Tip Top Tanglewood

Last week’s main event at Tanglewood was Saturday’s marvelous  Film Night, with John Williams on the podium, the Boston Pops Orchestra on stage, and Robert Osborne providing interesting information about the composers and films that were part of the performance. The weather was perfect, so the Shed was full and the lawn was overflowing with listeners and picnickers.

 

It was a terrific concert; the first part was titled ‘Hollywood’s Golden Age,” featuring music from Sunset Boulevard, Vertigo, Spartacus, Chinatown, and Lawrence of Arabia. The second half was a celebration of the films of Steven Spielberg. John Williams composed the scores for all but one of Spielberg’s twenty-five major motion pictures, so it was a celebration of John Williams, too. They played passages from Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Empire of the Sun, Amistad, 1941, Schindler’s List, and Raiders of the Lost Ark.

 

Here are my top ten moments from Film Night:

10. The atmospheric music from Sunset Boulevard with a montage of clips from the movie. Gloria Swanson and Bill Holden were amazing, and the music fit the film perfectly.

 

9. Robert Osborne called the score from Hitchcock’s Vertigo darkly romantic, and it was.

 

8. The score from Chinatown opens with a wonderful harp and trumpet passage. Unusual pairings of instruments continued through this smoky, sultry, and sad piece.

 

7. The theme music from Lawrence of Arabia by Maurice Jarre. This is iconic film music with a marvelous flute solo, fine brass, and lots of percussion, from timpani to bells.

 

6. The opportunity to listen carefully to some of the music from Close Encounters. Music is such an important plot element, and it was lovely to focus just on that portion of the film, even though there was a nice montage of clips.

 

5. The single cello playing the scary, haunting, memorable beginning of Jaws. Great audience reaction.

 

4. The clip of the scene from Jaws where Roy Scheider tells Robert Shaw “You’re going to need a bigger boat.” The orchestra played live as on screen the actors clamber over the boat and start shooting the rope with the barrels into the giant shark. Fantastic. The music synched perfectly. Great.

 

3. The Boston University Tanglewood Institute Young Artist Choir singing “Dry Your Tears, Afrika,” from Amistad. Tears indeed. This was a beautiful rendition of a complex choral piece.

 

2. The big encore, which was a generous selection from the three Indiana Jones films, accompanied by a fun film montage.

 

1. My number one moment from film night was hearing Tamara Smirnova playing the violin solo as part of the score from Schindler’s List. Osborne called the film Spielberg’s masterwork and the score won an Oscar for Williams. The performance was just beautiful, heartbreakingly lovely.

 

Nothing compares to a live performance, and the Pops was in fine form, as was Williams, who conducted with verve and energy. It was a perfect Tanglewood night.

 

Looking forward to three excellent concerts this weekend at Tanglewood. On Friday, August 20, Ludovic Morlot conducts the BSO and soprano Dawn Upshaw in Three Songs for Soprano and Orchestra by Osvaldo Golijov. The program also includes works by Mozart, Canteloube, and Ravel. And on Saturday, August 21, Susanna Maalkki conducts the BSO with violinist Joshua Bell and pianist Jeremy Denk in a program of works by Mendelssohn and Beethoven. Sunday afternoon features Giancarlo Guerrero conducting the BSO with violinist Gil Shaham and violinist Adele Anthony in works by Higdon, J.S. Bach, Suppe, Sarasate and Bizet.