counts himself a fan of the live-to-picture process, noting, “The difference between hearing a movie in a movie theater, even with a very good Dolby sound system, [versus] being in a concert hall with an orchestra playing live is just stunning. It’s like 3-D, you know—adding a different dimension to the enjoyment of the movie.”
4 FROM THE PODIUM
Zarathustra: ‘Sunrise’ is just the start of it
6 IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Synchronizing live music with big movies is no small feat
9 IN TUNE
Stage Fright: Bumbles and stumbles and stage fright, oh my!
10 IN HARMONY
Scaring up the Halloween Spirit
12 NOTEWORTHY
RPO’s Fright Night PAGE 11
From the podium
Zarathustra: ‘Sunrise’
is just the start of it
Maestro Delfs dives into Strauss’ epic musical journey of adventure and exploration
Maestro Delfs conducts ‘Sunrise’ at last spring’s RPO Eclipse Spectacular.
It’s a fanfare that defined a cinematic generation: the first section of Richard Strauss’ Also sprach Zarathustra, “Sunrise,” which director Stanley Kubrick chose to open what would become a sci-fi film classic, 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). Who could have imagined that five simple notes would make for one the most recognizable moments in modern music history?
Iconic as it is, “Sunrise” is just the start of Zarathustra, Strauss’ epic musical drama of adventure and exploration. “It’s a shame that people only know the first 60 seconds,” said RPO Music Director Andreas Delfs. “The next three minutes are full of warmth and love and glowing amber colors. All of that with no warning.”
An early edition (1899) of Nietzsche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra: A Book for All and None
Strauss was inspired by Friedrich Nietzsche’s novel Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1883-1885) and its themes of humanity, the universe, and the search for meaning. Strauss wanted to explore Nietzsche’s contrasting ideas: grandiosity and warmth; wonder and tension; triumph and introspection. “The dichotomy develops throughout the whole piece,” Delfs noted.
“It really goes from sunrise to midnight. It was very important to Strauss to describe the chosen bits of Nietzsche’s philosophy.” Strauss navigates from hope and aspiration to the tension and frustration of humanity’s limitations.
But Nietzsche’s text is not required reading to appreciate Strauss’ 1896 masterpiece. “Strauss develops the material into an incredible symphonic structure, making the orchestra sparkle in a way that very few other composers can,” Delfs said. “What it does over the
next 35 minutes is just so fantastic, diverse, and colorful that there’s not a single emotion that is not visited in that piece.” Dynamic contrasts, lush harmonies, and evolving motifs build a musical narrative that resonates through curiosity, despair, and contemplation.
“Strauss can sometimes say in 35 minutes what Mahler needs 90 minutes for,” Delfs continued. “He gets you on that same emotional roller coaster.”
Experience Zarathustra! with your RPO Saturday, November 9 at 8 PM & Sunday, November 10 at 2 PM in Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre, marking the RPO’s second Sunday afternoon concert this season.
Stills from Stanley Kubrik’s 2001: A Space Odyssey trailer.
FORGET THE WITCH:
Scott Terrell says the most “terrifying” thing about conducting ‘The Wizard of Oz’ is perfectly synchronizing the symphony to singing.
in the spotlight
Synchronizing music to film is no small feat
24/25 season includes ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1™’ and ‘Wizard of Oz’
By MIKE CIDONI Movements Senior Writer
ON THE HORIZON: Select concert halls will host 50th-anniversary live-movie concerts ‘Jaws’ (1975), ‘E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial’ (1976), ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind’ and ‘Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (both 1977). Image courtesies: ‘Jaws’ and ‘E.T.’: Universal, ‘Close Encounters’: Sony Pictures Entertainment.
Musicians take the stage. The screen drops. The lights dim. The film begins. And the orchestra plays in perfect sync with what’s on the screen and played through the speakers.
This process, often called “live-to-projection” or “liveto-picture,” is where all music cues are stripped from a movie’s soundtrack and are instead performed live by an orchestra that is carefully coordinated with the film’s visuals and non-musical elements, such as sound effects and dialogue.
business trade Variety: Live Movie Concerts Cash Cow for Orchestras.
Even the most successful living film composer, John Williams, has happily participated in live-concert treatments of movies featuring his own scores.
In March 16, 2002, Williams conducted E.T. The ExtraTerrestrial live-to-film at a gala 20th-anniversary screening of the movie at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, with surviving cast members and director Steven Spielberg in the audience. Other live-to-film performances predate it, but that historic event arguably started what, by 2015, became a symphonic-industry sensation.
The 24/25 Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra schedule includes two of these presentations: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 ™—In Concert, 7 PM, Friday, Oct. 18 and Saturday, Oct. 19 with Ernest Richardson conducting the RPO in Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre, and A Symphonic Night at the Movies—“Oz” with Orchestra, 7 PM, Wednesday, Jan. 15 with Scott Terrell conducting the orchestra’s performance to the 1939 family film classic The Wizard of Oz at West Herr Auditorium Theatre.
Harry and The Wizard
Ernest Richardson has been conducting live-to-picture concert presentations of films in the Harry Potter series for a decade, starting with the first, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. You’d think that six films later the gig would become routine, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.
“I think if you were to play the [seven] scores for people, they would be really impressed by how different they are,” explained Richardson, who has served as principal pops conductor and resident conductor of the Omaha Symphony since 2015. “It’s just that we don’t see it in that way because it’s so connected to what we’re watching.”
Both are among the best-selling programs of the RPO season, a trend experienced by most other symphonies across the country. To lift a headline from the entertainment-
Richardson said the music for Deathly Hallows Part 1 is both lighter and darker than for Potter films four, five, and six:
lighter, thanks to flashbacks to Harry’s formative years and the resurrection of John Williams’ treasured music cues, such as “Hedwig’s Theme,” from the original film. “But Deathly Hallows is also more intense because the storyline gets increasingly dramatic as grown-up problems for the characters come into play.”
One tie binding live-to-picture performances of Deathly Hallows Part 1 and The Wizard of Oz is the challenge of aligning the orchestra with vocalists on the soundtrack —clearly a bigger problem with a musical boasting a large and beloved song score.
Imagine the orchestra missing a beat on “Over the Rainbow.”
“I do think that conducting a live orchestra to the singing, particularly in some of the classic films, is one of the more terrifying things to do,” said Oz conductor Scott Terrell, who is associate professor of orchestral studies at the Louisiana State University School of Music and has conducted The Wizard of Oz live to screen numerous times. “The fans know every moment of the film. So, if you’re off by a second, especially in a musical sequence, they’re on to you. I won’t lie: Any time there’s singing involved, it’s a little bit unnerving. But when we get it right, which is almost every time, it’s magic—for me, for the orchestra, and, especially, for the audience.”
The best days for film-to-picture appear to be on the horizon, with select concert halls around the world hosting high-profile special events celebrating the upcoming 50th anniversaries of some of the biggest blockbusters in movie history, including Spielberg’s Jaws (1975), E.T. (1976), and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, as well as George Lucas’ first Star Wars (both 1977).
RPO Music Director Andreas Delfs said his live-to-picture conducting wish list includes revered composer Maurice Jarre’s Oscar-nominated music for the 1985 Harrison Ford drama Witness. “The music is really excellent,” he noted, adding that a film-concert adaptation is unlikely to happen. “I went back to watch it recently, and the first 15 minutes or so of the score is all synthesizer, which was in vogue at the time. It would be difficult to get it to work for an orchestra.”
And yet Delfs isn’t writing off the possibility of conducting a live movie concert someday. “There are so many great scores for the golden-age classics, but the film must also be something still popular enough to fill the hall, which gets tricky. On the other hand, I’m confident there will be new films with great symphonic scores to come. So, you never know.”
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1™—In Concert, 7 PM, Friday, Oct. 18 and Saturday, Oct. 19 with Ernest Richardson conducting the RPO in Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre.
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 1™ —IN CONCERT OCT 18 & 19
THE WIZARD OF OZ LIVE WITH ORCHESTRA JAN 15
A Symphonic Night at the Movies—“Oz” with Orchestra, 7 PM, Wednesday, Jan. 15 with Scott Terrell conducting the orchestra’s performance to the 1939 family film classic The Wizard of Oz at West Herr Auditorium Theatre.
image courtesy Paramount.
in tune Stage Fright: Bumbles and stumbles and blackouts, oh, my!
With Halloween on the horizon, the time seemed right to ask RPO musicians for scary onstage experiences.
Herb Smith, RPO Trumpet
The orchestra called me in just to play the high notes for a piece that was a total 40 minutes long, and my only part was in the last five minutes. So, I got on stage and I psyched myself up to play this high note. I take this big breath. I hit the first note. It’s the loudest high F you’ve ever heard in your life. And I literally passed out on the stage! Everything went dim. I was just cocked over in my chair. And I woke up during the applause at the end of the piece, completely in horror, not knowing where I was.
Anna
Steltenpohl,
RPO Oboe, English Horn
As a wind player who doubles on two instruments, I’m frequently afraid that I will play the wrong instrument at the wrong time, because I play oboe and English horn and they’re not in the same keys. The oboe is in C and the English horn is in F, so it would be very apparent if I played the wrong instrument.
Joshua Newburger, RPO Principal Viola
I was on tour and we were performing Dvorak’s Eighth Symphony. Just before we began the second movement, one of the second violinists turned his chair just slightly to the left and the leg fell off the side of the podium and he tumbled off the stage. It must have been at least six feet down. He landed on the ground clutching the violin, which, fortunately, he saved. They took him away to the hospital, but we had to finish performing the concert without him.
Stephen Laifer, RPO Fourth Horn
We once played a piece where there’s a very exposed passage through the first and second horns. It’s us alone and it’s muted. I reach down for my mute three bars before the passage to realize that I had left it on the opposite side of the stage. So, without a mute, you have to do what’s called “hand stopping,” where you insert your hand all the way into the bell. This brings the pitch up a half step so you have to transpose down a half a step. This is on top of the transposition that Beethoven already called for. So, with three bars to spare, I’m doing mental math. And somehow, I made it work without anyone noticing.
in harmony
Scaring up the Halloween Spirit
The RPO spreads spooky sounds all around the town
WHAT THE SHREK! RPO woodwind musicians Kenny Grant (in donkey suit), Karl Vilcins (in Shrek costume), Matt McDonald, Elise Kim, and Kamalia Freyling at the 2023 OrKIDStra Halloween event as characters from the ‘Shrek’ movie series.
The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra hits the road to perform three Halloween-themed concerts the last week of October. But what you’ll hear depends on which show you’re attending. All concerts are family friendly and certain to put you into the holiday spirit.
For this season’s OrKIDStra series opener, it’s all about the costumes, which are encouraged for all attendees, and provide inspiration for the musical program.
“I’m going to find something that’s princess themed,” noted RPO Assistant Conductor Jherrard Hardeman, who will be at the podium for all three of the concerts. “I’m going to find something that’s superhero themed. I’m going to find something that’s ghost-and-ghoul themed.” A few OrKIDStra musical selections will be gleaned from family films, including Pirates of the Caribbean and Ghostbusters.
Before this and every OrKIDStra concert, “we run an hour’s worth of free activities for ticket holders, including various arts, crafts, games, and hands-on experiences that tie into the theme of the concert they’re about to hear,” said RPO Vice President of Education Barbara Brown, adding she feels the event is becoming an RPO tradition because it appeals to both the young and the young at heart.
Last year the the viola section combined to create a calorie-crammed fast-food combo, including a Coke can, a pizza slice, French fries, a hot dog, hamburger, macaroni and cheese, and chicken tenders—complete with a bucket of honey-mustard dipping sauce.
OrKIDStra: It’s a Halloween Party! (2 PM, Sunday, Oct. 27, at Hochstein Performance Hall. Tickets are $10 for children, $20 for adults—plus service fees.)
RPO FRIGHT NIGHT OCT 29 & 30
RPO Around the Town concerts:
RPO’s Fright Night @ Fairport High School. (7 PM, Tuesday, Oct. 29, Fairport High School)
RPO’s Fright Night @ Greece Performing Arts Center. (7 PM, Wednesday, Oct. 30, Greece Performing Arts Center.)
As with all concerts in RPO’s popular Around the Town series, these are FREE and tickets are not required.
While costumes are welcomed, these events are all about the music: spooky symphonic selections including Night on Bald Mountain, Danse Macabre, In the Hall of the Mountain King, and March to the Scaffold from Symphonie Fantastique.
YUM! The RPO viola section dressed up as a supersized fast-food combo.
JOYCE TSENG
NOTEWORTHY
Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra Music Director JoAnn Falletta
Music Hall in Buffalo, but a unique event is bringing us closer together. On October 24 and 26, RPO Music Director Andreas Delfs and Concertmaster Juliana Athayde head to Buffalo to perform Schubert Symphony No. 9. At the same time, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra Music Director JoAnn Falletta and Concertmaster Nikki Chooi join your RPO to present Fountains of Rome. We sat down with Maestro Falletta, who’s celebrating her 25th season at the BPO!
RPO: What does this conductor/concertmaster “swap” mean for our musical communities?
Falletta: This “swap” is personally very meaningful to me because Andreas and I studied at Juilliard together and have stayed in touch. I think this “sharing” of the RPO and BPO is a beautiful idea—we are the closest neighbors, and it will be a treat to share an exchange of solo concertmasters as well.
RPO: You’ve led many orchestras around the world. How do you adapt to different orchestras, including the RPO?
Falletta: As my conducting career has developed, I have become more and more fascinated by each orchestra’s unique personality. I know I will be very inspired by the RPO and want these concerts to strongly reflect who they are as musicians.
RPO: What excites you about conducting Respighi’s Fountains of Rome?
Falletta: Rome has that special quality of letting us exist in the present and past simultaneously, and Respighi’s music perfectly captures that. I believe that Fountains of Rome is his greatest masterpiece. His cinematic treatment of four iconic fountains takes us through an entire day—from dawn in the Valle Giulia to nightfall at the Villa Medici.
RPO: As the first female conductor of a major US orchestra, how have you seen the female conductor landscape evolve?
Falletta: When I first began to conduct, I was certain that many women would enter the field immediately. But it has taken much longer than I thought. Luckily, that has finally changed—we now see women conductors all over the world working on the very highest level.
100 Acts Becomes “RPO For All”
During our Centennial Season, we introduced “100 Acts of Giving Back”, an ambitious program of free concerts and events throughout Rochester designed to highlight the work we do offstage to educate, inspire, and brighten our community through music.
As we move into our second century, we’re relaunching this important initiative under a new name: RPO For All.
The program also includes RPO flagship efforts such as our Care & Wellness Initiative, Orchestral Program for Urban Students (OPUS), and our RPO Outdoors series of free community concerts.
We invite you to visit our website at rpo.org/rpoforall to see a current listing of special performances and events—all free and many open to the general public—including open rehearsals, hands-on educational opportunities, community engagement programs, and so much more.
RPO For All. Music that moves everyone!
Mark Your Calendar: Next Sunday Afternoon Philharmonics Concert is November 10!
Spend a Sunday afternoon with your RPO! Maestro Delfs conducts Zarathustra! on Sunday, November 10 at 2 PM, featuring duo-pianists the Naughtons, music from Verdi and Poulenc, and a new piece by James Lee III, commissioned for the RPO’s Voices of Today series.
THE NAUGHTONS OCT 27 | 2PM
Welcome Two Musicians to the RPO!
Yicheng Gong (horn) and James Zabawa-Martinez (violin 1) have joined your RPO for the 24/25 season. Gong comes to Rochester after playing Principal Horn for the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra this past season. Yicheng studied at The Juilliard School under Eric Reed, played with several groups including the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra and the New York String Orchestra, and received fellowships to spend summers at Tanglewood Music Center, Aspen Music Festival, Asian Youth Orchestra, and NYO China. As a soloist, Yicheng won the university division of The International Horn Competition of America in 2022.
A native of Austin, Texas, violinist ZabawaMartinez has performed concerts and recitals throughout the US and Europe. Before joining the RPO, James was a member of the second violin section of the Kansas City Symphony and served as violin fellow at the New World Symphony for two seasons, performing frequently as concertmaster under the baton of Michael Tilson Thomas. James has performed with The Cleveland Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Utah Symphony, and the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and counts Sally O’Reilly, Brian Lewis, and Zoya Leybin as his primary teachers.
1. Eastman East wing entrance—closest to East End Garage
2. Wolk Atrium entrance—for purchasing tickets day or night of and picking up Will Call tickets; handicap accessible entrance*—closest to the elevators
3. NEW Oval Lobby entrance—if you already have tickets in hand already
4. Gibbs Street entrance—entry through Kilbourn Hall
* Please Note: Our handicap accessible entry location has changed from Gibbs Street to the Wolk Atrium entry on Main Street for your convenience.
Reminder: New Entrances at Kodak Hall
For the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic, Kodak Hall’s Oval Lobby Doors (3) are open to ticketholders during all RPO concerts at Eastman Theatre.
RPO patrons who arrive for a concert with tickets in hand or on their phone can now enter through the Oval Lobby doors and be scanned in by our ushers.
We’ve also moved the handicap accessible entrance from Gibbs Street (4) to the Wolk Atrium entrance (2) to provide close access to the elevators for our patrons needing assistance.
If you need to purchase tickets on the day or night of show, or are picking up tickets at Will Call, our Patron Services and Box Office tables will remain in the Wolk Atrium (2).
