Review: Dancing in the dark

This article originally appeared at 88.1 KDHX, where Chuck Lavazzi is the senior performing arts critic.

Daniel Radcliffe and Imelda Staunton in
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Photo courtesy of CineConcerts

I've said it before, but it bears repeating: nothing can quite match the experience of seeing a big, flashy fantasy film like "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" on the Very Wide Screen at Powell Hall with the orchestral score performed live by the fine musicians of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra.

The showing this weekend (April 12-14, 2019) was the latest entry in the SLSO's complete Harry Potter film cycle. As has been the case for the earlier programs, the orchestra was conducted by composer and film music guru Justin Freer whose company, CineConcerts, produces the Harry Potter film series. Once again, the quality of the print was excellent, with crisp, clear dialog tracks and captioning for the hard of hearing. It looked great on that big screen.

In this 2007 film, directed by David Yates, a dark tide is rising in the wizarding world. Key positions of power are being taken over by members of a fascist cult whose leader demands absolute personal loyalty while giving none in return. Their campaign of fear, paranoia, fake news, and racial animus threatens to tear the magical realm apart. The Order of the Phoenix, under Dumbledore's leadership, hopes to stop them.

These days it all looks rather prescient, although when J.K. Rowling wrote the original novel on which the movie is based back in 2003 she wasn't trying to predict the future so much as recall the past. The tropes of fascism haven't really changed that much since the 1930s.

The score for "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" is the work of British composer Nicholas Hooper. It was his first high-profile project and to my ears it lacks some of the more interesting orchestral details of the ones John Williams wrote for the earlier movies. Still, it has the heroic sweep and eerie touches that are the hallmarks of the Harry Potter films and the darker orchestration mirrors the more ominous look and feel of the movie. The use of Japanese Taiko drums in the percussion section adds serious muscle to some dramatic moments, and the strings are more prominent throughout.

Conductor Justin Freer

I also like the way Hooper uses the higher orchestral voices (woodwinds and strings, primarily) to accompany the sadistic Dolores Umbridge, the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher who is clearly more interested in practicing those arts than fighting them. Her music suggests that, evil as she is, she is also a fool. It's a nice touch.

As have noted in the past, Mr. Freer conducted with the assurance of someone who is entirely comfortable with the unusual demands of leading a large orchestra through a synchronized account of a film score. The musicians responded with the kind of virtuosity that is standard procedure for them. The night we attended, the ovation was long and enthusiastic.

Next at Powell Hall: Leonard Slatkin returns to conduct the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and Chorus Saturday at 8 pm and Sunday at 3 pm, April 27 and 28. The program consists of Loren Loiacono's "Smothered by the Sky," Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 1 with soloist Olga Kern, and Bernstein's Symphony No. 3 ("Kaddish") with narrator Charlotte Blake Alston. Performances take place at Powell Symphony Hall in Grand. Center.

Review: Enchantment pours out of every door

The cast of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

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Anyone looking for some fine old family-friendly fun this past weekend (September 14 - 16, 2018) surely found it in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in Concert.

It was the hit movie with the soundtrack, by Scottish composer Patrick Doyle, played live by the impressive forces of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra at Powell Hall under the baton of conductor (and composer in his own right) Justin Freer whose company, CineConcerts, produces the Harry Potter concert series. The quality of the print was excellent, with crisp, clear dialog tracks delivered by Powell Hall's upgraded sound system, and captioning for the hard of hearing. It looked great on the big screen, as have earlier entries in this series.

As always, though, the music was the main attraction for events like this one. Best known for his work on high culture projects like Henry V, Hamlet, and Gosford Park, Mr. Doyle produced a score for his one and only Harry Potter film which, while not quite up to the standard set by John Williams in previous films in the series, is nevertheless very evocative of J. K. Rowling's fantastical world and filled with auditory delights.

Swirling high strings perfectly captured the empty chatter of gossip columnist Rita Skeeter, for example, while the low brasses underscored the ominous tone of this film compared to earlier entries in the series. This is, after all, the point at which the Potter saga takes a turn towards the dark side, as Voldemort and his racist "Death Eaters" begin their plan to impose a fascist regime on the wizarding world.

There were also amusing bits of pastiche, like the classic British brass band sound of the "Hogwarts March" and the mock-1930s dance music for the Hogwarts Yule Ball.

The score got the kind of solid virtuoso treatment that has become commonplace from the SLSO, with impressive work by the expanded brass and percussion section. On Friday night, Mr. Freer had all of the first chair players stand up for well-deserved applause during the curtain call.

This was the first entry in this season's "Live at Powell Hall" series, which includes movies, holiday concerts, and appearance by popular music artists; details are available at the SLSO web site.

Next at Powell Hall: The regular 18/19 season officially opens as Gemma New conducts The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and pianist Behzod Abduraimov Saturday at 8 pm and Sunday at 2 pm, September 22 and 23. The program consists of Elgar's Enigma Variations, Grieg's Piano Concerto, Sibelius' Finlandia, Alan Jay Kernis' Musica celestis, and an arrangement of "The Star Spangled Banner" by Walter Damrosch and John Phillip Sousa. The concerts take place at Powell Hall in Grand Center.

Review: Enchanted

This article originally appeared at 88.1 KDHX, where Chuck Lavazzi is the senior performing arts critic.

Professor Flitwick conducts the Hogwarts chorus

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It was a magical afternoon this Sunday (April 8, 2018) as Powell Symphony Hall filled up with witches and wizards of all ages, many in the colors of their favorite Hogwarts Houses. They were gathered for a showing of "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban," with the John Williams score played live by the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, directed by composer/conductor Justin Freer.

They were rewarded with combination of music and film that could only be called enchanting.

I've seen many film concert events at Powell over the years, but this was one of the best. The dialog tracks of the movie, to begin with, had a clarity and presence that has often been lacking in earlier blockbuster film events. Even when the massive, Mahler-sized orchestra was playing full tilt, I could make out every word. Better yet, the dialog was all closed-captioned.

And it was, of course, the music that was the real attraction. "Prisoner of Azkaban" was the third and last Potter film for which the great John Williams would write the entire score, and a wonderfully rich and detailed one it is. The big action sequences have all the excitement one would wish for, but there are also many interesting smaller touches, like the live folk-inspired violin solo that introduces the first scene in Hogsmeade Village and the pseudo-Renaissance dances that underscore sequences in the Hog's Head Pub.

Mr. Williams has also given the chorus some interesting material, including a complicated setting of lines from Act IV of Shakespeare's "Macbeth" ("Double, double, toil and trouble") and a lively tune for Christmas carolers in Hogsmeade. There's also a lovely wordless choral passage that accompanies Harry's first successful invocation of the patronus charm in Professor Lupin's Defense Against the Dark Arts class.

Conductor Justin Freer

All this was performed with the virtuosity I have come to expect from the SLSO musicians. The individual solo lines were crystal clear, the expanded brass and horn sections played heroically, and the oversized percussion battery had power and exactitude to spare. Mr. Freer, whose company, CineConcerts, produced the event, brought it all together brilliantly. My only regret is that an attack of the flu prevented me from seeing the showings of "Chamber of Secrets" earlier this week.

There was an additional bit of good news for Potter fans at the top of the program, when Mr. Freer announced that the SLSO planned to present the remaining five films in the series as well. If they're prepared with the same care this one was, I'm very much looking forward to them.

The regular St. Louis Symphony Orchestra season resumes this coming weekend as David Robertson conducts the orchestra and pianist Simon Trpceski Saturday at 8 pm, and Sunday at 3 pm, April 14 and 15. The program includes Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 and Hanson's Symphony No. 2, "Romantic". The Saturday concert will be preceded by a pricey dinner-and-cocktails gala to honor Mr. Robertson, whose tenure as the SLSO Music Director ends next month. The concerts take place at Powell Symphony Hall, 718 North Grand in Grand Center.

Review: Live long and prosper with "Star Trek: The Ultimate Voyage"

Justin Freer and the orchestra
Photo: Erika Goldring, startrekultimatevoyage.com

It's a concert! It's a movie! It's Star Trek: The Ultimate Voyage 50th Anniversary Concert Tour, and it played the Fox for one night only this past Wednesday (March 9, 2016).

It's also a really long title, but maybe that's appropriate given the longevity of the Trek franchise. I know when I first started watching the series back in 1966, it never would have occurred to me that it would still be around a half-century later. I expected personal jet packs and robot maids, but a fiftieth anniversary concert tour with a 30-piece symphony orchestra and clips from five Trek TV shows and eight (or was it nine) feature films on a 40-foot screen? Now that would have been fanciful!

Produced by CineConcerts and written by the company's co-founder Randy Beaubien, Star Trek: The Ultimate Voyage is a lively multi-media romp through the franchise's various media incarnations. Segments focus on the captains and crews of the Trek TV shows, with the heaviest emphasis on the original series, Next Generation and Deep Space Nine, along with the more popular movies.

That means lots of footage from (say) ST II: The Wrath of Kahn, ST IV: The Voyage Home, and ST VI: The Undiscovered Country but not so much from stinkers like ST V: The Final Frontier. There are even clips from the reboot film Star Trek Into Darkness. Editor David H. Tanaka has chosen the segments well and seamlessly edited them together into scenes that don't always make dramatic sense but which do complement the music perfectly.

And this is, ultimately, all about the music. Under the assured baton of composer, conductor, and film music specialist Justin Freer, the orchestra delivers two hours of some of the best Trek TV and film music, much of it from the pens of noted composers such as Jerry Goldsmith, James Horner, and Michael Giacchino. My favorite segment was the loving video tribute to the various incarnations of the Enterprise set, appropriately, to the "Enterprise" segment from the first Star Trek film.

When Star Trek: The Ultimate Voyage 50th Anniversary Concert Tour comes to your city, you'll probably have your favorites as well. You can find a complete list of tour dates and locations  at the tour web site. If you're a Trek fan, you won't want to miss this reminder of how a risky low-budget SF show from Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz's Desilu Productions went on to live long and prosper.