BWW Reviews: Baltimore Symphony Pays 'A Tribute to John Williams'

A packed Myerhoff Symphony Hall audience was in a festive mood as Principal Pops Conductor Jack Everly led the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in " A Tribute to John Williams" along with the Baltimore Choral Arts Society under the direction of their Director Tom Hall. What a night it was. The famed composer has an massive repertoire of film scores to choose from. And what adds to the enjoyment is the repartee Everly shares with the audience. He mentioned Williams has amassed quite a canon of work that includes 60 film scores, 15 concertos, 18 orchestral works, and 5 chamber works. He also has won 4 Golden Globes, 3 Emmy Awards, 4 Academy Awards, and 21 Grammy Awards.

Surprising many of the guests as they entered the lobby were two "Storm Troopers" from the hit film "Star Wars". They were lining up for photos with these iconic figures like kids in a candy store. (Yes, even I took a photo with them.) It was a nice touch.

The concert opened with "The Call of the Champions", the Official Theme of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games which took place in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The attempted use of visuals above the orchestra did not work. While the use of the five Olympic rings would have been appropriate, we only saw five circles. It's a shame that the concert could not utilize appropriate visuals during the evening. It could be that due to copyright infringement issues, the BSO was unable to show the official rings. While showing videos of the films above the orchestra included in the program would have been a plus, the same issue may be the reason. At the minimum, it would have enough just to show the movie posters which related to the music being played.

"The March" from "Superman" was greeted with great applause. The Choral Arts Society sounded great.

For some reason J. M. Barrie's "Peter Pan" is everywhere. On the Tony Awards, there was a segment from FINDING NEVERLAND. There was the play PETER AND THE STARCATCHER. NBC presented PETER PAN LIVE!, the musical version (which Everly commented was "unfortunate"). There was also the Disney film "Hook" with Robin Williams and directed by Stephen Spielberg. The BSO played "The Flight from Neverland". I had never heard it before and most of the audience I believe didn't either.

Then Everly invited Assistant Principal Clarinetist Chris Wolfe to the podium to say a few words about his 54 years of service with the BSO and announced his retirement. It was a lovely gesture. Wolfe got a nice ovation from the audience and the orchestra.

Other pieces that seemed not to be well known included a selection from "A.I. Artificial Intelligence", "Overture" from "The Cowboys", "Somewhere in My Memory" from "Home Alone", and "Gloria" from a film that I was not acquainted with, "Monsignor" which starred Christopher Reeve. This music Everly mentioned has not been published and the BSO was only able to perform it thanks to Williams loaning the orchestration.

Act I finished with the superb "March" from "Raiders of the Lost Ark" which I consider is the theme song for my four year old grandson, Harrison!

Following intermission, there was the powerful "Olympic Fanfare and Theme" Williams wrote for the 23rd Olympiad held in Los Angeles. It is available on the CD "The Best of John Williams and the Boston Pops Orchestra" recorded in 1987. It would have wonderful if this CD was available for sale at the concert.

Next was "Hedwig's Theme" (no, not from the Broadway show HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH!) from "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone".

Williams probably could retire on the royalties from the next piece...the theme from the NBC Nightly News.

For some reason, the theme from "The Mission" was excluded from the evening.

There is no doubt the most moving piece of music was the "Theme" from "Schindler's List" with the stunning violin solo by Concertmaster Jonathan Carney who was outstanding. Another solemn piece followed, "Hymn to the Fallen" from "Saving Private Ryan".

The symbol for Amblin Entertainment (Steven Spielberg's production company) shows a young boy riding his bicycle in the sky with the alien, E.T. in his basket with the moon in the background. It was first used after the film. The music for this scene is called "Adventures on Earth" and it was lovely.

The Baltimore Choral Arts Society then sang in the language of Sanskrit to accompany "Deal of the Fates" from "The Phantom Menace".

The iconic piece "Main Title" from "Star Wars ended the evening. Could not think of a better way to end. I kept waiting for the Storm Troopers to make their appearance on stage.

Following the concert, we were invited to try a new ice cream store with home-made ice-cream, The Charmery, located at 801 W. 36th Street in the Hampden neighborhood of Baltimore. Visit icecream@thecharmery.com. It was well worth the visit. I was shocked to see a flavor labeled "ET Phone Home" which is peanut butter based with crushed Reese's Pieces. There was even some artwork for sale which included Storm Troopers. What a coincidence! Congratulations to David Alima, owner, who used to be the marketing manager at the Everyman Theatre.

The BSO ends the season with Leonard Bernstein's CANDIDE at Strathmore, Thursday, June 11 and at the Meyerhoff June 12, 13, and 14. Peter Sagal narrates , Maestra Marin Alsop conducts, The Baltimore Choral Arts Society under Tom Hall will be joining a great cast which includes Keith Jameson, Lauren Snouffer, Tony winner Judy Kaye, Joshua Hopkins, Marie Lenormand, Mark Diamond, Patrick Cook, Andrew McLaughlin, Curtis Bannister, Stephanie Sakownik, Melissa Wimbish, and Lewis Shaw. It is directed by Garnett Bruce.

For tickets, call 410-783-8000 or visit www.BSOmusic.org.

Photo credit: Charles Shubow

cgshubow@broadwayworld.com

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