Pyro Rhapsody
Designed by Joachim Berner. PyroDigital firing with ~5500 cues.
A hot a humid summer’s day was supposed to give way to perfect conditions for evening fireworks, but Mother Nature decided otherwise. A dying thunderstorm crashed the party at around 7 pm, leaving air that was still and very humid – what little wind there was, unfortunately, was directed towards the audience.
The display began dramatically with two large 21-bombette shell-of-shells studatas. This set the tone for a powerful opening segment with many very high quality shells used.
All of the material used in the display was of excellent quality, from the magnificent Italian studatas through the very high-firing one-shots on ramp 3 as well as the many nautical effects used, including some that rose quite high in the air after their launch before landing in the lake and transforming into nautical effects (similar to “tapieta” effect used by Parente in 2003).
The precision used in the firing was excellent both spatially and temporally, with perfect angles and perfect timing. Unfortunately a position failed intermittently on ramp 3 which occasionally spoiled the symmetry.
A good range of music was used, from serene modern-classical through to well-known classics by Bach and Pachebel. I had hoped that some of the piano music would have been note-synchronized in a way similar to the brilliant segment by Ricasa last year. Unfortunately, even though synchronization was always perfect, it somehow missed out on being connected to the music. Indeed, this is a criticism that can be made of the display as a whole. Some of the sequences were just too simplistic and repetitive and sometimes lacking in connection between the different levels in the display. Despite the large arsenal of very impressive shells, the sky was used more narrowly than we’ve become accustomed to in the recent past. I had noted in 2007 that the IP display that year reminded me of the glory days on the late 1990s. Unfortunately, this was the case with this display. It was very well executed but was missing some of the evolution in firing styles that have occurred in the very recent past.
The display ended with an impressive finale and, despite large smoke accumulation from time to time during the performance, the audience reacted with great enthusiasm and gave the team a well-deserved standing ovation.
I enjoyed the display, especially the really high quality products (from all manufacturers) but it didn’t quite meet my expectations. I’m sure the smoke didn’t help and this is always a risk and frustration in Montreal.