Emil de Cou is the Associate Conductor of the NSO, and the NSO @ Wolf Trap Festival Conductor.
July 26, 2009
This July has been one of the most fun, unusual, unforgettable, and exciting in years, and it's not over yet. After the opening of the NSO concerts at Wolf Trap July 9th (which was also my birthday, as the NSO reminded me when they struck up with the birthday song at rehearsal) we went right on to a great night of Marvin Hamlisch's conducting his own music.
Here we are with Cynthia Steele, Orchestra Manager, right before I introduced him for the concert!!! YA!! (I'm the one in the middle.)
Video Games Live! was up next. The Filene Center and lawn at Wolf Trap were full again but this time with gamers by the hundreds (mostly under 30 which is an unusual but very happy sight). I only recognized the opening sequence of Donkey Kong, Pacman, and Frogger, which was played for laughs since the images looked about as up-to-date as curb feelers on a Coupe de Ville. The backstage line-up of the costume competition added a nice party atmosphere, which is why I love Wolf Trap so much. Two parts Halloween and one part Circus of the Damned!
Before Video Games Live! Lambert Orkis, Principal Keyboard, at the piano, and Dotian Levalier, Principal Harp, with a nice smile.
Then the following week came one of the most amazing concert / events I have ever been a part of, the NSO's and NASA's "Salute to Apollo: The Kennedy Legacy." This was performed in honor of the 40th anniversary of the first manned landing on the moon. The music (mostly space and sci-fi related) was accompanied by the most compelling and poignant images projected overhead, courtesy of the Space Administration. Our on-stage line-up was equally eclectic - Chaka Khan, Denyce Graves, June Lockhart, Buzz Aldrin, astronaut Scott Altman, and the U.S. Army Chorus and Alumni joined me and the NSO at the Concert Hall. In the audience were Mercury and Apollo astronauts and the new NASA administrator and hundreds of music and space fans.
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, Buzz Aldrin, June Lockhart, and me.
Denyce Graves sings "The Song to the Moon" from Rusalka…by moonlight.
We had a very dramatic performance on the evening of July 23rd that even Stokowski would have approved. The evening started off well enough with arrangements by the great Leopold himself - Toccata and Fugue (Bach), Night on Bald Mountain (Mussorgsky), and the first ever concert performance of his version of Ave Maria (Schubert), all used in Fantasia, with The Washington Chorus.
The main part of the concert was devoted to another over-the-top piece: Orff's Carmina Burana. That is when nature became part of the performance, unleashing a torrent of wind, thunder, lightning, and a wall of rain to accompany "O Fortuna" and "In Taberna." The amazing thing is that practically everyone stayed until the very end. An hour later I turned around to a damp but enthusiastic ovation.
Up the next morning and back to Wolf Trap for our rehearsal of The Wizard of Oz with the film projected overhead. Following the rehearsal I had a phone interview with USA Today about our Beethoven Pastoral Symphony live Twitter program notes (more on that in the next installment). Then back for a performance that also featured Turner Classic Movie host Robert Osborne (this time with picture perfect weather). Live from Lincoln Center producer John Goberman (who also produces these movie shows) was also there; he's an old friend of mine as well.
Robert Osborne, John Goberman, and me.
Last night (July 25) I introduced Erich Kunzel's John Williams concert. Again it rained and again the lawn was totally full and remained so until the end of the evening. Great music, when performed with the love and commitment of the NSO and Kunzel, became something much larger than the sum of their parts. I loved it.
There were also members of the 501st Legion, a local Star Wars fan club, that Erich invited to be a part of the performance. Practically every musician with a cell phone camera took pictures with them. The guys and gals were very happy to pose and added a real element of fun during the second half of the concert, which was devoted to Star Wars music.
Here I am with our Principal Tuba Steve Dumaine and some members of the cast.
Erich had some sound effects so I was in the sound booth for the second half to give cues. It is now my new favorite place to watch and listen to the NSO @ Wolf Trap (when not on stage that is).
So now onto Blue Planet and the Pastoral Symphony, with first-ever symphonic live, in-time, Twitter program notes. For me the NSO @ Wolf Trap is an endless adventure in exploring interesting and fun new ways to engage AND expand our audiences. The musicians are having a great time; how could you not? Performing "We're Off to See the Wizard" in the middle of a forest in the only national park for the performing arts.