week of Nov. 9 - 15

Carnival in Prague
Simon Streatfeild, conductor
Cenek Vrba, violin

Dvořák: Carnival Overture, op. 92
Smetana: Ma Vlast: Vltava (The Moldau)
Smetana: The Bartered Bride: Three Dances
Smetana: Z Domoviny
Dvořák: Gypsy Songs: No. 4, Songs My Mother Taught Me
Dvořák: Humoresque
Suk: Meditation on the Old Bohemian Chorale Saint Wenceslas, op. 36
Dvořák: Symphonic Variations, op. 78

Saturday, November 15 at 8 pm
Jack Singer Concert Hall

for opera and education program info, click here

Tuesday, Nov. 11 (Remembrance Day)
10-12:30 am rehearsal (Carnival in Prague)

Wednesday, Nov 12
12:15-12:45 Lunch, Learn and Live
(discussion of 'Carnival in Prague' program with Pierre Simard and Simon Streatfeild)
7:30 performance: Calgary Opera's Faust

Thursday, Nov. 13
10:15 am performance: The Orchestra Games
1:15-3:45 pm rehearsal (Carnival in Prague)

Friday, Nov. 14
10-12:30 pm rehearsal (Carnival in Prague)
8 pm performance: Calgary Opera's Faust

Saturday, Nov. 15
10-11 am SMATS (Saturday Morning at the Symphony): "The Art of Strings"
11:05-1:35 pm open rehearsal (Carnival in Prague)
8 pm concert: Carnival in Prague

For our last program before a marathon Beethoven cycle, the CPO has one of our crazy Czech grab-bag concerts. I'm hoping people won't overlook this one, though, since it has some of the interesting music we'll play all year, especially the Dvořák Symphonic Variations. It sounds like Dvořák's take on the Brahms Haydn Variations -- a deceptively simple theme transformed into weird and wondrous new forms, then reconstituted for a stirring finale.

Last Friday's Tchaik 5 with the NACO gave a lot of people new respect for the excellent acoustics in Jack Singer Concert Hall -- with proportionally immense string and wind sections and a sold-out audience, it felt like the room was resonating at its true full capacity. Here's a picture of our bass section, 12 members strong, including the inimitable Joel Quarrington (more on him later!)

l to r: Matt Heller, Theo Chan, Trish Bereti-Reid, Marjolaine Fournier, Vincent Gendron, Sheila Garrett, Murielle Bruneau, Jeff White, Joel Quarrington, Hilda Cowie, Charles Garrett, Graeme Mudd (hidden)