Sorry Omaha
Whenever one of the local sports franchises starts squawking about the need for a new stadium and makes threats to leave town, we're always presented with a doomsday scenario wherein Minneapolis-St. Paul without professional sports teams would revert to being nothing more than a "cold Omaha". I've always found this dire prediction to be an absurd notion. No offense to Omaha but there is a lot more involved with the quality of life in the Twin Cities than whether or not we have a lousy football team to whine about on Monday mornings.
My feelings on this matter were once again reinforced this weekend when my wife and I took my mom to a performance of the Minnesota Orchestra at Orchestra Hall in downtown Minneapolis. It is my mom's birthday this Friday and we never know quite what to get her. When she suggested that we take her to a concert featuring Dvorak's Serenade for the Winds, a Concerto for Two Trumpets by Paulus, and Nielson's Symphony #2 we jumped at the chance. She enjoys Dvorak quite a bit, especially since he has a connection to Iowa which is her native state. And she also wanted to see Doc Severinsen who was featured in the trumpet concerto along with Manuel Laureano.
The two trumpet concerto was definitely the highlight of the evening. The piece had its world premier performance on Thursday and so we were only the third audience to hear it. It packed a lot into its twenty three minutes and managed to be both moving as well a great deal of toe tapping fun. Doc Severinsen might be most widely known for his obnoxious outfits from his days as band leader on 'The Tonight Show' with Johnny Carson, but the man can wail away with the best of them as can Laureano.
Throw in the solidly performed Dvorak and Nielson and it was a wonderful night of music. A night of music that I have a hard time believing could be repeated in Omaha. You just don't utter the words "world premier" and "Omaha" in the same breathe very often. Unless you're talking about the latest in meat rendering technology that is.
A cold Omaha? No, Minneapolis and St. Paul have much more to fall back on than just sports teams to make them desirable cities.
But if by chance you're interested, feel free to take the Vikings. Please take the Vikings.
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