The Minnesota Orchestra’s three-week Sounds of Cinema Festival continues with a concert of film music from Hollywood’s golden era—the 1930s through ’60s—on January 19, and performances of popular film music from the past three decades on January 24 and 25.
Music Director Osmo Vänskä conducts all three performances, and takes up the clarinet to perform the Adagio of Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto, as featured in the film Out of Africa, at the January 24 and 25 concerts. Omaha-based film historian Bruce Crawford hosts all three performances.
The concerts are performed at Orchestra Hall on Saturday, January 19, at 8 p.m., Thursday, January 24, at 7:30 p.m., and Friday, January 25, at 8 p.m., with ticket prices ranging from $25 to $83.
January 19: Hollywood’s Golden Era
The January 19 concert explores soundtracks of American cinematic classics ranging from Maximilian R. W. Steiner’s music for Gone With the Wind (1939) to Maurice Jarré’s Oscar-winning score for Lawrence of Arabia (1962). A pair of works by frequent Hitchcock collaborator Bernard Herrmann, including a suite from Vertigo, is featured, along with Miklós Rózsa’s famous Parade of the Charioteers from Ben-Hur, and music by Elmer Bernstein, Leonard Bernstein and Alex North. The Orchestra also performs two pieces showcased in Disney’s original Fantasia, including The Sorcerer’s Apprentice by Paul Dukas.
January 24, 25: John Williams and Beyond
Osmo Vänskä leads a program of film music from the past 30 years on January 24 and 25, opening with a suite from John Williams’ soundtrack for the science fiction classic Close Encounters of the Third Kind and closing with Klaus Badelt’s Medley from Pirates of the Carribbean. Other highlights of the program include performances of John Corigliano’s Chaconne from The Red Violin and another Williams work, Theme from Schindler’s List, both featuring Associate Concertmaster Roger Frisch as soloist, as well as Vänskä’s solo turn in the Adagio of Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto.
Frisch first performed Williams’ Theme from Schindler’s List with the Orchestra in 1995, under the composer’s direction. Vänskä, who began his music career as a clarinetist, has played chamber music at the Orchestra’s past three Sommerfests and performed at subscription concerts in November 2005 and March/April 2006. -- www.minnesotaorchestra.org
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