{"id":2353,"date":"2008-08-09T10:44:32","date_gmt":"2008-08-09T10:44:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jwfan.com\/?p=2353"},"modified":"2012-03-12T10:45:40","modified_gmt":"2012-03-12T10:45:40","slug":"chicago-august-1-2008","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jwfan.com\/?p=2353","title":{"rendered":"Chicago, August 1, 2008"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ravinia Festival Pavillion, Chicago, IL
\nAugust 1, 2008<\/strong>
\nThe Chicago Symphony Orchestra conducted by Erich Kunzel
\n
\n<\/strong>Kunzel 30th Anniversary Celebration – John Williams Tribute<\/strong><\/p>\n

Concert Review by John, Mary Jo, and Nicky Tenuto<\/strong><\/p>\n

On Friday, August 1st, we attended the Ravinia Festival’s John Williams Tribute concert conducted by Maestro Erich Kunzel and performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chicago Chorale.<\/p>\n

The tribute concert was an incredible experience, and although difficult to imagine, as entertaining and engaging an experience as when we attended performances conducted by John Williams.\u00a0 Watching John Williams conduct is\u00a0like watching Michelangelo paint.\u00a0 Yet,\u00a0the energetic 73 year old Kunzel was just as fun, with his trademark bombastic flourishes and audience pleasing arrangements.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Setting<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Ravinia Festival is an outdoor theater with\u00a0excellent acoustics.\u00a0\u00a0The audience often picnics on the grounds while listening to the concert, although we sat in the outdoor pavilion.\u00a0 As Star Wars music was\u00a0represented\u00a0on the program, it was no surprise to that fans from\u00a0the 501st and Rebel Legion costume clubs were there.\u00a0\u00a0As an extra treat, these volunteers posed for pictures\u00a0and\u00a0gave away Star Wars tattoos\u00a0and\u00a0photo key chains of the fans with the various characters.<\/p>\n

Tributes<\/strong><\/p>\n

Besides the music, there were other John Williams themed experiences at Ravinia.\u00a0\u00a0Before the concert was a lecture about film music\u00a0and John Williams.\u00a0\u00a0While on stage, Erich Kunzel\u00a0spoke about Williams’ biography and\u00a0musical history.\u00a0\u00a0Kunzel revealed his appreciation of Williams,\u00a0especially on how Williams utilizes the full power of the orchestra and his contributions to\u00a0utilizing the\u00a0leif motif in modern cinema.\u00a0 The\u00a0program guide included an article about the collaboration between\u00a0Steven Spielberg and John Williams, and a fantastic article about\u00a0how\u00a0expatriate composers such as Erich Korngold and Max Steiner\u00a0had an influence on Williams.\u00a0 Ironically, during intermission, there was a man in the audience who was saying how much he thinks all of John Williams music sounds the same (this after hearing the varied\u00a0themes from\u00a0Superman<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Schindler’s List<\/em>\u00a0moments before).\u00a0\u00a0We wondered\u00a0what\u00a0he was doing at a John Williams\u00a0tribute concert if he didn’t like his music.\u00a0 Other than this strange comment,\u00a0there was much talk among the audience about how much they enjoy Williams music.<\/p>\n

The Concert<\/strong><\/p>\n

The concert began with Erich Kunzel’s arrival, dressed all in white.\u00a0 He is a role model of how to age, as the 73 year old had great enthusiasm during the entire performance.\u00a0 He never slowed down, and he was perhaps most enthuastic when conducting both the orchestra and the Chorale, effortlessly changing from\u00a0musicians to singers.\u00a0 The\u00a0incredibly bombastic version of\u00a0Williams’\u00a0Olympic Fanfare<\/em>\u00a0started the program, appropriate because Kunzel is going to be performing at the\u00a0Olympics\u00a0for American dignitaries next week.\u00a0 He then spoke about John Williams, transitioning\u00a0to the theme from\u00a0Jaws<\/em>.\u00a0\u00a0The two famous\u00a0alien films of Spielberg were then represented by the “Bicycle Chase” from\u00a0E.T.<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0the theme from\u00a0Close Encounters of the Third Kind<\/em>.\u00a0 Kunzel’s\u00a0exposition before each song helped set the scene for the music, and he\u00a0discussed how the five notes of CE3K\u00a0took Williams and Spielberg a great deal of effort to perfect.\u00a0 The grand themes of\u00a0Jurassic<\/em>\u00a0Park<\/em>\u00a0were played.\u00a0 The orchestra was\u00a0really earning their pay this show because of the array of notes played and the\u00a0Jurassic<\/em>\u00a0Park<\/em>\u00a0themes were a good example of this.\u00a0\u00a0The showman Kunzel was evident as\u00a0sound effects\u00a0from the film\u00a0were used to set the mood before the theme.\u00a0 With the great\u00a0sound system at Ravinia, it felt as if the TRex was in the audience.<\/p>\n

“Harry’s Wondrous World” from\u00a0Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone<\/em>\u00a0contrasted nicely with the more dramatic music\u00a0of\u00a0Jurassic<\/em>\u00a0Park<\/em>.\u00a0 While not a fan of the\u00a0films, we enjoyed the melodies of the\u00a0Harry Potter<\/em>\u00a0theme.\u00a0 The theme from\u00a0Superman\u00a0<\/em>was next,\u00a0with\u00a0Kuzel’s militaristic best.\u00a0\u00a0Schindler’s List<\/em>was\u00a0played, its haunting violin solo\u00a0contrasted\u00a0with the fun music of\u00a0Superman<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Indiana Jones<\/em>, which was a great way to show the diversity of Williams’ talents.\u00a0 The best was\u00a0the\u00a0Indiana Jones\u00a0<\/em>march whose finale was the most amazing\u00a0we have ever heard, even from Williams concerts.\u00a0\u00a0The\u00a0arrangement by Kunzel allowed the orchestra’s full power to be heard, and it was obvious the musicians enjoyed playing this song.<\/p>\n

Intermission was followed by an all\u00a0Star Wars<\/em>\u00a0program.\u00a0 Kunzel returned\u00a0to the stage escorted by two stormtroopers to much applause.\u00a0 He then described how he was going to play the music in chronological order and it was great because he offered\u00a0music from each of the six films.\u00a0 From\u00a0The Phantom Menace<\/em>, there was “Flag Parade” which was arranged\u00a0to express Kunzel’s love of\u00a0drums and marches,\u00a0“Anakin’s Theme,” which was lovely music, and the incredible “Duel of the Fates.”\u00a0\u00a0Kunzel was sure to\u00a0include\u00a0the 60 person Chicago Chorale for the “Duel of the Fates” which is\u00a0a necessity for appreciating the song’s\u00a0emotion.\u00a0 Episode II was next.\u00a0 It was\u00a0represented by\u00a0the “Across the Stars” love song.\u00a0 Again the Chorale was utilized for the “Battle of the Heroes” and it was goosebump inducing for certain.\u00a0\u00a0The arrangement was a perfect copy of the\u00a0Revenge of the Sith<\/em>\u00a0soundtrack.\u00a0 Continuing the theme\u00a0of alternating\u00a0action music with “softer” tunes, the fourth\u00a0Star Wars<\/em>\u00a0episode\u00a0featured “Princess Leia’s Theme.”\u00a0\u00a0Wagnerian\u00a0at its best, “The\u00a0Imperial\u00a0March” from\u00a0The Empire Strikes Back<\/em>\u00a0was a\u00a0favorite.\u00a0 Our son Nicky who is six years old was conducting along at this time.\u00a0\u00a0“Yoda’s Theme” and “Parade of the Ewoks” were the next two presentations, the latter from\u00a0Return of the Jedi<\/em>.\u00a0 This was the only disappointing presentation of the evening, mostly\u00a0because\u00a0“Parade of the\u00a0Ewoks” ended\u00a0at an odd note, a strange arrangement which\u00a0felt like someone had unplugged the sound system.\u00a0 The\u00a0audience was uncertain if they should applaud here because of the arrangement.\u00a0 The last song on the program was the Main Theme from\u00a0Star Wars<\/em>.\u00a0\u00a0The\u00a0501st and Rebel Legion costumers\u00a0marched to the stage during the performance much to the audience’s\u00a0enjoyment.<\/p>\n

The encore was the\u00a0very surprising, and very fun, “Cantina\u00a0Song” from\u00a0Star Wars<\/em>.\u00a0 The entire\u00a0audience was clapping and having fun, and Kunzel eventually brought the\u00a0entire orchestra into the song which was amazing.<\/p>\n

For fans of John Williams, there is nothing like seeing the Maestro\u00a0perform.\u00a0 Yet, the next best thing is Kunzel who knows how to arrange a Williams song.\u00a0 Ironically, when Williams performs, he often includes the film music of other composers.\u00a0\u00a0However, the Kunzel concert is something that Williams concerts often are not: it was ALL Williams music.\u00a0 Kunzel has appeared at Ravinia 127 times during the previous 30 years.\u00a0 We are hopeful he will return with more John Williams music next year.<\/p>\n

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Ravinia Festival Pavillion, Chicago, IL August 1, 2008 The Chicago Symphony Orchestra conducted by Erich Kunzel Kunzel 30th Anniversary Celebration – John Williams Tribute<\/p>\n

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