Barbara Cook Opens Pops With a Bang

Opening Night at Pops with Barbara Cook

The Boston Pops Orchestra

Keith Lockhart conducting

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Symphony Hall, 301 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston, MA

Box Office 617-266-1200, 888-266-1200, or www.bostonpops.org

Balloons and champagne corks were popping at the gala Opening Night at Pops conducted by Keith Lockhart at Symphony Hall on Wednesday, May 6, marking the start of the orchestra's 124^th season. Setting the bar high for the much-anticipated seven weeks of performances, Broadway and cabaret star Barbara Cook delivered a rich and varied selection of show tunes and showstoppers, and lingered for an encore to make it a baker's dozen of wonderful confections that nourished an audience hungry for great music.

In addition to the reasonably decent local backup band, Cook brought along her Music Director/pianist Lee Musiker, Peter Donovan on bass, and James Saporito on drums and they meshed perfectly with Lockhart's minions. She was accompanied by only the trio on four songs, the most interesting being their unusual arrangement of Cole Porter's I've Got You Under My Skin, a subdued, plaintive rendition featuring cascading piano riffs, simple bass notes, and soft cymbal brushes - nice work for her nascent attempt at a Porter tune. Venturing into more familiar territory, Cook showed her prowess interpreting the works of Stephen Sondheim as she offered No One is Alone and No More, both from Into the Woods. She seems to have a special connection to the latter, presenting it as a soft form of protest against the ills of the world, and gave the impression in the former that she will personally see to it that you are not alone, that she is on your side. Her renowned warmth truly radiated in those two songs.

Known as a purveyor of the Great American Songbook, Cook did not disappoint with such Broadway standards as It Might As Well Be Spring and Wonderful Guy from the team of Rodgers and Hammerstein and Lover Come Back to Me (Hammerstein with Sigmund Romberg) with a great quickstep beat. The singer made note that so many entries in the catalog were written by immigrants that "if they can write songs, we ought to let them in!" Appropriately, she segued into I Got Lost In His Arms from Annie Get Your Gun by Irving Berlin, the most prolific of the immigrant composers, followed by George Gershwin's very jazzy Nashville Nightingale, scat and all. Eat your heart out, Bobby Short!

Now in her sixth decade of delighting audiences, Cook is as much a class act as she is an accomplished artist. Before her last scheduled number, she thanked and praised the Boston Pops orchestra and reminded us how lucky we are to have them in our city. She shared that she is from Atlanta, Georgia, home of some rather talented people, as well, including the great Ray Charles. The octogenarian belied her age with her swinging take on his Hallelujah I Love Him So, and spotlighted each of the members of her trio before a thunderous standing ovation prevented them from leaving the stage. Joined by Musiker on an unplugged piano, Cook took advantage of the hall's acoustics and pulled off a seemingly impossible act: she totally hushed The Audience for her signature unamplified encore of the Carl Fischer/Frankie Laine ballad We'll Be Together Again. They weren't quiet for long, however, as they leapt to their feet for a very long, fond sendoff of this deservedly celebrated star.  

One of the nice things about going to the Boston Pops to see a featured artist is that you also get to hear great orchestral music. Fittingly for his 15^th turn on the podium, Maestro Lockhart chose a majestic opening fanfare, with trumpets and trombones stationed in the balconies to provide a thrilling echo effect for Laureate Conductor John Williams' Summon the Heroes. Continuing their support and nurturing of young artists, the Pops showcased 19-year old Massachusetts native cellist Anthony Rymer, winner of the 2009 Sphinx Competition, building diversity in classical music, in Haydn's Third Movement from Cello Concerto No. 1 in C. Kudos to this young man for his sweet, rapid, fluid playing, and from memory, no less. To say he made his instrument sing would be an understatement. Remember that name: R-y-m-e-r.

On a lighter note, and to promote their newly released CD The Red Sox Album, the Pops played a portion of Randy Newman's score from The Natural. A horn fanfare reminiscent of Williams' music was a familiar sound to lovers of the 1984 Robert Redford baseball paean. The Pops' new arrangement of the Dropkick Murphys' I'm Shipping Up to Boston revved things up after intermission as the soundtrack for a Chamber of Commerce dream film showing the Boston skyline, local sites, and scenes of Fenway Park and the Red Sox hard at play. Even Lockhart got into the game, tossing a baseball in the air at the end of the piece.

The final tribute before the break was to celebrate the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln's birth with Lincoln Portrait by Aaron Copland. This multimedia presentation included a new film by Susan Dangel and Dick Bartlett, and a dramatic reading of Lincoln quotes and biographical data by WBZ-TV anchor Jack Williams. Of course, no Boston Pops concert would be complete without John Philip Sousa's patriotic anthem, The Stars and Stripes Forever which concluded the program after Barbara Cook's exit. In addition to the traditional unfurling of the American flag during the final chorus, hundreds of blue and white balloons floated down over the capacity orchestra floor seats where The Revelers had a field day bursting them. That reminds me - only two months until the Fourth of July Esplanade concert and fireworks, but there still is lots of great music to come at Symphony Hall.

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