A STORY
Posted: Fri Apr 24, 2015 10:17 pm
In the 1970's, a few years before I met the girl I married, I went to a concert at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre with my then GF. The entertainer was an Ivan Rebroff. My GF was given the tickets because she was a singer in a Bach Chamber Choir. I had no idea of what we was going to experience later that evening.
The Lights went down and a double spot light came on and there was this very large man in a Russian costume. The orchestra started to play, paused and Ivan Rebroff started to sing. It was a strong manly voice with terrific control and as he continued to sing Evening Bells his voice dropped into the basement and then suddenly and without warning he soared into the very high notes, this was his signature.
The audience applauded everything he sang and then it was intermission. The lights went down and then came up and there he was, standing at the end of our row of seats. He beckoned to me and said in his commanding tone, " Stand Up." I stood up precisely as I was told. The room of several thousand persons was silent and I could feel some panic raging inside my head. "Come", he said and I obediently stumbled to the isle. He asked, "Can you sing? and I coughed out, "No." He was two meters tall and built like a telephone booth with appendages. "No", he said, "Try this" and he held a note for me to follow. I really tried hard to follow him. He shook my hand and said, "Not too bad, don't forget this moment." The he walked away.
Years went by and suddenly we have You Tube. There he was as big as life. I brought up Evening Bells and while I listened, time melted away and I was carried to a distant place. Sadly, this great singer left us for eternity in 2008.
This is one of my best memories.
https://youtu.be/sZpTWmwOHw0
The Lights went down and a double spot light came on and there was this very large man in a Russian costume. The orchestra started to play, paused and Ivan Rebroff started to sing. It was a strong manly voice with terrific control and as he continued to sing Evening Bells his voice dropped into the basement and then suddenly and without warning he soared into the very high notes, this was his signature.
The audience applauded everything he sang and then it was intermission. The lights went down and then came up and there he was, standing at the end of our row of seats. He beckoned to me and said in his commanding tone, " Stand Up." I stood up precisely as I was told. The room of several thousand persons was silent and I could feel some panic raging inside my head. "Come", he said and I obediently stumbled to the isle. He asked, "Can you sing? and I coughed out, "No." He was two meters tall and built like a telephone booth with appendages. "No", he said, "Try this" and he held a note for me to follow. I really tried hard to follow him. He shook my hand and said, "Not too bad, don't forget this moment." The he walked away.
Years went by and suddenly we have You Tube. There he was as big as life. I brought up Evening Bells and while I listened, time melted away and I was carried to a distant place. Sadly, this great singer left us for eternity in 2008.
This is one of my best memories.
https://youtu.be/sZpTWmwOHw0