We were so excited about visiting the Roy Thomson Hall to see the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, lovely to see the CN tower in the background as we approached the entrance. Downtown Toronto is very special, vibrant and lively at night.
Some of the wonderful events taking place in 2016, so much to look forward to, if we can make it, would love to attend the Mozart concert.
The building is warm and inviting, as were the staff, great design and so airy. I was told by one lady that seeing this place in the daytime is a very different experience because of the glass that surrounds this building, especially when the sun is shining, apparently it is dynamic. I suppose we will need to make another visit.
Below, is my favourite part of the building, I love the curves, the mirrors, the clean design, the lighting, and the way your eyes are initially deceived by the escalator…is it really there?
A chance to have a group photo was welcome, unfortunately, my wife’s niece on the far left, just cannot keep her eyes open when photos are being taken…can you believe it, there were three photos taken here and this was the best one!
As we entered the auditorium, the orchestra were slowly warming up for the evenings performance of ‘Symphonie Fantastique’…
I requested them to look sophisticated, well, at least two of them tried while the other did her utmost best to keep her eyes open, bravo!
There is a legend called “The Swan of Tuonela”. There is a shaman and warrior, who is the central figure, the hero of Kavela, called Lemminkäinen.
He cannot resist and falls in love. The queen of the bleak realm of Pohjola, Louhi, has a beautiful daughter and she is the focus of his love. Her daughters hand is promised to him by Louhi, only if can locate and bring back the lifeless body of the swan of Tuonela. Can he do it?
Lemminkäinen rises to the challenge to receive the hand of Louhi’s daughter and sets out on a long and difficult journey.
He gets to the underworld and finds the magic swan, remembering he needs to bring the body back and preparing to kill the swan, a divine sounding song, a song of haunting beauty is sung by the swan.
Lemminkäinen is so affected by the haunting song of the swan that he cannot carry out the act of killing the swan.
While he hesitates and reconsiders what he should do, the gods of the underworld spot him and become so upset with the fact that he is potentially going to harm the swan, that they send out a watersnake, a poisonous watersnake to attack him, to bite him and end any threat. Despite trying to apply a shaman spell to rid himself of the venom after being bitten, Lemminkäinen, in the river of death, breathes his last.
Yep, we had to have a selfie at the end of this lovely evening , it was a fantastic evening and I highly recommend if you have the chance, to just sit back, relax and let your senses be entertained by so much wonderful skill and talent from the orchestra was a very nice treat.
