Symphonic sounds for summer
You might think that the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, fresh from Canada Day events in Whistler, would be ready for a bit of a break. Well, not yet: the next 10 days have enough planned to amount to an entire July season.
It begins back at the Orpheum on Friday, July 7 with Pokémon: Symphonic Evolutions. Even though it’s not on the radar for many conventional symphony patrons, music for gamers is a very big deal — symphonic music in particular — and you can be sure that Vancouver Pokémoniacs will be out in force. (Note the early start time of 7 p.m.)
Two days later the VSO makes a short road trip to Burnaby for the annual free outdoor program on Sunday, July 9. Most orchestras envy the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s summer home at the Hollywood Bowl, an enormous outdoor space accommodating 18,000 listeners. Well, let’s be frank. Vancouver’s unpredictable summer weather means that a full outdoor season would be courting meteorological disaster. Even so, a much-loved part of July is the VSO’s annual free Deer Lake concert, a real extravaganza that delights thousands. The gently sloping great lawn at the Shadbolt Centre is a bring-your-own-seating proposition, but the outdoor venue is hard to beat. Arrive good and early to stake your claim.
For his playlist, VSO assistant conductor William Rowson will offer a tasting menu of short orchestral sparklers, including violinist Matthew Yip as soloist in Saint-Saëns’s delectable (and sexy!) Havanaise.
Still al fresco (but protected from the worst of the elements) is VSO@Bard the next day, once again with Rowson on the podium. Here the idea is classical repertoire, including Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony and Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto, featuring VSO principal clarinetist Jeanette Jonquil, with some post-classical written-in encores. There is only one Bard program on Monday, July 10 at 7:30 p.m. at the big Bard tent at Vanier Park.
Then for a grand finale to a sound-filled July, the VSO’s latest Harry Potter film-and-music concerts: three performances of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban™ on July 13, 14 and 15. The addictive magic of the books notwithstanding, the movies have particular appeal for fans of orchestral wizardry: great symphonic scores by John Williams. Here the VSO demonstrates that it is well ahead of a trend. These days film/live-music events are a part of any savvy orchestra’s bag of tricks, an increasingly popular alternative to old-school pops concerts.