Musical selections range from ‘Fantasia’ to ‘Carmina Burana’
If you go
Emil de Cou conducts the National Symphony Orchestra in a series of spectacular concerts: “Carmina Burana,” (8:15 p.m. Thursday); “The Wizard of Oz,” (8:30 p.m. Friday); an evening with guest violinist Sarah Chang (8:15 p.m. July 30); and “Blue Planet” (8:30 p.m. July 31)
Where: Wolf Trap Filene Center
Info: $20 lawn, $32 to $48 in-house; 877-965-3872; wolftrap.org
The National Symphony Orchestra’s summer Wolf Trap season is under way with crowd-pleasing concerts of popular and classical favorites, from chart-topping country songs by LeAnn Rimes to a multimedia production of Puccini’s romantic opera “La bohme” with the Wolf Trap Opera Co. and the Choral Arts Society of Washington.
Emil de Cou, the NSO @ Wolf Trap Festival Conductor, is the genius behind the appealing variety that encompasses Marvin Hamlisch conducting his own compositions, Erich Kunzel conducting the music of John Williams and Broadway hits led by Randall Craig Fleischer.
Fresh from the blockbuster show featuring Rimes and a side trip to the Kennedy Center for the Salute to NASA’s 40th anniversary, de Cou will mount the Filene Center podium for four more diverse evenings, beginning with a program of the sacred and profane.
The opening selection, Bach’s Toccata and Fugue, is one of three from the classic film “Fantasia.” All were arranged by Walt Disney’s friend, Philadelphia Orchestra maestro Leopold Stokowski, who conducted the score with 100 Hollywood musicians and appears in the opening credits.
The eerie segment pairing Mussorgsky’s “Night on Bald Mountain” and Schubert’s “Ave Maria” unleashes chilling delight so realistic the listeners can almost envision the film’s animated skeletons, ghosts and demonic creatures. Despite being a financial disaster for Disney, “Fantasia” is today beloved by all generations.
“We’ll play the ‘Ave Maria’ as Stokowski arranged it for chorus and harp,” de Cou said. “The first and only time he ever used that version is when he conducted it in 1939 for the ‘Fantasia’ score.
“For the closing work, Orff’s ‘Carmina Burana,’ the NSO is joined by The Washington Chorus in keeping with our policy of utilizing the outstanding area choruses on a rotating basis whenever a large group is required. We have an incredible wealth of fine singers in the area and this is one of the best large romantic choruses. Although several pieces from this work have become familiar through popular usage, many people don’t know what it is about.”
Audience members will be wise to arrive early and peruse the background explanation of “Carmina Burana” found in the program book. It will not be necessary to bone up for the next NSO presentation, “The Wizard of Oz.” While the original film streams across giant screens, the orchestra will play the music track that represents hours spent recreating the scores that MGM Studios dumped into land fills to make room for new acquisitions in the music library.
Virtuoso violinist Sarah Chang is the centerpiece of the nature-oriented concert on July 30, while “Blue Planet” completes the ecological thrust the following evening with film excerpts from the Emmy and BAFTA award-winning BBC nature documentary series narrated by David Attenborough. The score is by George Fenton, prolific composer for film and TV, recently for wildlife specials, and the choral accompaniment is provided by Washington Men’s Camerata led by Frank Albinder.
“This is the best of the TV show that took five years to put together and is the first time the work has been performed without the composer,” de Cou said. “It’s an old-fashioned wedding of music and images. The amazing underwater sequences never before captured give us a visual and musical record of the wonders in our universe.”
