Tribute to John Griffiths - Regina Symphony Orchestra, Sep22

[katfey]

Saw this nice article on Canada.com. The John Griffiths tribute section is near the middle.
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It was a good night for Goodyear

Kelly-Anne Riess
Special to The Leader-Post


Monday, September 24, 2007


REGINA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Conexus Arts Centre

Saturday

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Pianist Stewart Goodyear wowed the Regina Symphony audience by first playing Sergei Rachmaninoff's "Piano Concerto No. 2" and then Johann Strauss Jr.'s "The Blue Danube" as his encore.

"The Blue Danube" is considered to be the most famous waltz of all time and was featured on the soundtrack of Stanley Kubrick's 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey.

After hearing Goodyear play the intense concerto, which earned him a standing ovation, the audience got a chuckle out of "The Blue Danube," which is a much lighter piece.

Whenever Goodyear is asked to do an encore, "The Blue Danube" is often his choice. He can be seen on YouTube playing Andrei Schultz-Evler's arrangement of the piece.

Goodyear, who trained at Julliard, knows how to please a crowd.

On Saturday, he would sometimes shoot the audience members a look when people laughed or cheered.

When playing the piano concerto, he would slap his hands on his thighs at the end of each movement.

When the 29-year-old had finished playing, he received a marathon round of applause.

After the audience was done clapping, he poked his head out from backstage one last time to see if the crowd would clap again.

RSO conductor Victor Sawa promised the crowd he would have Goodyear back again in the future.

This concert, which kicked off the RSO's 99th season, was dedicated to John Griffiths, who died in July.

Griffiths had been the principal tuba player with the RSO for decades.

Known for his great technical ability, Griffiths had performed all around the world and was the founder of Tuba Christmas in Saskatchewan, which brought together up to 70 tuba players for a fundraising event.

This concert opened strongly with Aaron Copland's "Fanfare for the Common Man," as a tribute to Griffiths.

The RSO horn section, which is often hidden in the back of the orchestra, got to stand on stage alone to play the piece.

Copland's fanfare is one of the most recognizable pieces of American classical music of the 20th century. An excerpt from the fanfare can be heard on the Rolling Stones album Love You Live.

"Fanfare for the Common Man," which was written in 1942, was one of 18 fanfares commissioned by Eugene Goossens, a conductor for the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.

Goossen asked a number of other American composers to write fanfares during the Second World War in an effort to promote feelings of patriotism and national unity.

During the concert, Sawa kept audience members up to date on what was going on at the Roughrider game.

After the intermission, after announcing the last-minute loss to the visiting B.C. Lions, Sawa compared the Riders to the final piece for the night --Jean Sibelius's "Symphony No. 2 in D Major," which has hints of frustration but ultimately leads the listener into having hopes for the future.

© The Leader-Post (Regina) 2007