Sobeys Symphony Under the Sky (Concert Review)

Last night, I had the privilege of attending the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra’s (ESO) annual Symphony Under the Sky festival. It’s a four day, five concert, outdoor festival that happens every year over the Labour Day long weekend. The ESO’s New Media Specialist, Philip Paschke, was kind enough to provide me with a pair of tickets in exchange for me writing a review of the show.

Sara and I chose Sunday night because it was the most convenient for us both, but it turned out to be a damn good concert to attend. Entitled Simply Sinatra, the entire night was a tribute to the music of Frank Sinatra.

I’m a huge fan of Sinatra, so I was looking forward to seeing what our ESO would do with his music.

In lieu of live blogging the concert, I decided to simply take notes by hand, and write them up later. With that in mind, I present my review of the show, in the form of a time line:

7:00 PM – We’re at start time. The orchestra is just finishing their pre-show warm-up. Conductor Robert Bernhardt had just come on stage. Here we go!

7:03 – Selections from West Side Story: a nice and playful way to start the show. No vocals on this one, but vocalist Steve Lippia will be playing the role of ol’ Frankie Blue Eyes for us tonight.

7:12 – Bernhardt thanks sponsors and volunteers for putting the festival together. A couple of Bullfrog Power frisbees come flying down the hill when it is mentioned that the power company is giving them away. I was unable to secure a frisbee, but I didn’t try particularly hard to get one, so I suppose it’s my own fault.

7:14 – Vocalist Steve Lippia takes the stage and we launch into “I’ve Got the World on a String.” Lippia’s voice is amazing. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear that Sinatra had risen from the dead to sing for us tonight. Zombie Sinatra!

7:16 – “The Best is Yet to Come” comes and goes with style and sophistication.

7:20 – Lippia begins to sing “Witchcraft.” Perhaps he really is Zombie Sinatra?! In all seriousness, this guy is a damn good singer. I’d love to see another show where he’s providing the vocals. Unfortunately, he’s got contracts lined up for the 2009-2010 season with symphonies in Richmond, Buffalo, Fresno, Charlotte, and Phoenix. Edmonton, as you’ve noticed, is not on that list. Alas, I may have to wait a while before I see Mr. Lippia perform live again.

7:24 – Lippia begins with some on-stage banter. Throughout the night, he will continue to entertain with his banter as much as with his singing. So far, he’s proving himself to be a true star, but never tries to remove attention from the ESO. At this point, he also thanks the ESO and Robert Bernhardt.

7:25 – “All the Way.”

7:28 – Lippia says that the arranger is the Rodney Dangerfield of the musical world (he don’t get no respect).

7:29 – “Cheek to Cheek.”

7:35 – The current song is “It Was a Very Good Year” (you know the one: “When I was 17…”). It’s a different arrangement than the original, but it’s damn good. It manages to be very unique while still paying tribute to the original arrangement. This particular arrangement definitely highlights the strengths of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra.

7:40 – “I’ve Got You Under My Skin.”

7:47 – Lippia: Instead of disparaging stuff we don’t like, we should tell the younger generations about music that we do like (i.e., instead of saying, “Rap music? More like crap music!” we should say, “Here’s some music I think is really good. What do you think of this?”). And then the ESO and Lippia jump into “The Way You Look Tonight.”

7:53 – “Send in the Clowns.”

7:57 – “That’s Life.”

INTERMISSION

8:26 PM – “The Lady is a Tramp.”

8:30 – Lippia talks about how flying isn’t what it used to be. People don’t dress up to fly anymore. The airlines don’t treat you like human beings anymore. And that security theatre is so degrading! He then launches into that great Sinatra classic “Come Fly With Me”  (ironically dedicated to US Airways). We’re off to a great start for the second half, and all around me people can’t help but tap their toes and move to the music.

8:38 – “In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning.”

8:43 – Lippia talks a bit about the “Golden Age” of Las Vegas. All of the great music,Louis Prima, Sinatra and the Rat Pack, and more. What a great time that would have been to experience. Great music, a Las Vegas that was still just sketchy enough to seem exciting, and mob guys who probably ran their businesses more honestly than today’s casino executives did.

8:44 – “Fly Me to the Moon” is the next tune in line. Maybe we can’t go back to Vegas in the 1950s, but we can still experience the music that helped to make it what it was.

8:48 – “I Have Dreamed.”

8:51 – It’s another big band number as we jump into “Saturday Night (Is the Loneliest Night of the Week).” Before starting the song, Lippia invited people to come down to area in front of the stage and dance. A decent number of people head down and get swinging. One couple, who I can’t see from where we’re seated, must be damn good, because they’re getting a lot of applause. Nice!

8:55 – Apparently, performing “Lucky Be a Lady” tempted Lady Luck into cursing us, because just as the song starts up, a huge wind storm blows into the amphitheater. The storm that we’d seen rolling in a few minutes earlier has finally struck. But, the ESO and Lippia continue along as if nothing has happened, despite the fact that many people have started to leave.

9:00 – The concert ends with a crescendo of wind and the ultimate Frank Sinatra song: “My Way.” By this point, my notebook was packed away, because I was worried that it was going to start raining, but I can say this: the orchestra and Lippia did an amazing job of making sure that the show went on and ended the way it was meant to, despite the crazy weather and the audience exodus that resulted. I’m glad that Sara and I chose to stay to the end, as it was the perfect way to end an amazing concert.

Sobeys Symphony Under the Sky continues today, with the final concert of the weekend starting this afternoon at 2 PM at the Heritage Amphitheatre in Hawrelak Park. I believe that there are still tickets available for this show. Check out the ESO website for more details.