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Saturday Happenings
Sunday Happenings
It seems safe to assume that opening night to the 122nd Boston Pops season could be described at least as somewhat of an abnormality.
A shout of "Rock This Bitch" doesn't typically ring through the perfect acoustics of Symphony Hall, let alone serve as an acquiesced song request. We've never heard anything about traditional Opening Night audience fistfights. And, with all due respect to those who have sat in with conductor Keith Lockhart and his orchestra musicians in the past, Bostonist doubts that many past Opening Night audiences experienced as savvy a collaboration as that between Pops and piano rocker Ben Folds on Wednesday night.
No stranger to partnering with orchestras, Folds brought to the creative process eight selections from his canon of pop gems. Those familiar with his work, whether solo or in former group Ben Folds Five, know the complex composition that goes into his work. Folds is much more songwriter than singer, with songs built around the instrumentation and lyrics instead of voice, which allowed Lockhart and the Pops to add new layers of depth and interpretation.
"Lullabye," the dreamy confection that closes BFF's "The Unauthorized Biography Of Reinhold Messner," was given a New Orleans-inspired jazz warmth with the addition of strings, brass and saxophone. "Steven's Last Night in Town" similarly took on a fleshed-out big band style impossible in Folds' typical small-ensemble touring style.
The sound seemed to suit Folds' taste. After hammering out a few tunes with his customary knees-bent standing style, the songster wryly said, "Let's just say we call them the Ben Folds 87," before commending the Pops on making such difficult work look easy.
Pops photo from flickr user naughtymime. Read the complete review after the jump!
That sense of ease was established prior to Folds' rock star entrance, through selections that previewed the Pops' annual album. The orchestra performed selections from the upcoming "Oscar & Tony," delivering to the opening night crowd music from "The Sound of Music," "Phantom of the Opera," "Gigi," and "Chicago."
As the Pops unleashed their polished take on the familiar material, photographs from the musicals were projected onto a screen above the ensemble to provide a multi-sensory experience. Interesting, though, was the fact that the images used were all from the film versions of the works. Apparently Oscar's take on music trumps Tony's. An image of Emmy Rossum and Gerald Butler instead of Sarah Brightman and Michael Crawford for "Phantom?" Ouch.
Keith and Company demonstrated a particularly impressive brand of professionalism when the shrieks rang out from the second balcony, house-left side of the hall during "Gigi." Members of the audience who couldn't see what was happening at the time (Bostonist included) had to focus on Lockhart, who looked up to the balcony with concern before stopping his musicians with a raised palm. Lockhart waited a few moments for the activity to subside, then calmly turned back to the Pops to resume the sound. At song's end, even those who weren't fans of the Lerner-Lowe musical had to give a hand (note: GIVE a HAND. Not THROW a FIST.)
Finally, Bostonist wants to give laughing props to the Pops for its "T eye view of Boston." A special video was aired as the Pops played that classic hometown tune, "Charlie on the MTA." In the video, the black-clad Lockhart takes to the subway lines for a whimsical jaunt through the metro area. Amazingly (it's a wonder, what a film camera can do), Mayor Thomas Menino is waiting for Keith outside the Government Center station. Sox mascot Wally's hanging out outside Kenmore. And, in the best cameo of the bit, John Williams flashes a grin as he conducts a five-piece brass band at Harvard. A bit cheesy? You bet, but also adorable - even if the video and live performance were off by a couple of seconds by song's end.
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"Ouch" is right.....errr, actually it was Michael Crawford who starred in the stage version of Phantom, not Robert Crawford.
Rock this bitch! "funny thing, that's actually on the set list. Keith, can I have this in a B minor?"
What the...wow, we're fixing that post-haste. I'm a big Phantom fan, too - must be that concussion I got in the brawl. ;) Thanks for the good catch, Kathy.