I love his little explanations. He delicately explains the frenetic sensuality of Mephisto's Waltz and tells us the background behind the Romanian Waltz. But my favourite and the "main event" is Ravel's Bolero. Ravel's Bolero is a catchy and hypnotic piece. He predicted that after hearing it, we would all go home and have the music playing over and over in our heads (yes, it is, actually). (Note that the link I put in is not the VSO)
The Orpheum: I may have mentioned before my regrets about my last trip to Italy. One is that I wish I have bought more leather goods (buttery soft jackets and purses) and the other is that I have not gone to the opera house. Well, I actually have gone to an opera in Rome, it is beautiful, but it is in a church and not in an opera house. The reason I'm bringing it up again is because in going to the Orpheum Theatre, I remembered how much I love the architecture. It is opulent and ornate and feels like being in a different time. I can only imagine (or look in the internet) of how the opera houses in Italy would be (especially La Scalla in Milan).
