PEORIA, IL -- The Vienna Light Orchestra played in Peoria on Nov. 12, with two concerts at the Scottish Rite Theatre. I saw the 4 pm concert which was pleasant and fun though not brilliant.
The show at first consisted of Broadway songs and one from an opera arranged in classical music style for an orchestra of about two dozen, mostly strings. Then it morphed into rock numbers with a great percussion performance, also in classical style.
All this was fun but as a classical fan I noted that these numbers lack the interesting complexity of authentic classical music. These pieces are not the new Beethoven.
The stage was lovely with hundreds of candles at the foot and exciting lighting throughout the show. The orchestra's women, beautifully dressed in sparkling gowns, faced the audience and not the conductor. Two women soloists were very talented. There was a stage set of a house, somewhat inexplicable.
However -- the two hour show was weakened by the lack of paper programs. Who were these talented people? What were the rock numbers? What shows were the pieces from?
When will producers realize they can email programs if they can't afford to print them, and advise audiences to print them along with the e-tickets?
The theatre, recently remodeled, is nice but its side seats left me with a crick in my neck. I will avoid those seats in the future. At least it has free parking and no heavy security like the horrors that plague the Civic Center.
-- Elaine Hopkins
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