The concert with Emil de Cou, the National Symphony Orchestra and Rogers and Hammerstein show tunes was fun last night, especially for the companionship of Matt, Chad (left) and Ben.The orchestra provided the original score under clips of great moments in Rogers and Hammerstein musicals. It was thrilling to see Deborah Kerr and Yul Brynner dance across a wide screen in vibrant color while a live orchestra glided and thumped underneath ("Shall we dance? Thump thump thump." I love it).
The orchestra under de Cou kept a right balance with the singing on the movies and provided subtle underscoring during dialog scenes. I thought the most musical moment was "If I Loved You" from Carousel but I've always been partial to that song. I searched for a good You Tube clip of it but couldn't find one I liked -- even a Mandy Patinkin version I found seemed lacking. That's a song that needs plumbed to its depths, containing longing, hope, fear, and irony. My favorite version is Holly Near's, of all people, and I gave that recording away and have not been able to replace it. But I digress.
I've conducted ensembles to recorded media and, as de Cou says in a Metro Weekly interview, it is tricky. And it tricked them up last night, as every medley had moments that were off, most glaringly in the climax to the Sound of Music.
The only discordant note I thought (and my friends disagreed) was in a comment that de Cou (who is gay) made about the bright purple and orange cowboy shirts in Oklahoma. De Cou said he was used to seeing cowboys like that when he used to live in San Francisco. It wasn't a bad line, but I winced, as in that setting in the hate state of Virginia, it almost seemed like de Cou was subtly saying, "I'm one of you, let's laugh at them." The point of the joke was poking fun at a Hollywood convention, still, it rang sour in my ears.
Still, it was an immensely enjoyable evening. Tonight the NSO with de Cou does the same gimmick with Hitchcock movies. It should be an entertaining night.
One delightful surprise last night, stemming from an outdoor concert, was the impromptu chorus of crickets that accompanied the evening. A human and insect duet making music in the night.
I wonder what the crickets thought?
1 comment:
Yes Yes Yes! It was a great evening. The music was fantastic, the picnic before was delicious (even with those rude old people taking our table). The best part of the night, however, was the company. I for one had a wonderful time... on the ride there, eating, drinking champagne and wine and the concert. Scott, I agree, the chorus of crickets and frogs added very nicely to it. So, how did the 3 Wolf Trap virgins rate the experience?
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