“THE FIREBIRD”Last year, the NATIONAL ACADEMY ORCHESTRA’s “Brott Summer Festival” hit a home run with Mussorgsky’s ‘Pictures at an Exhibition’. This year his [and their] Stravinsky Firebird was a multi-dimensional interpretation. Intrinsically, Firebird is an orchestral challenge because of the numerous solo instances. One individual screw-up and the entire attempt fails. Fortunately, the NAO musicians were faultless and the accompanying choreography by Ottawa’s School of Dance under Merrilee Hodgins visually presented the story of the Russian Prince & his birdie. This presentation alone was a Top-Ten shoo-in’ but Brott’s programme added projected works by Maxine Noel that accompanied a new First Nations composition by Malcolm Forsyth. The evening opened with the Beethoven ‘Creatures of Prometheus’ and was vocally interpreted by the incomparable Veronica Tennant who also insightfully revealed the story behind Swan Lake. The musical pas de deux by concertmaster Skazinetsky and the harp of Erica Goodman was a spine-tingling moment. The Canada Council for the Arts contribution to this event was more than a gift; it was an investment
