Example Of Essay On Music - The Concert Report

On the evening of December 4, 2015 I attended the live concert performance hosted by Master Showman, Composer and world-renowned violinist, Andre Rieu. The concert even was held at the “3 Arena” (23,000 capacity) in Dublin, Ireland. Andre Rieu has been recognized on many occasions as one of classical music’s greatest performer, conductors, and popularisers. During the entire duration of the classical performance, Rieu was immensely successful in retaining (especially the young generation or non-classical enthusiasts), the attention of the audience by intermissive humour, storytelling, host-to-audience conversation, and a whole lot of promotive dancing/singing along. The concert was extremely entertaining and an exceptionally fun night out to an event of genre, in which I had/have quite minimal knowledge and education in.
The devotedly talented violinist and host brought with him to the show, his very famous and renowned Johann Strauss Orchestra. The orchestra was said to have approximately 50 members/performers permanently on stage during the concert event. The overall complete instrumentation, aside from Rieu himself, included Three Classical Soloist (Female Vocalists “Soprano”) 13 Violins, 5 Cellos, 1 Synthesizer, 1 Oboe, 6 Choir Members, 3 Double bass, 1 Piano, 1 Clarinet/Saxophone, 2 Flutes, 4 Violas, 3 Percussionists/kettledrums, 1 Accordion/bass trombone, 1 Saxophone/bassoon, 1 Tuba, 2 Trumpets, 1 Trombone, and 1 Horn. Rieu would commonly begin the introduction of each song on his violin while the orchestra would eventually and gradually back him up to progress into a graduatively full orchestration and supplemental sound.
The concert consisted of exactly 22 musical numbers, including the final encore song. The setlist was performed as follows: Opening No. Seventy-Six Trombones, The Second Waltz, Besame mucho, Nessun Dorma (Tribute to Luciano Pavarotti), Volare, Adieu, Mein Kleiner Gardeoffizier, Chiu Chiu, Cielito Lindo, Amor, Vida de mi Vida, Espana Cani, Oh Fortuna, Strauß & Co, Libiamo, Amazing Grace, Das Ist Die Liebe Der Matrosen, An der schönen blauen Donau, Ode an die Freude, El Condor Pasa, Irgendwo auf Der Welt, La Vie en Rose, and the encore entitled Marina, Marina. Each individual song had its own personality to it, as the selections were said to have been made by the composer himself from a list of old classics in which he enjoyed either listening to growing up, heard during his younger day travels, simply world classics, etc. Therefore it was splendid to have a wide variety of international and ethnic numbers that everyone in the audience and around the world could enjoy.
The concert had a wide variety of dynamics, tempos, and moods to it, which ultimately in my opinion made it more appealing than ever. For example, his opening Number entitled Seventy-Six Trombones had a forte dynamic with the entire orchestra playing all at once while the crown welcomed the musicians on stage. The song was very upbeat and joyful while many groups of individuals were happily leaving their seats and dancing to the music within the isles. It must be said that the most common element of dynamics during the duration of the event was Rieu’s crescendo use which lead through almost every song on the setlist. However some of the songs that were generally Pianissimo and piano took a full orchestration approach however the songs volume gradually increased by means of everyone simply playing louder and louder as a group, all at the same time leaving out no orchestral members or vocalists (when necessary).
The diversity of the concert and its overall mood was very diverse. This was a beautiful element of the concert as it literally had its ups and downs in tempo, mood and dynamics. Some of the slow and sad songs such as Vida de mi Vida, An der schönen blauen Donau Blue Danube, and Amazing Grace, had audience members in tears as the beauty, serenity, and tranquil composure echoed throughout the Amphitheatre. On another note it was outstandingly intriguing to hear classical numbers in which many of us hear numerous times in our everyday lives, yet we never stop to question of its classical origins, a few examples of this being: La Vie en Rose (which I recognized from a Travel; Paris, France Commercial), Ode an die Freude (Ludwig van Beethovens “Ode To Joy”) from the “Drink Milk, Love Life!” commercial ad from the late 90’s I remember hearing over and over again, and An der schönen blauen Donau which is a world renowned composition recognized by many in North America as the plane landing scene in the Stanley Kubrick 2001 film: A Space Odyssey as well as the main theme commonly played at midnight sharp on new year’s; simply to name a few.
The entire concert seemingly went perfectly as rehearsed and planned as from a common spectators point of view as my own, the musicians and Andre Rieu himself sounded, spoke and acted spot on as the thankfully the entire show ran outstandingly smoothly. His orchestra is made up of exceptional musicians who should be given lots of credit for their skill, patience, mastery, attention to detail, perfection, perseverance, and timeliness. Andre Rieu was exceedingly kind and devoted to his audience members by constantly thanking them for joining him and the others during the evening. He was completely engaged by asking everyone to sing and dance along during certain numbers, while a few times he stepped of the stage to high five some of the front and second row audience members. This is always something to be severely admired by any celebrity/musician of such high status as it makes one feel as equals, important, and appreciated.
Upon completion of the encore, as all of the orchestra members stood up and bowed all altogether at once, the venue released a large shower of balloons. I had absolutely no complaints and/or dislikes after attending the concert and it has indeed opened up my horizons on classical music and any genre of international music for that matter, as I had not this outlook before attending this live event.
Born André Léon Marie Nicolas Rieu on October 1949, the exceptionally talented conductor and violinist is of French-Dutch ethnicity. Rieu is most famously recognized on an international level for forming the Johann Strauss Orchestra. It is Rieu and his orchestra who have not only attracted the older generation for his supplementary classical and waltz performances, the musician has also obtained quite a large youth-based crowd by turning the act into an international worldwide touring act. The artist stated at his live performance in Dublin that he had begun studying and playing the violin at the very early age of five. From very early on Rieu acquired an indestructible fascination with the orchestra and all of its elements.
Throughout Rieu’s career thus far, he has received honours such as the Order of the Netherlands Lion by the Netherlands, the Knight of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by France, and the Honorary Medal by his native Province of Limburg, which was all displayed on the concert brochure which everyone received upon arrival at the 3 Arena. Other information under his biography included his credential of graduation from the Conservatoire Royal in Liège and the Conservatorium Maastricht from 1967–1973. Rieu also attended and received a degree from the Brussels, Music Academy. It was in 1987 when Rieu formed the Johann Strauss Orchestra alongside his very own production company that is still widely in use today. He is commonly referred to and associated as the master of the waltz revival as we know it. The immensely talented violinist is always very proud to mention that he plays specifically, a 1667 Stradivarius violin. This was mentioned about midway through the live performance as he introduced the orchestra and himself briefly to the audience. Rieu is full of jokes, laughter, fun-filled interaction and some of the most outstanding music I have ever heard in my entire life. I am very grateful that I had a chance to witness such an extraordinary event with extraordinary talented individuals.