Last night Anna (our daughter) and I attended the Regina Symphony Orchestra's final concert of the season, which concluded with a performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony (Ode to Joy). Beth and Joshua (our son) were singing in the Regina Philharmonic Chorus, a choir that primarily exists to sing with the Regina Symphony Orchestra (RSO) when a choral group is needed. It was a very satisfying concert, and it was a joy to watch people I know performing in the orchestra and singing in the choir - especially during the Beethoven Symphony. I was pleasantly surprised that Anna enjoyed the concert as well, commenting positively (without prompting) during the intermission about the Viola Concerto composed (and performed by) the principal violist for the RSO. This grand finale (what else can you call a performance of Beethoven's Ninth?) was appropriate for this season, which is the RSO's Centennial Season. Believe it or not, Regina has is Canada’s oldest continuously performing orchestra (other orchestras like the Montreal or Toronto Symphony Orchestras may have started earlier, but there were gaps in their existence). So there on stage were my wife and son, members of my congregation like Marlene Betker, Amy, Erin & Karla Hillis, as well as other folks I know from music or church circles - and they were producing this glorious music - what a thrill! Walking to the van after the concert I was struck with an idea - to try to get to a concert of a famous European orchestra on our trip.
The orchestra that first came to mind was the London Symphony Orchestra (which I discovered from information on their website is only 5 years older than the RSO!) So while still basking in the afterglow of the RSO concert I was sitting at my computer checking out the concert schedule for the LSO. As it turns out one of the few free evenings we have in London the LSO is performing a concert of Ravel and Debussy. I happen to really enjoy the work of these French composers, so I was immediately interested. I called Beth downstairs and checked this option out with her, and she also was interested in attending this concert if tickets were available. So today I went online and purchased some tickets. I was pleasantly surprised to find the LSO concert tickets were quite reasonably priced - we opted for the best seats we could get, and as it turns out we are only paying a little more than we paid for the RSO tickets last night.
As an added bonus there is a free pre-concert performance of Piano Preludes by Debussy. I played a few of those Preludes back in my University days, and I know how tricky they are to master, so I'm looking forward to hearing (and watching) them performed. I also find myself being amused at how the concerts we are hearing throughout Europe are linking together many of the countries we are visiting. So in London we hear music by French composers. In Milan we hear an Italian opera based on an English poet's play. In Oxford we hear a Danish Boy's Choir perform with the local orchestra works by German composers. In Norway we hear a Danish Jazz Big Band. The only thing missing are some Swedish and Swiss connections (which I could probably find if I looked hard enough).
Thinking back to my only other time in Europe, the Camrose Lutheran College Choir tour in the summer of 1980, I remember attending a concert by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. A bunch of choir members managed to get some cheap seat tickets, and we heard Symphony No. 9 by Dvořák (known as the New World Symphony). That is one of my favourite memories from that European tour almost 30 years ago... and I'm sure that hearing the London Symphony Orchestra may well become one of our favourite memories from this upcoming trip.
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