Film buffs no doubt have every line of every character in the film “Casablanca” committed to memory. But, apart from the few bars of “As Time Goes By” that Ilsa insists on humming to Sam in Rick’s Cafe, how many of these die-hards are able to hum whole segments of the film’s musical score? “Casablanca” boasts a soundtrack written by Max Steiner, the composer who gave Americans such masterpieces of orchestral film scoring as “Gone With the Wind” and “Now Voyager.” Often referred to as “The Father of Film Music,” Steiner’s score for “King Kong” in 1933 defined a new era of dramatic film scores.
Saturday night at Wolf Trap, conductor Emil de Cou will lead the National Symphony Orchestra in a note-for-note, in-sync performance of Steiner’s “Casablanca” soundtrack. The love story will be shown simultaneously on large screens in-house and on the lawn.
| Onstage |
| A Symphonic Night at the Movies: ‘Casablanca’ |
| Where: Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts, 1645 Trap Road, Vienna |
| When: 8:30 p.m. Saturday |
| Info: $20 to $52, 877-WOLFTRAP (965-3872) |
“There’s so much wonderful American music that people should know, but these [film scores] are not played often,” de Cou said. “I think it’s the best music of the American 20th century.”
Here in its debut performance at Wolf Trap, Steiner’s original scoring of “Casablanca” (played along with the film) is a new project of John Goberman, who is probably best known as the creator of “Live from Lincoln Center,” now in its 30th season on PBS.
“John has been doing this wonderful film programming for the past 15 years, if not more,” de Cou continued. “Steiner’s score of ‘Casablanca’ is just incredible; with sophistication that you just don’t hear that well in the [movie] theater.”
Emil de Cou would know. Now the NSO’s associate conductor, he was formerly conductor of the American Ballet Theatre for eight seasons, performing in New York as well as in national and international tours.
“[In] ballet conducting, there were always these great Russian scores of Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev,” he pointed out. “But America’s big contribution to 20th century music is in film; and these scores are every bit as good as ballet or opera, or any incidental music.”
And, as if film buffs needed any more convincing of the truth to his assertion, de Cou added, “Musical scoring is like a hidden character that helps promote the story; and it makes all the difference to its success or lack of success.”
