In case you're wondering about the title... No, the Festival hasn't hit the half-century mark yet, but the featured performers of the second night certainly have. Originally invited in 2000, to celebrate the ensemble's 50th anniversary, the Canadian Brass took the stage on Monday to celebrate what Festival Artistic Director James Campbell called their "fifty plus two anniversary."
We've come to take for granted the musical excellence and sheer entertainment value of every Canadian Brass performance. We really shouldn't. It takes many hours of practice to master some of the more complex bits of comic shtick, and the intricacy found in several of the musical selections also calls for regular practice to keep up to the mark. The there's the whole question of comic timing in the verbal interludes between musical numbers.
In short, the Canadian Brass take some very highly skilled musical and theatrical work and make it all look as if they just tossed it over their shoulders on the way to the hall. That, in itself, is a considerable achievement. Nor is that all. These five skilled musicians also have an enviable ability to take some very old and familiar comical set pieces and give them a fresh spin in every performance.
The actual musical numbers performed ran the gamut in time from the baroque to the twentieth century, from Monteverdi to Piazzolla. Styles of music varied widely, too -- the high-energy trumpet acrobatics of Vivaldi were set in enormous contrast to a gently meditative portrayal of New York's Central Park in the early morning.
The comic bits included such classic favourites as the coy display of the Canadian Brass socks inside of white running shoes (the group's signature look), and the tuba player's 360-degree rotation of his instrument while playing.
That last-mentioned routine is a real showpiece for Charles Daellenbach, the one member of the original ensemble of five from 1970 who is still playing with the group 52 years later.
Although the Festival of the Sound is selling the Stockey Centre well below capacity to reduce crowding in lobbies and public spaces, the available seats were all sold for this concert and the Canadian Brass gave full measure in quantity and quality to their enthusiastic audience.
Due to the popularity of this concert, the musicians agreed to have a one-time-only recorded video of the event shown over the internet. This will be streamed on Wednesday, August 3 at 7:30 pm. Tickets for the streaming of the video recording can be purchased in advance from the box office page at the Festival's website:
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