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Oh What A Beautiful Evening
It was a beautiful day and beautiful evening as we made our way to Wilkes-Barre. I never dreamed that a small mining town in the mountains of Pennsylvania would be enjoying the concert of our Maestro André Rieu and yet this first appearance at the Wachovia Center proved to be the highlight of this area. Many wonderful reports have been written by the press and it was evident to all who were there that André conquered the hearts of this small town. We began with a Meet and Greet with three of the JSO Orchestra, Stephanie Detry (Piano), Laura Meuleman (1st Violin) and Diana Morsinkhof (1st Violin) We were served free drinks and spoke with the girls and PBS employees took our photos with the JSO girls and we will receive a copy of the photo in the near future. There was no food present and we heard lots of complaints about this but fortunately we had spoken with PBS the day before and knew they would have drinks only so we stopped at a Red Lobster and had a delicious dinner before the concert. Of course by this time I cannot do justice to any kind of meal but it was good. When the doors opened I immediately hit the André merchandise stand and bought a 30th Anniversary Jacket, T-Shirt, Tote Bag and Key Chain. I really did not need another shirt nor tote bag but you know I just cannot resist. I must have everything with André's face or name on it.
We then made our way to the wonderful seats in the first row, section 3 which was on the left side facing the stage. We had three and four so they were great seats. The two seats beside us went unused so at intermission we and the entire row moved two seats over so that was even better. That 7 to 8 hour goes by mercilessly slow when you are so anxious for the start of the concert. Johann (André's bodyguard) walked by and smiled and said hello. I am sure he remembered us from Reading since we were at the M&G. The familiar strains of "76 Trombones" was suddenly heard and that is when my heart really falls to my stomach as I bolt out of my seat and place myself in position for a photo. I never really get a good photo because my real agenda is the hi-five but this time I noticed André was not doing this so I figured it was because of the flu that is going around and he probably had a big scare with Mirusia getting the flu and being so sick. This is very understandable so I missed number 4. André made his way to the stage and my camera automatically starts clicking as you will see from the slide-show. André had a terrible time pronouncing Wilkes-Barre. He kept calling the town Wilkes Bar. It is pronounced Wilkes (one syllable) and Barry. He had the audience laughing so hard. He asked a few people in the first row where they were from and one man said Mountain Top which is a town nearby. André said "you mean you live on the top of a mountain?" The man said yes so he seemed to go with that name rather than trying to stumble through Wilkes-Barre. He was so funny. I love to see how he pronounces the names of the various towns and cities in which he plays. Sometimes he says "is that in America" which he said Friday night.
I think all of you know the
songs which André performs in concert this year
so I will dispense with the list and just say
that I used my camera to make a movie of songs
like "Intermezzo Sinfonico", "My Heart Will Go
On" and "Song Of The Volga" and of course
"Marina" which I will try to get on the page.
I tried hard to get a movie of "Music, Music"
which I call the party time but when André
started throwing the photos from the stage I
started watching for my chance. Most were going
toward the center and we were off to the side.
But then André looked our way and carefully
aimed at our aisle and this Polaroid came
rolling down toward us and kept going up the
aisle. Well I bolted out of my chair and slid
on my knees and my hands landed right on the
photo. Well that made my evening since I knew
this was our last concert for the year. The
audience was really enthusiastic and André
seemed very pleased. The Tenors received a
standing ovation as did Carla with her doll
song. She does that so well. The only
disappointment was the fact that Mirusia did not
sing a solo and I suspect that her voice was not
up to her usual standard due to the flu. Mirusia
did wave to us during the "My Fair Lady" medley
and I thought that was very nice of her. We had
told her in Reading that we would be there that
night to see her.
This was a great audience
and you could see that André was just feeding
off everyone's energy. They were shouting for
more and he was giving his all as he always
does. The encores ranged from "Libiamo" to
"Lullaby" and he surprised us with "Adieu" and
"Marina" and of course "America The Beautiful"
which everyone sang. It certainly was a
"beautiful evening" to top off a "beautiful
morning".
I thought I would put a
different ending to this concert rather than the
traditional floating out of the concert hall
after the last song. I am using a few of
André's songs to say how I feel.
So dear André it is "Time
To Say Goodbye" until next year. I have taken
your music into my heart in "My Way". You have
brought more joy, peace and even "Romance" into
my life. "All I Ask Of You" is that you
continue to bring your beautiful music into
everyone's life. "I Love You" for the selfless
way you work to make all people happy. I look
forward to the next concert; until then "My
Heart Will Go On".
"Yours Forever"
Jeanine Ann
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