Pink Martini with the Utah Symphony

I had the pleasure of seeing Pink Martini perform with the Utah Symphony several years ago and I enjoyed the concert so much I decided that I would try to see them whenever they came to town!  They returned to Abravanel Hall last night and the concert was so much fun.  Pink Martini is a "little orchestra" that was formed by Thomas Lauderdale in 1994.  It is comprised of twelve insanely talented musicians, vocalist China Forbes (her voice is amazing and she sings so effortlessly), and several guest vocalists.  Their repertoire features classical, Latin, jazz, pop, and world music and last night they performed songs in English, Spanish, French, Croatian, Farsi, Romanian, and Japanese (they even had the audience singing along in French).  The concert began with a really sultry version of "Bolero" by Maurice Ravel and I absolutely loved it!  It is one of my favorite pieces and this version was really cool, especially the trombone and trumpet solos.  My favorite moment in the first half was an incredible rendition of the duet "Belle nuit, o nuit d'amour" from the opera The Tales of Hoffmann by Jacques Offenbach.  Forbes was joined by vocalist Katie Harman and their performance was absolutely beautiful (they joked that this song occurs during an orgy).  I've seen The Tales of Hoffman before but now I really want to see it again!  After the intermission, Pink Martini and the orchestra performed an amazing arrangement of "Malaguena" by Ernesto Lecuona and it emphasized the piano rather than the Spanish guitar.  I really liked it.  My favorite moments during the second half were "Amado Mio," which is probably Pink Martini's best known song, and "Que sera sera."  Forbes introduced each member of Pink Martini and then Lauderdale introduced every single member of the Utah Symphony which was hilarious.  They ended the concert, as they often do, with an energetic version of "Brasil."  Forbes admonished the audience not to form a conga line but that didn't stop people from dancing in the aisles!  I enjoyed myself so much at this concert (and it was much needed after a difficult week).  They will be back at Abravanel Hall with the same program tonight and I definitely recommend getting a ticket (go here).