Pace on Earth

Peter and the Wolf

Well hello there, it's been awhile. Craiger gave me a pair of tickets to Symphony New Brunswick's Christmas performance on the condition that I write a few words about the experience. I figured if I was writing, I should write here first. So here goes.

Last night I had the pleasure of attending Symphony New Brunswick's Christmas concert which was, in part, their adaptation of Peter and the Wolf. Now, my familiarity with the symphony is limited at best. To me, and most New Brunwicker's I assume, a crescendo is a pizza McCain makes. Nevertheless I am a sucker for live music of any kind so jumped at the chance to take in this show.

What little orchestral music I do know, however, included Peter and the Wolf. We had it on vinyl growing up and although I couldn't have hummed the tune yesterday if prompted when the strings started with Peter's tune it brought back a flood of memories. I remembered that this story made me afraid of both wolves and horn sections.

After a short break the players returned and we were treated to a selection of songs from the Nutcracker. I was again amazed at how much of it I recognized. I was even more amazed, however, with the richness of the sound. I am always impressed when a band of any size can get a big, full sound and make it seem like there are more people on stage then there are. So when the stage actually is full the sound matches it and then some; so intricate. I also still don't know exactly what the conductor does but I do know he's doing something; he was out of breath and sweating at the end of every piece.

I am happy to have had the chance to see the show and bring back all those childhood memories but also to know that there are enough talented musicians in the province to make up a symphony. I especially liked the New Brunswick touch they added to Peter and the Wolf by bringing Lucien in as the narrator. I'm pretty sure of the countless orchestras around the world that have done Peter and the Wolf Symphony NB is the only one that had a Acadian speaking franglais as a narrator. Very fun show and I look forward to seeing the symphony again sometime soon.
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Pace out.

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posted by Vitamin S @ 2:30 p.m.