TSO's Gershwin Highlights

Mom, Dad and I went to see the Toronto Symphony Orchestra's Gershwin Highlights. I was happy because it's been a long time since I've been to a TSO concert, but I was sad because it was the last concert of the season.

Bramwell Tovey was the conductor and he told us lots of jokes while he explained what the songs were about. I laughed so hard when he joked that it took so many years of going to Julliard to play the 'taxi horns' from "An American in Paris".

The concert opened with "Cuban Overture". It was the first time I heard it and it's now one of my favourite songs! It's like the orchestra carries you off to Cuba and the percussion has you dancing all the way there. There is a part where you can feel waves crashing as you listen to the music. I loved it!

They used saxophones in "An American in Paris". We don't see that very often when you go to the orchestra. It's a cool adventure song!

After the Intermission, we got to hear highlights from "Porgy and Bess".
The soloists were amazing and you could understand everything they sang. You didn't even need to read the sur-titles.

There were 5 black soloists who performed with the TSO.
Marquita Lister, soprano (Bess)
Lisa Daltirus, soprano (Serena)
Gwendolyn Brown, contralto (Maria)
Jermaine Smith, tenor (Sporting Life)
Alfred Walker, baritone (Porgy)

I loved Jermaine Smith's singing 'It Ain't Necessarily So'. He's an incredible singer AND he was so acrobatic! I don't know how he could dance the way he did and still sing so wonderfully! That's talent!

I would love to see the full opera someday!