note of triumph and happiness. This piece is about 37 minutes in length and is absolutely gorgeous to listen to. Once again, as with the other musical pieces in this show, this one is also thickly hued with many textures and colors.

The guest conductor for tonight's show was Stefan Sanderling. He is the musical director of the Florida Symphony Orchestra and makes guest appearances throughout the world.

All in all, a fantastic show and performances by Pip Clarke and the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra.

 

This CPO show consisted of 3 symphonies.

The first was that of Hector Berlioz (1803-1869). We were presented with his symphony named "Le Corsaire", which in English means...the captain of the ship. In the summer of 1844, Berlioz traveled by boat to Nice, France along the French Riviera. The beautiful and stunning scenery of this part of the world prompted him to create this symphonic work of art which is very quick paced from start to finish. I could see the tension on the faces of the string section as they had to keep up with the fast pace of this symphony. It is about 8 minutes in length. Very well done by this orchestra.

The second piece on the plate tonight was the piano concerto no.1, op.23 by Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893). This is a grand masterwork by this composer, but then, all the symphonies that he wrote were grand masterworks. The solo pianist doing the honors tonight was Michael Kim, originally from Calgary. This symphony is about 32 minutes in length and Michael had his work cut out for him as he had plenty of solo paino work. He performed flawlessly as did the rest of the orchestra.

The third and last symphony of the show was Ludwig van Beethoven's (1770-1827) symphony no.3, op.55, which he named Eroica or the Heroic Symphony. Beethoven had originally written this sympony due to his admiration of Napolean Bonaparte. He had first named this symphony "Bonaparte". But after Beethoven came to realize that Napolean Bonaparte was not as benevolent as he had originally thought, he changed the name to Eroica. This symphony is considered to be a watershed in the history of orchestral music; a declaration of artistic and spiritual independence. It is a huge symphony which runs 48 minutes in length. It is a beautiful work of musical art which was performed with a high degree of precision from the CPO.

All three performances received a standing ovation.

The conductor tonight was Yannick Nezet Seguin, from Montreal.

 

On April 22nd, I was at the Jack Singer Concert Hall once again for an amazingly powerful show put on by the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra. Eloquence, raw power, and drama were all present at this spectacular show.

The first symphonic work perfromed tonight was a new piece of music which has just recently been completed. Tonight was the world premiere of this piece of music. The composer's name is Andrew P. MacDonald and he is from Calgary. The inspiration for his symphony was derived in part from the events of 9/11 and also from a painting which he viewed by a Canadian artist. He named his symphony, "The Red Guru". Andrew describes his feeling and emotions about the events of 9/11 and the aftermath. Ofcourse, all of his feelings and emotions are portrayed in symphonic/musical format. This symphony is very different from all other symphonic music which I have heard and experienced. It is very unique and original in sound and texture. There was alot of percussion used......tubular bells, timpani, kettle drums, snare drum, cymbals, piano, wood blocks, and cow bells. Ofcourse, the string, horn, and woodwind sections were also very present.
Part I is called Devastation and Grief.
Part II is called Fear and Reconciliation.
Power, Intensity, Fear, and Drama are the hallmarks of this new symphony which was beautifully performed by this fine orchestra.
Carlos Miguel Prieto was the conductor.

The second part of the evening was an opera which was written in the 1930's by Carl Orff. The name of this opera is "Carmina Burana".
Carlos Miguel Prieto was the conductor.
Catherine May, the soprano.
Benoit Boutet, the tenor.
Peter McGillivray, the baritone.
With this opera, not only did we have the entire orchestra performing, we also had the mighty Calgary Philharmonic Chorus singing their hearts out. This chorus is a very well tuned group of singers who have honed their operatic voices very beautifully. This piece of wonderous opera ran for about 62 minutes continuously.
Very dramatic and powerful. Thickly layered and textured was this performance. There was sound upon sound upon sound coming at different levels of intensity and from different parts of the stage. It was very spectacular to listen to.
A 15 minute standing ovation after the grande finale was well deserved.

So, once again, the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra poured its heart out and delivered two supreme performances.....BRAVO !!!!!!!

 

I had the honor and privelege of hearing and watching a master at work last night at the Jack Singer Concert Hall. Master musician and sitarist from India, Ravi Shankar, along with his daughter Anoushka who also played sitar, and three other musicians of which one played the tablas at spectaclular levels of speed and precision, put on a very intense and entertaining show to a full house on Saturday night.

Ravi Shankar has been awarded many doctorate degrees from various universities throughout the world for his unbridled love for sitar and Indian music.

He is called the ambassador of peace, love, and music.

Incredible show !!!!!

 

classical music is definatley amazing. i went to my first show at the orpheum lastnight to see the vancouver symphony and it was pretty intense. i cant remember the ladies name but they had a uk precussionist playing a marumba (sp?) for the first part of the show, then she did this amazing piece on the vibraphone afterwards. then for the last part of the show they played this 4 movement piece by elgar that was pretty deadly. it was a very cool experience, makes me want to go buy some classical cd's again.

 

The Wonder of Chopin is the title of this show.

The Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra with conductor, Yannick Nezet Seguin.

Piano: Angela Hewitt.

The 1st part of the show was a symphony written by German composer Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826). His overture, Der Freischitz, which is 9 minutes in length was played with only the string section of the orchestra. The basic theme of this overture is the triumph of light over darkness.

The 2nd part of the show consisted of Angela Hewitt playing Polish born, Fryderyk Chopin's(1810-1849) piano concerto no.1, opus 11, in the key of E minor. It is 35 minutes in length. Angela performed wondefully on the piano and the accompaniment by the orchestra was fantastic. This piece is divided into 3 movements: Allegro maestoso, Romanze Larghetto and Rondo Vivace.

The 3rd and last part of the show was the orchestra doing Austrian born composer Anton Bruckner's(1824-1896) Symphony no. 4 in E flat major. It is 60 minutes in length and is divided into 4 movements. There are musical peaks and valleys galore in this exuberant symphony. This symphony and all of his other symphonies are all deeply rooted in his deep and abiding faith in God. This symphony is very powerful in sound and very exciting to listen to live. I am sure it must be exciting to listen to it on cd as well.

A wonderful performance by the orchestra, the conductor and Angela Hewitt.

 

Bernardi's Vienna was the title of the show.

Mario Bernardi was the conductor and the 2 great symphonies presented by the CPO on the night of Nov.4th were written by composers who lived most of their lives in Vienna.

The first part of the show was the very beautiful Symphony no.6, opus 68, F Major by Ludwig van Beethoven(1770-1827). He named this symphony the "Pastoral". The word "pastoral" means pastures, countryside, away from the city. While living in Vienna, Beethoven would daily take walks in the countryside near where he lived to meditate and think his deepest thoughts. He had a great, enduring love for nature. His Symphony no.6 was his way of showing to the world how much he enjoyed his walks in the countryside. Beethoven's orchestration is very deep and rich in this symphony. He paints a very colorful picture of the countryside with the use of all the instruments in an orchestra. While listening to the CPO playing this symphony, it was easy for me to detect the sounds of birds, a flowing stream, the clouds in the sky and a thunderstorm.
Mario Bernardi, who is now 75yrs of age, did a wonderful job directing the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra to paint a vivid picture of the countryside as Beethoven would have seen it himself.

The second part of the show was the Mass no.5 in A flat Major, by Franz Schubert(1797-1828), who lived all of his life in Vienna. This mass was also conducted by Mario Bernardi. This work of musical art is a praise to the Lord Almighty. Schubert, being a fervent Roman Catholic, had composed many bodies of church music. Unlike Beethoven's symphony wich was about the Earth, this symphony is about the Heavens. Included in the production of this mass is the Calgary Philhamronic Orchestra, the Calgary Philharmonic Chorus, soprano Suzie LeBlanc, mezzo Sarah Fryer, tenor Benjamin Butterfield, and bass Gary Relyea.
The combined forces produced ravishing results in the Jack Singer Concert Hall.