The publicity announced a concert by the Pacific Baroque Orchestra. We had a pretty good idea of what to expect: settle down in our seats, relax, and let the orchestra play. The music would be serious but tuneful. We would leave feeling entertained, maybe uplifted. A lovely evening.
It started out that way on Friday. The PBO opened with the familiar and popular Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, the centrepiece of the promotional material. There followed some pieces by composers we may or may not have heard of—not unusual for a Baroque orchestra.
It was the last piece before intermission where things began to take an unusual turn. A sing-along at an orchestra performance? To a song none of us had heard before? One composed by an obscure Austrian who lived more than three centuries ago?
The first attempt produced a rather indistinct mumble. The second verse was more confident—the impromptu choir achieved a somewhat recognizable tune. Two more movements by the orchestra put the program back on its traditional course and gave us an opportunity to recover our aplomb before the intermission.
The Boccherini that opened the second half, advertised to be a quintet, turned out to be a sextet that included a drummer who, in his own words at the pre-concert talk, imitated strings that were supposed to imitate drums.
And next—whoever heard of a timpani solo? Ed Reifel’s entertaining introduction gave us an entirely unexpected insight into the world of rock star Baroque timpanists. He then proceeded to wow us with two mallets and two drums.
The final Mozart serenade promised to bring the program to a stately conclusion until the violinist and violist played their alternating parts like two antagonistic duelers. Then someone held his note too long. A pause was stretched seemingly endlessly. A bass player meandered off the score into an improvisation all his own. It was a buttoned-down orchestra throwing off the restraints and having the kind of fun that Mozart would surely have approved of.
Well, that was a program with some twists. But wait—for an encore the musicians struck the opening chords of O Canada. By now ready for anything, we rose and responded with a full-throated rendition of our national anthem.
In that moment, feelings of appreciation for an evening of music and entertainment blended with feelings that captured the mood of our country outside the concert hall. That was perhaps the most unexpected, and the most gratifying, summation of the evening. And that was something that can only happen at a live performance. You had to be there.
John Wiebe - President
The Valley Concert Society