Dayna's Report



BRUNO AND THE MONTREAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA


    Wednesday, Jan 30th
I arrived in Montreal and went to the hotel. When I got to my room, I turned on the television and there was Bruno with his new short hair. He looked so handsome! He was talking about the OSM concert. I have to tell you that the Quebecois accent is difficult to understand. I decided that it was a good omen that the first thing I saw on Wednesday was Bruno. I knew I would have a good time.


   Thursday, Jan. 31st
Off I go to the Place des Arts to pick up my tickets for both concerts. I didnft want them to be mailed because Ifve had mail lost between Eastern Canada and Los Angeles. I went to Archambault record store and bought a copy of Brunofs very first CD from 1992. It was the only one I didnft have. I wandered around outside for a little while but it was snowing too hard to stay outside.It was only the second time in my life that I had been in the snow, and the first time was not as cold or snowing as hard. I came to the conclusion that I do not like snow. I went back to my hotel late in the afternoon and stayed in for the rest of the day. I wondered about people I knew were flying into Montreal on Thursday for Fridayfs concert.There were a lot of weather delays.



Friday, Feb. 1st 7:00a.m.
     Itfs here! The day of the concert has arrived! Only 13 more hours until show time. Itfs going to be a long day!


    After breakfast, I went back to my hotel room and got ready to go out. The weather report was frightening, below zero temperatures, freezing rain and sleet. I was born and raised in California; there are no words in my vocabulary for this kind of cold weather.
    I went out and across the street to the Complexe Desjardins, which is a shopping mall and office complex, but more importantly is part of the underground city of Montreal. A good way to stay warm and dry. The underground walkway leads directly to the theatre where Bruno will be tonight, which is why I chose the hotel I did. Itfs only 2 blocks from the Place des Arts and I can walk underground almost the entire way.

    I had lunch and wandered around a bit in the mall, then went back outside. It was bitterly cold but no rain at the moment. I walked around St. Catherine Street for a bit before the cold drove me back into the underground. I went over to a coffee bar and had a mocha (chocolate) coffee. As I was sitting there with my coffee, I saw this dark-haired woman go by with a suitcase. She looked at me and smiled and I smiled back. After 30 minutes of so, I went back outside, but the freezing rain and sleet had started again and I went back to my hotel.


    Around 3:00 p.m., the phone rang in my room. It was Judy from Oregon, whom I had been e-mailing back and forth. I had let her know where I was staying and she said she would call me when she got to Montreal. She flew in on Thursday, but due to weather delays, she hadnft arrived until 1:00 a.m. Friday morning. She went to her hotel, but in the morning she found that her hotel was not in a very good section of town. She checked out of her hotel and checked into mine.

     I asked her if she were going to see Anne (from Montreal) at dinner. Anne had organized a dinner for Bruno fans at a restaurant one block from the theatre. Judy and I agreed to meet at 4:45 p.m. and guess what? Judy was the dark-haired woman from the coffee bar! What a coincidence. We went together to the restaurant and found Anne. There were about 10 of us altogether. It was fun to meet other Bruno fans. Sometimes I find that my friends here canft understand my devotion to him or how his voice touches me so deeply. Well, there are Brunofs people and then therefs everybody else.



    Finally! The concert! From where I was sitting, I could see Bruno peeking out from backstage. How handsome he is with his short hair! The Orchestra came out and tuned up. Then the maestro, Simon Leclerc, then there he was! BRUNO!!

    He started by singing a Jacques Brel song called The Old Lovers, then he sang Aime, Sfen Aller, La Manic, Moon Over Madness, Se Rever, Miserere, JfOublie Ma Folie, Let It Be, Bohemian Rhapsody, Itfs Not Unusual and others. I have to find my list. He said that it was a night for fulfilling his fantasies. The first fantasy was singing with the Orchestra, he was very excited and happy.

    After about five songs, he said that his second fantasy was conducting the Orchestra.He took some quick lessons from the maestro, and proceeding to get the most awful sound from the musicians. So he turns around for more instruction. He then starts waving the baton around and the Orchestra starts playing Beethovenfs Fifth Symphony. Bruno is waving the baton, conducting for all hefs worth, while behind him, the maestro is actually conducting. Pretty soon, Bruno looks around and the Maestro stops conducting, only to start again when Bruno isnft looking. By the end, Bruno was dancing on the podium. It was SO funny!

    After a couple of more songs, Brunofs third fantasy involved sitting in the audience and listening to the Orchestra. So he pulls a ticket out of his pocket and said he had to buy a ticket to his own concert in order to listen to the symphony. He got down off the stage; the usher came over and checked his ticket, and led him over to the fourth row. His seat was right in the middle of the audience. He sat with all of us in the audience and listened to Samuel Barberfs Adagio for Strings played by the OSM. It was beautiful.

    He sang so beautifully and looked so handsome and was obviously having a wonderful time, it was just magical. I canft wait for Wednesday night. He sang Let It Be and Bohemian Rhapsody for the encores and then it was time to go. What a night



Saturday, Feb. 2nd
     Judy and I spent the day together. We went to Chinatown and walked around, ate lunch and then went to Old Montreal. The day was absolutely sunny and clear, very beautiful, but the coldest day yet. When we started walking back from the old city, it was so cold, we have to get a cab to take us back to the hotel. Then we went back across the street to the shopping mall to the record store, and then ate dinner. Back at the hotel, I packed my bags, and then went to Judyfs room. We talked for a while, and then I went back to my room
.

    Sunday, Feb. 3rd
     Au revoir, Bruno!, Au revoir, mes amis! Au revoir, Montreal! Au revoir, cold weather. Back to Los Angeles, where it was 70 degrees and beautiful.







Feb. 2002 with OSM (by Dayna)
Feb. 2002 with OSM (by Judy)


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