Concietro

 

                                                           Dateline Quito Ecuador, 14 de agosto, 2010

Hello mi amigos,

Several nights ago, at the suggestion of my host Gilda, a friend and I attended a concert here in Quito at the national theater.  Gilda had misunderstood the nature of the concert but had provided the correct time and had accurately added that the program was “gratis.”  Leticia and I arrived 20 minutes early, joined the not-so-long line in the plaza in front of TeatroNacional Sucre and enjoyed watching people around us including a child getting a priceless amount of fun batting around a purple balloon in the comfortable air of the evening.

The doors opened on time and the first to enter were the embassy sorts and other dignitaries while we lesser-ranked, everyday folks soon followed.  Since Letty is very familiar with the theater, she quickly steered me to a center seat in the first balcony.  Had el presidente chosen to attend, he and his entourage would have been seated in the box next to ours.

Only as I settled into my seat did I get the first glance at the printed program:

MusicaInternacionalConcierto

Orquesta Regional de Acordeones de Suiza

de Peter Frey

Having thought we were about to hear one or more Spanish guitars, we were amazed to be watching an orchestra of 24 file onto the stage; the number included 23 armed with accordions and one unarmed fellow who took his place top tier to the right and behind assorted tympani.  He and his male colleagues wore black slacks and white dress shirts.  His was, given the architecture of accordions, the only neckwear visible.  He wore a long tie of apparently chrome plated, neon pink.  Women wore black slacks and long sleeved tops with white collars.  No opportunity there for displays of dash.  Maestro Frey wore a black business suit and a luxurious, longish mane of white hair.

The repertorio was, of course, mostly German