André Rieu in Ottawa April 18, 2009

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The Ottawa Concert was to be my 19th Andre Rieu and JSO concert. My friends and I scouted out the venue the previous evening as they had never been there and we wanted to make certain that we would have no problemparking. Good plan, because it took nearly an hour to get there from the house.

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As we entered the arena I spotted the souvenir kiosk. I bought a copy of the 30th Anniversary Tour program to add to my collection. It contains the usual photos of the large concerts that they have done in the past, but also included a lot of photos of Andre in his youth and early career, plus a timeline of his life.

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As always, the concert started on time as the sounds of 76 Trombones filled the arena. Andre and the orchestra and choir marched up the two aisles. climbed the steps to the stage and joined in with the music. And as always, the transition from recorded to live music was seamlessand undetectable.

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I was busy taking notes, sending messages via Twitter and taking photos, but I really didn't get into photographing the concert until shortly after the second half. When I decided to concentrate on the pictures. I left my seat to get into a better spot for photography. By the time the balloons were released during Radetzky March I was up front, and I pretty much had that area to myself.

Dan the Bannerman was there. I asked him how many concerts he'd attended and he told me "about 400"!

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You've seen my Twitter messages and observations so I won't duplicate them.

It was good to see Carla back touring with Andre. Andre was in good spirits as was the entire cast, and they were obviously enjoying themselves.

I was disappointed at the small crowd. The Ottawa Citizen columnist estimated the crowd to be about 2500. I would guess it was twice that size, but still not big enough. The audience was appreciative though.

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Kalke from the choir sang the third soprano part. I'd seen her do that in Edmonton once before. I was at the front during Libiamo and when she sang

her solo part it was apparent that she has a fine voice.

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Apparently this was the tenth time they had performed in Ottawa. I would guess that even though the audience was small, they will continue to perform here because logistically it is an easy drive from Toronto to Ottawa and then from Ottawa to Montreal.

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Now I'm looking forward to Maastricht. Can't get enough of this wonderful group of musicians. ~ Al Girard

Below are more of my Ottawa 2009 Photos

All Photos Are The ©Property of Al Girard