Four Bottles of Prosecco, Four Seasons, and a Photo Shoot

TL;DR:

• I attended Early Music Vancouver’s production of Monteverdi’s Orfeo
• I also attended and helped with EMV’s production of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons
• I assisted with an EMV photo shoot

New and Improved

• Added Baked Pork Chop Rice Review section

Life Update

(There are two ‘concert reviews’ here, but I’m not labelling them as such since I helped with them in some capacity, and as such can’t give an unbiased review. Expect actual concert reviews to be their own section in the future.)

Since I didn’t get the chance to share it in last week’s post, I went to watch the fireworks downtown after work on July 31st. The lack of audible backing music (there was only one place it was being broadcast from, and I wasn’t sitting near it) made the experience far worse than previous years’, even though the fireworks display itself was of comparable quality. Since the fireworks were funded by the city this year rather than by a corporate sponsor like previous times, this entire experience made me feel like I was watching my tax dollars being incinerated right in front of my eyes (which is technically accurate, but still…). At least I managed to catch an Early Music Vancouver ad at a bus stop on the way home.

I had a day off from work on August 1st, so I went to Tsawwassen Mills to unwind. I was originally planning to go to an event somewhere else in Tsawwassen itself, but I ended up not going since it wasn’t close to Tsawwassen Mills.

The 2nd was a whirlwind of a day. It began with a routine resupply trip for the last performance of Orfeo, but shortly after I finished setting upat the Chan Centre, I needed to head out in the middle of my lunch and buy four bottles of prosecco at the nearest liquor store for post-opera cast celebrations. Thankfully, I was able to get there quite quickly on foot, and returned shortly before the show started with what I needed. However, it appears my purchase was rather unusual, as upon presenting the four bottles at checkout, the liquor store’s cashier exclaimed: “Holy shit!”

My response? “It’s for work.”

Believe it or not, Early Music Vancouver’s production of Monteverdi’s Orfeo was my first-ever opera. Somehow, this music student never found an opportune time to watch one before, but I’m proud to say my first time was just as magical as I expected, especially since it was at (what is widely considered to be) the first proper opera.

Having a front-row seat close to the orchestra pit (and the sackbut section in particular), I was able to fully indulge in Moteverdi’s innovative (for his time) use of harmonies, along with some colourful instrumentation. While I could wax lyrical about the music for hours on end, there were other aspects of the production that I really enjoyed as well.

The most obvious part was the cast’s physicality on stage, especially with the way they expressed themselves through their body language, dancing, and other gestures no matter a scene’s mood, and no one embodied this better than Marc Mauillon as Orfeo. Whenever he was on stage, I was entranced by the way he carried himself and interpreted the myriad emotions Orfeo feels with his actions throughout the opera, be it joy, sorrow, or hope.

Another aspect I liked were the simple yet striking costuming decisions, with the ‘mortals’ wearing simple tunics and pants, while the ‘supernatural’ characters wore more elaborate dresses and robes. Furthermore, the (possibly?) Renaissance-era paintings used as background visuals really left an impression on me, though I’ll definitely need to ask around for their source later on.

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, and I had to immediately help with striking the stage after the opera was over. Once the instruments were packed away, I had to help transport them and other supplies between the Chan Centre, EMV’s office, and Grace Vancouver Church for future rehearsals. This process took three hours in total, and I had to help move an organ, two harpsichords, and a whole host of refreshments and other stage supplies in the process.

In contrast, all I needed to do on the 3rd was help set up Grace Vancouver Church for rehearsals, and got a rundown of the building’s entry procedures for later on in the week.

The 4th was the longest day I spent at work, since I first needed to be on standby during the rehearsal of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons at Grace Vancouver Church, before walking over to the EMV office to mainly be on standby for another rehearsal. While I didn’t hear the entirety of the Four Seasons during its rehearsal, I really enjoyed the movements they did, especially since the usage of historical instruments made the piece feel more primal and guttural. This made it sound akin to an actual force of nature, rather than the gentle elegance of most modern renditions. At the office, I also helped answer a phone call and locked it up after a moving team came to pick up a fortepiano.

My UK study visa was approved as well, but there were still a few things I was only able to finalize once I returned home and had access to my passport.

My schedule on the 5th was similar to the first half of the previous day’s, with the main difference being I had to stay until the end of the rehearsal at Grace Vancouver Church to lock it up. I also helped buy a coffee for one of the performers before rehearsal started.

On the 6th, I helped print some sheet music at Staples for the Four Seasons concert’s encore. While the sheet music itself ultimately didn’t have any problems, the printer I was using crashed midway through my order, and I had to wait until it refunded before I got my deposit back and could continue printing. The rehearsal also ended early to accommodate the instruments’ move back to the Chan Centre for the concert, and I needed to help reset the church back to its original state once everything was gone.

Before the Four Seasons concert on the 7th, I helped with the Pacific Baroque Orchestra’s (EMV’s ‘in-house band’) photo shoot in the forested area outside the Chan Centre, mainly by moving equipment and props around. Contrary to everyone’s expectations, the photo shoot went rather smoothly, and everyone had a good time. During the PBO’s dress rehearsal, I also had to quickly help a musician retrieve their phone from the nearby law building.

The Four Seasons concert itself featured guest solo violinist Rachel Podger, and she was a delight to experience with or without her violin. Not only did the PBO under her direction as ‘concertmaster’ (there was no actual conductor) truly bring the four seasons to life through music, her body language and facial expressions added another layer to her overall performance, charming the audience all throughout the concert. While the PBO itself lost some of the ‘primal’ sound I heard back at the church, since the Chan’s acoustics and larger size meant their sound could resonate even more, this didn’t mean they lost their character at all. In fact, from a historical standpoint, I’d even go as far to argue that this is how The Four Seasons should be heard.

What enhanced the performance even more were the short descriptive poems that were read before each season, along with the arias interspersed between them. The poems reinforce each season’s imagery and provide some context, while the arias were perfect breathers for the orchestra. However, one small thing that bothered me was that all of the concert’s music were Vivaldi’s compositions (including the arias sang in Italian) except for a Handel aria sang in German in the middle of it all, which threw me in for a loop. At least its interpretation was consistent with the rest of the concert.

And with that, aside from one final task next week, I am officially done with my job as EMV’s Summer Production Assistant! It was honestly an amazing time working for them in this capacity, and I hope that our paths can cross again in the future!

If anyone from EMV is reading this, please program more sackbut music. Thanks!

Baked Pork Chop Rice Review

In this section, I’ll be reviewing different restaurants’ takes on my favourite dish - baked pork chop rice. For those of you who don’t know what it is, baked pork chop rice is a Hong Kong dish comprised of a pork chop on top of rice, which is then covered in tomato sauce and cheese before being baked. The result is a gooey and juicy dish that’s bound to leave you stuffed, and it’s been my to-go meal at almost every place that serves it since I was young. While I’ve been keeping a mental scoreboard of every place I’ve had baked pork chop rice at, I thought putting it here would be a fun and unique section of blog, so expect more of it in the future.

My first review will be for the lobster sauce baked pork chop rice I ate at Tsawwassen Mills’ Cha Don on the 1st, which opened not too long ago. Even though they also serve regular baked pork chop rice, this was a variant I had never seen before, so I decided to try it out.

Sauce: 3/5 - The use of a creamy lobster-based sauce is certainly different than the usual tomato sauce, though at least it did taste like lobster. Unfortunately, there was a bit too much of it, so it made the rest of the dish feel like a soup at times.

Rice: 2/5 - Insufficiently fried, giving it a grainy yet mushy texture.

Pork chop: 3/5 - Merely pan-fried, though succulent and tender enough.

Additional toppings: 3/5 - Only mushrooms and bits of lobster, though both were rather tasty.

Portion size: 4/5 - Enough to last me for two meals, yet I wasn’t feeling that stuffed for some reason.

Total score and final remarks: 15/25 - This dish fails to meet most of my regular standards for baked pork chop rice, especially in Vancouver, though I did get the lobster (the main reason I deviated from my usual order) I paid an extra $1 for. Assuming their regular baked pork chop rice is more consistent than this experimental dish, I’ll likely be having it the next time I stop by.