After 13 years under Bernardi, the NAC Orchestra’s new leader was another Italian: Franco Mannino. Where Bernardi had been all northern Italy - cold blue light, Mannino was all southern Italy - red hot light. Listen to the smiles that come into the voices of those who remember Mannino. Then a darkness descends on the NAC as financial woes threaten the orchestra and its ambitious programs, and the orchestra goes on strike. The young Polish Israel conductor, Gabriel Chmura, succeeds Mannino, but his stay in Ottawa is short-lived.