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| - I really wish I could get out to hear these guys more often. I suppose that means that the times I do attend a concert are just extra special these days. This review is based on my CPO concert-going experience spanning 16 years, with some specifics on the last two concerts I attended.
The CPO is truly one of the top orchestras in the country. The group has come a long way since its inception in 1955. Like all world-class orchestras, they offer the staples of concert series: Baroque (the Serenade Series), Classical and Pops. In more recent history, they have added a new music festival, a Tchaikovsky Festival and crowd-pleasing specials like Jeans & Classics, Video Games Live, Bugs Bunny on Broadway and Star Trek. Their Saturday Morning at the Symphony Series is also quite popular.
I attended the Video Games Live 2.0 concert and one of the New Works performances in May. Their website provides a lot of information to help you make your purchase. The Box Office is extremely friendly, efficient and helpful when you need to contact them with a question or group ticket purchase.
The VGL 2.0 concert experience was a blast! They had gaming stations in the lobby, a costume contest, CD's, t-shirts, giveaways, and the Nintendo people were there. Even the Blindfolded Pianist of Youtube fame made an appearance. It was a huge celebration of gaming. Members of the audience came up to play Space Invaders and Guitar Hero. The orchestra played the music to match the players' progress (or lack thereof).
In contrast, the New Works concert was a celebration of our Canadian composers. This was held at the Rozsa Centre. The group looked crowded on stage, but it somehow worked. I loved how the newest cellist waded his way to the front of the stage to make some opening remarks. There are a lot of new, fresh faces in the orchestra and they are giving the CPO a cool, hip vibe.
That's a good thing. Yes, the orchestra needs to sound good, but to attract younger audiences, they also need to exude a bit of that "coolness factor", whether they're playing Bach, Brahms, Alan Gordon Bell or Bugs Bunny.
The artists came out to talk after each performance as well.
Those Hagen-Daaz bars are a great treat too.
Venues are top notch. The Jack Singer Concert Hall has wonderful acoustics. If you're going for sound, there isn't a bad seat in the house. If you want a good view, some seats are better than others. There is a good range of tickets, from dirt cheap to top of the line to meet any budget.
Seating is really good at the Rozsa Centre. It's a smaller facility but everything sounds and looks good in there. It's got a more intimate feel to it as well.
As for the "front of house" environment, they've recently made some updates in the lobby that make traffic flow smoother, but that's the EPCOR Centre's domain so I won't go more into that.
It's really cool that they have orchestra members interacting more with the public with things like SMATS, opening addresses and the Ask a Musician section on their website.
Berthold Auerbach once said that "Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life." Does the CPO deliver on this? Yes they do. They are a dedicated bunch and they play "con molto espressione".
[EDIT: To be absolutely honest, I worked @ CPO a very long time ago. It's been over 12 years ago and I don't know anyone there anymore so I trust that it's safe to review without any conflicts.]
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