A Night At The Symphony

The night following the opening concert of Esprit’s 32nd season, Alex and I were at another symphony’s performance — The London Philharmonic Orchestra and their conductor Vladimir Jurowski, presented by Roy Thomson Hall.

The LPO closed with the monumental Shostakovich Symphony No. 8, one of his three great “war” symphonies. It was the first time we had ever heard it live and it was an absolutely shocking and stunning revelation — a huge and dramatic piece which moves you through emotions from the greatest human anguish, through grimness and despair, finally resolving in peace and tranquility.

The orchestra played with enormous depth and power. It is a massive piece, clocking in at almost an hour. By the end you have experienced a full range of emotions. We were exhilarated and emotionally exhausted.

While we were leaving the hall we were surprised to bump into two longtime Esprit supporters who were at the Esprit POLARIS concert the previous night.  They told Alex how much they loved every piece on Esprit’s concert and how meaningful the experience was for them.

Two wonderful back-to-back nights out at the symphony. Breathtaking!

(Photo: Alex with Dr. Estera Bekier and Wodek Szemberg, producer of TVO's program, The Agenda.)

– Alexina Louie