Sandra and John Nowlan boarded the luxury ship Crystal Symphony for its Classical Music tour of several Baltic ports.
Perhaps CBC Radio 2 fans, having lost much of their classical music, should take a cruise.
About three dozen Canadians were aboard the luxury ship Crystal Symphony on its recent tour of several Baltic ports. What set the cruise apart, besides a full three days to explore the art, music and history of St. Petersburg, Russia, was its overall theme – Classical Music.
Several outstanding international artists were aboard to give concerts and mingle with the 800 lucky guests throughout the eleven-day Dover to Stockholm cruise. The singers and musicians were invited and organized by Classical Action, a 15 year old New York-based group dedicated to raising awareness and funds to fight HIV and AIDS. The featured performers, well-known to concertgoers worldwide, were mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade and Canadian violinist Leila Josefowicz.
Josefowicz, the 30-year-old Toronto-born virtuoso, made her Carnegie Hall debut at age 16 and has performed concerts with the Toronto Symphony, the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony and the London Symphony, among many others. But never before on a cruise ship.
“It was a totally different experience but I loved it,” she said. “People are here to relax and it’s so easy to play for them in this more casual environment.” Her programme, featuring Brahms and Schubert as well as a delightful version of Charlie Chaplin’s “Smile”, produced rousing ovations and demands for an encore performance later in the week.
Frederica von Stade, one of the world’s best-loved mezzo-sopranos, also made many new friends with her interpretations of Bizet, Ravel and Offenbach. She was accompanied by pianist and composer Jake Heggie who also wrote some of the music von Stade performed.
Len Fenwick of Calgary was among those who chose this cruise for its classical theme. “I’ve always wanted to visit the Baltic,” he said. “But when I learned about the famous artists who’d be aboard, it made the decision easy. I’ve loved the concerts but I can’t wait for the Mozart Tea.” (On each Crystal Cruise, waiters dress in formal 18th century attire while serving High Tea accompanied by a string quartet performing melodies from the Salzburg master).
Several large groups of classical music lovers were aboard Crystal Symphony, one of which was led by Jonathan Palevsky, a Montreal native and Carleton University grad, who is now program director at WBJC, a listener-supported classical music station in Baltimore. “We’ve been sponsoring international music trips for twelve years,” he said. “But this is our first cruise and our first Baltic experience. Leila Josefowicz and Frederica von Stada were huge attractions for us but our stop in Russia for ballet and opera at the Mariinsky Theatre was also very important.”
He added that the three dozen members of his group would have liked even more classical music on the ship (“I’m not a big fan of Broadway show tunes”) but he was ecstatic about the ship and its facilities. “Half the fun is enjoying the fantasy world of a luxury cruise line. Where else can you go and say, ‘I want this to happen’ and – boom – it does? ‘I’d like one of everything on the menu.’ ‘Of course, madam.’ It’s a remarkable environment to be in for a brief period of time. People really enjoy it.”
As Canadians, both Leila Josefowicz and Jonathan Palevsky were concerned about CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) Radio’s move to cut back its classical music. “Classical music is very important but young people don’t fully appreciate it because they don’t hear much of it,” said Josefowicz. “It would be very bad if we minimized the possibility of young people getting to know the music.”
Palevsky added that he couldn’t understand why the CBC is doing this. “In my experience, the fewer formats a radio station has, the more successful it will be. I’ve never seen a station successfully modify its format to attract a younger audience. CBC has a good core audience and should stick with what works.”
Leila Josefowicz continues her busy concert schedule but is now hooked on cruising. “I’d love to be back to perform on another cruise,” she said. “My whole life is about packing and unpacking and repacking. Here you get on this wonderful ship and unpack once. We’re totally pampered with an abundance of different things to see and do.” She laughed as she added the third element. “ And to eat. The food is wonderful.”
John and Sandra Nowlan are freelance travel writers based in Halifax.
Photo Credits
All photos © John and Sandra Nowlan. All Rights Reserved.
Crystal Symphony – Oslo, Norway
Leila Josefowicz
In Concert – Frederica von Stade
Mozart High Tea
On Board Crystal Symphony
Crystal Chefs
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