Orquesta Sinfonica de Yucatan - Part Deux

The symphony came to Progreso tonight so a bunch of us went down to see it. It was held at Iglesia de la Purisma Concepcion y San Jose church beside the main square and, like so many events in Yucatan, it was free to attend.

It was just as fantastic as it was the other day. They played different music that I actually enjoyed more. Considering I know next to zip about classical music, this surprised me. Most of it sounds the same to me. That doesn't mean I don't enjoy it on occasion, though.

The last song on the program was a piece called Solamente una vez, written by Agustin Lara from Tlacotalpan, Mexico. The conductor, Mtro. Luis Luna Guarneros sang while the orchestra played without his guidance. My goodness. Dude can sing! Part way through, he invited the audience to join him so I'm guessing it's a well known song.

For the encore, they played a fun, toe-tapping song with a definite Latin tone. The conductor invited us to clap our hands so we did. How can you not when it's such lively music?

In unrelated news, we had our massage gal in this morning. Soooooo wonderful. We close the front door for privacy when she's here, so there's not much air flow. Unfortunately, the power went off which meant the fan stopped. Poor Sachi was starting to sweat. But luckily it wasn't out for too long so she was able to cool off some.

We've had a massive amount of snow back home, so my readers from there won't be too happy when I say it was hotter than Blue Blazes today. The local online weather site said it was 37C and that it's to be the same tomorrow. My kind of weather!

Orquesta Sinfonica de Yucatan

Neighbour C was given a couple of tickets to the symphony, Orquesta Sinfonica de Yucatan, and she invited me to go with her since her husband was involved in something else today.

We only knew that it was at the Teatro Peon Contreras, near the Plaza Grande. We had no idea where it actually was.

We inadvertantly got off the Autoprogreso before getting to the depot. Several people in front of us got off the bus so we thought we all had to. Um...nope. So we had to ask for directions to the theatre. We'd go a couple of blocks and then ask someone else. Then a couple more and ask again until we got there.

The show was magnificent! The music was mesmerizing. I felt like I was in a trance that wanted to put me to sleep. Not because it was boring but because it transported me to another place where the music could only be fully felt without the cumberance of being awake. It's hard to explain.

We had a great seat but, honestly, there aren't any bad seats.

When Alina Komissarova, the violin soloist, came out to do her encore, there was a little girl of about 5 dancing in the back,  right hand corner of the stage. Just as I got my camera focused on her and was about to snap the photo, someone backstage called her off the stage. She was adorable and I was excited at the prospect of capturing her enjoyment and obliviousness to where she was. Ah, well.

The lady in the centre of this pic has the most beautiful white hair. She was sitting in the middle of the orchestra and there seemed to be a light shining right down on her. She's surrounded by a sea of long, black sleeves which made her stand out all the more. Unfortunately, my camera didn't capture the scene the way my eyes saw it.

 

Here's a view of one side of the auditorium. (And look at this. Blogger has decided my type needs to be centered. I have no idea how to fix this. Sorry.)

 

 

The chandelier. Isn't it stunning?! It looks like it's about 10 feet from top to bottom. We were told that it can be lowered in order to change the light bulbs.

 

 

The lobby.

 

 

Looking up from the landing where the flowers are.

 

 

Stained glass on the ceiling. It's flanked by two medallions, one of which you can see.

 

 

It's a lovely old building, built between 1900 and 1908. You just don't see architectural details like these anymore.

 

I thoroughly enjoyed the symphony and I hope to attend more events.