(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Doha: Just hear those sleigh bells jingling, ring tingle tingling too, so the song goes, did you sing it? That is only one of the songs the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra played in their concert entitled“Winter Wonderland” yesterday at Qatar National Convention Centre (QNCC).
The full house concert was filled with magic as the orchestra played holiday season melody from around the world including Germany, Austria, France and Russia.
Its conductor Alastair Willis told The Peninsula that winter is always a magical time of the year. It's not customary that the country celebrates the holiday season. Willis explained, however, that“I think it's important for us all to know each other's culture. The world is getting smaller through the internet and social media.”
“So it's not about that there's no snow here in Doha or there is no sand where I live in America. I feel that knowing something about people's cultures helps inform who we are and one of the best way to do that is through music,” he explained.
The concert drew attention to audience where Willis engaged them throughout the concert, especially during the last song played which is“Sleigh Ride.” With a gesture beat from the conductor, the audience should clap in tune of the slap stick. For each composition the orchestra is about to play, the conductor also gave an overview of the song and even sometimes posed questions like“What is Hansel and Gretel house made?,” and“Who knows the nutcracker?.”
It is also notable that it is the second year the world is celebrating this season with the COVID-19 pandemic, with this, Willis disclosed that in the last year, it was very difficult,“the world is still struggling. In the winter months, the cases seems to rise and to be able to have had the vaccine, to be able to find ways to play safely, we have found ways to make music happen, and this is so important.”
The guest conductor for 10 years Willis at the orchestra also narrated how music binds us together and how it is important to nurture the soul.
“Music brings us together, it unites us and is important to our soul, to our being. Without it, there will be no life. Music is life for me. It's healing, it helps us connect with feelings, to connect with emotions, and these things have been lost last year. So, to be able to do them again now it means twice as much as it ever did before because we are coming after knowing what it's like about,” he said.
Doing concerts amid the pandemic is an amazing opportunity for musicians, although it is not fully back but back enough.“Our emotions are so strong now because we're able to share this with audience. We are able to help our audience, our communities, our world,” Willis said.
The orchestra played compositions from Engelbert Humperdinck: Hansel & Gretel (Overture) and Knusperwalzer (Crackle-Waltz); Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: German Dances No. 3 (Deutsche Tänze) - Schlittenfahrt K.605; Émile Waldteufel: Les Patineurs, Op.183 (The Skater's Waltz).
Also, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker, Op. 71 in No. 2 March, Arab, Chinese, Spanish and Russian (Trepak) Dance; Patrick Doyle: Harry in Winter from 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire'; Jule Styne: Let It Snow; Leroy Anderson: Sleigh Ride; and Felix Bernard: Winter Wonderland.
It was a standing ovation at the end of the concert, and because of the positive reception from the audience, the orchestra played anew“Sleigh Ride.”
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