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Icing on the cake
Browning, WSO take audience on a musical journey into the world of figure skating
| Source: |
Winnipeg Free Press |
| Date: |
January 18, 2018 |
| Author: |
Laurie Nealin |
Former Canadian figure skating champion Kurt Browning will introduce
WSO audiences to music that inspired iconic figure skating
programs.
OB
The first time figure skating legend Kurt Browning hosted Music of the
Ice, his celebratory heel-click went awry, causing him to tumble off
the conductor's podium and nearly crush a Stradivarius on his way
down.
Recalling that dramatic finale to a 2016 concert with the
Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, Browning noted, "The audience thought it
was part of the show, but it really was NOT!
"I dropped the 18 inches off the platform, twisted my ankle, and
couldn't skate for about five weeks."
Browning said he'll likely forgo that whimsical bit of choreography
this weekend - or at least be more careful - when he appears at
Centennial Concert Hall with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra (WSO) led
by guest conductor Lucas Waldin.
With Music of the Ice, Waldin and host Browning take audiences on a
light-hearted and educational "double excursion" into the music that
inspired iconic figure skating programs, and the stories behind the
celebrated athletes' memorable performances.
"It's a bit of storytelling about the behind-the-scenes of skating, of
my skating - some personal stories - as I introduce each piece,"
explained Browning, the four-time world champion turned ice-show
professional, television commentator and, most recently, stage
performer and raconteur.
Waldin is the mastermind behind the multimedia Music of the Ice
concept. He curated the musical selections and video montages that
accompany the music. As Browning described, Waldin and the WSO are the
cake; he is the icing.
"The audience should anticipate a journey through skating through my
eyes, a journey through the music of skating through the maestro's
eyes and the symphony. The story is told not through a small speaker
on your TV set, but through a symphony orchestra."
Browning's friend Geoffrey Tyler also brings vocals and dance to the
mix.
The music the trio chose for the concert could be considered figure
skating's greatest hits - pieces that will bring back memories for
many in the audience. Think Battle of the Brians from the 1988 Calgary
Olympics, when Canadian Brian Orser lit it up to Sing, Sing, Sing
(With a Swing), written by Louis Prima and made famous by Benny
Goodman; and British ice dancers Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean's
1984 masterpiece set to Ravel's Bolero.
More recent recollections include Canadian figure skaters' medal
winning programs from the 2010 Vancouver Olympics - Joannie Rochette's
tango to La cumparsita by Rodriguez and Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir's
Adagietto from Mahler's Fifth Symphony.
"The music's all related to skating somehow, some way," Browning
said. "Sometimes we just chose a fun piece like Phantom of the Night,
which gets used (by skaters) over and over again."
To feature Browning's masterful Casablanca program from 1994, Waldin
reworked the score from the movie to mirror the edited compilation
Browning skated to. (Almost all skaters' program music has been cut to
fit the time limit prescribed for figure skating competition and
pieced together to suit their performance vision.)
As WSO musicians play Waldin's customized version live, the audience
will watch video of a 27-year-old Browning channelling his inner
Bogart on the screen behind the orchestr.
Browning, now 51, has continued to delight audiences as a professional
skater with memorable routines such as Singin' in the Rain. Given the
Centennial Concert Hall is sans ice, he will don in-line skates to
reprise - in a fashion - his Gene Kelly-esque choreography while Tyler
tap dances alongside.
As Canada's current generation of elite figure skaters begin the final
countdown to the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics, Browning hopes Music of
the Ice will spark renewed interest in the Games' glamour sport and
its wonderfully diverse soundtrack.
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