I managed to continue the musical madness on Monday evening, by driving in to Vancouver in time to catch the VSO concert at the Orpheum. I always thought that Vancouver pulled off a real coup when they recruited Bramwell Tovey from the Winnipeg Symphony to be their conductor. He is not only very funny with a microphone in his hands, he is a very amazing conductor with a baton in his hands.

Monday night was no exception. The concert got started a little late because there were busloads of students who came to the concert. [Tip to Symphonies: if you have empty seats, make a deal with schools whereby they use some of their school buses and bring a bunch of students and a couple of chaperones to your hall — the kids seem to like dressing up and they make for a very enthused and attentive audience.]

Once underway the atmosphere became very electric with the playing of Higgins “Velocity”. I can’t really describe this piece except to say that it was different. Yet it showed off a great deal of the talent in the VSO and was rather intriguing in its overall impact. I was not unimpressed.

Then out came James Ehnes, a virtuoso violin player who I’ve seen and heard on several occasions. He is simply very good. On Monday though he surprised me at least by carrying a viola onto the stage. He then set out, in incredible sync with the orchestra, to play Walton’s “Viola Concerto”. Bramwell got the best out of James and the VSO. There was real connection between the artist and the conductor and the orchestra provided a profoundly rapturous back-up. Had the concert ended then, I would have felt that I had received my money’s worth…

After the intermission, with a huge screen in front of us, we were treated to Holst’s “The Planets”. This was an visual/audio performance originally designed and developed for the Houston Symphony. Thus the pictures were stunning and very captivating. The music is very powerful and the marriage of the two made for a surreal experience. The Jupiter section is my favourite and I wasn’t let down — Bramwell took the orchestra to some musical heights, completely in time with the pictures. Again, if they had quit there I would have been content. But they continued right through to the end of the seven movements and the music just kept washing over me while the pictures continued to stun me. It was splendid.

A wonderful evening, capped off by a wee sidebar moment — at the outset, the red wine being served was Red Rooster’s Merlot… delightful…

A second wee aside: if you ever are near an orchestra that intends to play Holst’s Planets with the Houston Symphony’s video show, GO SEE IT, GO EXPERIENCE IT…

g.w.