Post by erik on Jun 16, 2019 12:35:07 GMT -5
For anyone who is interested, I will be posting an eight-part series of my concert-going experiences over this summer at the Hollywood Bowl, eight being the number of shows I subscribed for.
First up....
It was officially the opening night of the 2019 Hollywood Bowl summer season last night, and the first of eight I am going to between now and September 14th. This one was, how shall we say, "Legend"-ary.
Hollywood Bowl Orchestra
Thomas Wilkins, conductor
Members of YOLA (Youth Orchestra Los Angeles)
Miklos Rozsa: WALTZ FROM "MADAME BOVARY"
Smetana: DANCE OF THE COMEDIANS/FROM "THE BARTERED BRIDE"
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: DANSE NEGRE/FROM "AFRICAN SUITE"
Saint-Saens: BACCHANALE/FROM "SAMSON AND DELILAH"
INTERMISSION
JOHN LEGEND w. backing band, plus Hollywood Bowl Orchestra & YOLA.
This night began with the waltz that the great Hungarian-born film composer Miklos Rozsa composed as part of his score for the 1939 movie MADAME BOVARY, demonstrating to a near-sold-out Hollywood Bowl crowd that the waltz form could still survive well into the 20th and 21st centuries, especially on the silver screen. The orchestra then followed that up with the famous "Dance Of The Comedians" from Bedrich Smetana's 1866 opera "The Bartered Bride", which of course would be used in many a Warner Brothers cartoon, especially those involving the Road Runner.
The final two pieces of the first half featured various members of YOLA, or Youth Orchestra Los Angeles, being that this opening night benefitted the L.A. Philharmonic's music education programs. Up first was the "Danse Negre" from the African-English composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor's 1899 "African Suite"; and then the somewhat ghoulish "Bacchanale" from Camille Saint-Saens' 1877 Biblical opera "Samson And Delilah". In both of those, it was YOLA's percussion section that blended in well with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra.
After intermission came the main feast, in the form of current R&B master John Legend. With a backing band fit for contemporary and "old school" material, Legend performed, among other things, hits like "Ordinary People", and "All Of Me", as well as stunning version of the Beach Boys' "God Only Knows" (he sang this a capella, if you can believe it); Marvin Gaye's very topical 1971 hit "What's Going On"; and, most unexpectedly, "All Of My Love", a much-played FM classic rock track from Led Zeppelin's 1979 album In Through The Out Door. Various light displays were shown on the exterior of the Bowl's outer shell, some pastels, and some visions of interstellar space. The night came to a rousing end with Legend and rap star Common performed their Oscar-winning song "Glory" from director Ava Duvernay's great 2014 film SELMA; visuals of newspaper articles from the civil rights movement were once again projected onto the Bowl's outer shell, and the fireworks went along with it to wow the crowd, which I would estimate was close to the 18,000-seat capacity of the venue.
A great way to start another summer of great music-making underneath the night skies of the City of Angels.
First up....
It was officially the opening night of the 2019 Hollywood Bowl summer season last night, and the first of eight I am going to between now and September 14th. This one was, how shall we say, "Legend"-ary.
Hollywood Bowl Orchestra
Thomas Wilkins, conductor
Members of YOLA (Youth Orchestra Los Angeles)
Miklos Rozsa: WALTZ FROM "MADAME BOVARY"
Smetana: DANCE OF THE COMEDIANS/FROM "THE BARTERED BRIDE"
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: DANSE NEGRE/FROM "AFRICAN SUITE"
Saint-Saens: BACCHANALE/FROM "SAMSON AND DELILAH"
INTERMISSION
JOHN LEGEND w. backing band, plus Hollywood Bowl Orchestra & YOLA.
This night began with the waltz that the great Hungarian-born film composer Miklos Rozsa composed as part of his score for the 1939 movie MADAME BOVARY, demonstrating to a near-sold-out Hollywood Bowl crowd that the waltz form could still survive well into the 20th and 21st centuries, especially on the silver screen. The orchestra then followed that up with the famous "Dance Of The Comedians" from Bedrich Smetana's 1866 opera "The Bartered Bride", which of course would be used in many a Warner Brothers cartoon, especially those involving the Road Runner.
The final two pieces of the first half featured various members of YOLA, or Youth Orchestra Los Angeles, being that this opening night benefitted the L.A. Philharmonic's music education programs. Up first was the "Danse Negre" from the African-English composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor's 1899 "African Suite"; and then the somewhat ghoulish "Bacchanale" from Camille Saint-Saens' 1877 Biblical opera "Samson And Delilah". In both of those, it was YOLA's percussion section that blended in well with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra.
After intermission came the main feast, in the form of current R&B master John Legend. With a backing band fit for contemporary and "old school" material, Legend performed, among other things, hits like "Ordinary People", and "All Of Me", as well as stunning version of the Beach Boys' "God Only Knows" (he sang this a capella, if you can believe it); Marvin Gaye's very topical 1971 hit "What's Going On"; and, most unexpectedly, "All Of My Love", a much-played FM classic rock track from Led Zeppelin's 1979 album In Through The Out Door. Various light displays were shown on the exterior of the Bowl's outer shell, some pastels, and some visions of interstellar space. The night came to a rousing end with Legend and rap star Common performed their Oscar-winning song "Glory" from director Ava Duvernay's great 2014 film SELMA; visuals of newspaper articles from the civil rights movement were once again projected onto the Bowl's outer shell, and the fireworks went along with it to wow the crowd, which I would estimate was close to the 18,000-seat capacity of the venue.
A great way to start another summer of great music-making underneath the night skies of the City of Angels.