By Amanda Berg Whittle
Leonard Bernstein is an iconic American composer, and he would be turning 100 this year. It is such an important birthday that the Utah Symphony has been celebrating it all year with its Bernstein at 100 series. To me, Bernstein is easily one of the top three modern American composers, possibly one of the top three American composers of all time, so going to anything Bernstein-based makes me excited. It got even more exciting when my husband and I accidentally ran into one of my best friends, who apparently loves Bernstein as much as me.
Teddy Abrams, the guest conductor of the performance, expresses how Bernstein is one of his heroes, and this influence is prevalent in his lively conducting style. I appreciate his explaining to audiences less aware of Bernstein’s music how the composer was a peculiar yet deeply introspective and philosophical person, and how his music expresses that. While some of his songs such as the Overture to Candide are fast and quirky with interesting sound effects and unique chords, other songs such as “Dream with Me” from Peter Pan are slow and melodic, varying greatly with the fast, quirky songs, but still have Bernstein’s style. I appreciate the choice of pieces, because even as a Bernstein aficionado myself, I had not heard of some of those songs until I saw the performance.
Guest artist, Broadway singer Morgan James has not only an outfit for every occasion, but a character as well. She even added Maria’s accent to West Side Story’s “Tonight” to make her performance more authentically West Side Story-esque. Her range is impressive, as well as the variations she has in her vocal style. For example, “I Can Cook Too” from On the Town is a jazzy, upbeat piece, whereas “Glitter and Be Gay” from Candide is coloratura operatic, and she accomplishes both vastly different vocal styles with ease, charisma, and perfection.
I appreciate the lighting changing periodically during “Glitter and Be Gay” to express James’ emotions—the piece is about a woman who is quite sad and has a “fake it until you make it” approach to life, so the piece fluctuates between happy and sad. Yellow and blue lighting differentiate the emotions even more (no lighting designer mentioned in program). Speaking of that piece, the Utah Symphony and Utah Opera will be performing the entire opera, Candide, on November 9-10, and I would highly recommend attending. It’s one of my favorite modern operas.
It is crazy to me to think Leonard Bernstein would only be 100 this year, because his influence on modern music has been so grandiose. This is a man who can make the tritone chord, often nicknamed “the devil’s chord,” beautiful. The things he has done with notes and rhythms never cease to amaze me, especially considering that they are the same notes and rhythms everyone else could use. He just did it better than everyone else. This Bernstein on Broadway performance is wonderful, but it only has one night left (Saturday, September 15th). If you cannot make it to tonight’s performance, you should consider attending another “Bernstein at 100” performance by the Utah Symphony. They are a world-class symphony who always put on entertaining performances that are aesthetically beautiful in every way.
Utah Symphony presents Bernstein on Broadway
Abravanel Hall, 123 West South Temple, Salt Lake City, UT 84101
September 14-15, 2018 7:30 PM
Tickets: $30+
Utah Symphony Facebook Page
Bernstein on Broadway Facebook Event
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