No one can blame you for wishing you could play in The Florida Orchestra. Because who gets to back up Sting and take part in a rare stage appearance from Rick Steves in the same year?
America’s best-known tour guide—in front of a very sold-out Saturday matinee Mahaffey Theater crowd comprised mostly of boomers—provided narration between seven classical European pieces (and one “America, The Beautiful” opener) about each song’s historical folklore, respective composers, and even a little bit about how things were in each country at the time of composition.
The 68-year-old would discussed themes of romanticism and nationalism as soon as he joined maestro Michael Francis and the Orchestra onstage at St. Pete’s Mahaffey Theater.
“These are the ‘ism’s’ of the 19th century, and one thing they have in common is this fundamental yearning for freedom,” he explained. For the first half of each piece, footage of whatever country was aligned to what was being performed at that moment would roll, as well as a few shots of artwork from that era (a topic largely discussed in the latest, 12th season of PBS’ “Rick Steve’s Europe”).
Another goal Steves had was to dig deep enough to prove how the “patriotic goosebumps” he gained while sitting stage right during “America, The Beautiful” are obtainable through other music across the world. “Every country has their Star-Spangled Banner, their Aaron Coplands, and their John Philip Sousas,” he added.
Sure enough, the orchestra got through classical pieces from across Europe from the latter half of the 19th century, from countries such as Austria (Johann Strauss II’s “Emperor Waltz”), Germany (Richard Wagner’s “Siegfried’s Rhine Journey”), and the Czech Republic (Bedrich Smetana’s “Vltava”).
The nationalistic side of the show (not in the way you would think) came after a 15-minute intermission, with some wider known compositions (“Pomp and Circumstance,” “Ode To Joy”), and once all eight pieces had been run through, Steves made his way to the lobby to sign pamphlets and talk travel.
Scroll down to view images
