River City Writer

The crowd shuffles in. A letter from the mayor regarding ESO conductor Bill Eddins’ tendency to shake his ass while conducting is read. It is, of course, a letter praising what Eddins has done for music in Edmonton (which is that he’s made it more vibrant that ever). Laughter ensues.

Eddins himself walks out. Applause. And we’re into the first piece of the evening.

West Side Story…complete with finger-snapping, but minus the highly-trained dancing gang members. I’ve got to say, I much prefer this symphonic version to the campy musical theatre version of the song, but it does feel weird to have no pirouetting Sharks and Jets stabbing each other with perfect choreography as the song reaches one of it’s dramatic peaks.

Suggestion: split the symphony in half. One side, the Sharks; the other side, the Jets. Knives replaced with cellos and trombones. It’d be a musical disaster, but it might do something to get Edmontonians more interested in the symphony.

Of course, I’m kidding. Despite what the cynics will tell you, Edmonton is an art’s city. From up here in the press box, I can see that most of the seats are filled. This city does love it’s symphony (a little too much, perhaps, given our inclination to every performance and standing ovation).

For those who’ve never seen or heard the ESO perform, the good things people tend to say about them are true. If you have any doubt about their ability to draw a crowd into the music, come to the Winspear and get a seat in one of the balconies. You’ll see the way people lean forward in their seats, even before the first piece is finished, to catch every note.

Even folks like me, who have a rather short attention span, will be completely enraptured and taken in my the quality of the performance (and the famous Winspear acoustics). Even as I try to write this blog entry, I find myself drawn into the music, distracted from the glowing screen in front of me. Given that I may have a minor case of “Internet addiction,” this is no small feat.

And, as this symphonic gang fight wraps up, let’s call that “Dispatch #1.”