It’s always an event when the Pacific Symphony returns to the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall for a new season. Thursday, September 26, marks not only the cyclical beginning for the hall’s resident orchestra but Music Director Carl St. Clair’s 35th anniversary on the podium.
The celebratory program will feature works conducted by St.Clair at his very first concert as music director of the Symphony in 1990. Rachmaninoff’s “Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini” will feature virtuoso Chinese American pianist Claire Huangci, winner of the 2018 Geza Anda Competition, while Beethoven’s joyous and exuberant Symphony No. 7—which the composer considered “one of my best works”—provides the finale.
The concert begins at 8 p.m. with Frank Ticheli’s “Shooting Stars,” written for St. Clair’s 25th anniversary. The second piece will be Ravel’s intoxicating and energetic “Alborada del gracioso.”An interactive lobby installation featuring a historical timeline of the maestro’s career, plus a social media selfie station, signature beverages and more precede the opening concert.
“This joyful and thrilling work is the perfect way to open our season, as we celebrate the music we’ve cherished over the years,” notes St. Clair. Free “Symphony on the Go” outdoor concerts take place in Laguna Beach (Oct. 4) and San Juan Capistrano (Oct. 5). John Williams’ “Devil’s Dance,” and Berlioz’s “Symphonie Fantastique” highlight a Classical Spooktacular Oct. 17-19 at SCFTA, with Bernadette Peters returning Nov. 1-2.
Meanwhile, the Symphony’s opening concerts take place Thursday–Saturday, Sept. 26-28. Season ticket packages are still available, with single tickets starting at $27. A preview talk with Alan Chapman begins at 7 p.m. For info or tickets, call (714) 755-5799 or visit PacificSymphony.org.
If the plot of “Fanfare D’Amour” sounds suspiciously familiar—two out-of-work musicians pull a gender switch to secure jobs in an all-girl band—it should. Fans of Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis, Marilyn Monroe and/or director Billy Wilder will no doubt recognize this witty 1935 French rom com as the germ of 1959’s “Some Like It Hot.”
All-female bands like the fictional Dutch Tulips orchestra were hugely popular in Europe in the 1930s. This delightful concoction directed by Richard Pottier, which moves like greased lightning at times, is highly entertaining even when it’s not funny. Fernand Gravey and Julien Carette co-star in this Parisian Depression era tale.
Accompanying “Fanfare” on a Blu-ray two-fer from Flicker Alley under the umbrella of “French Revelations” is Billy Wilder’s sole French film, “Mauvaise Graine” (1935). This fast-paced movie is of interest for a number of reasons, including the fact that Wilder made it on the run from the Nazis before he arrived in America, and his leading lady is none other than 16-year-old Danielle Darrieux, already a rising star.
These remastered rarities both make their Blu-ray debut in this box set. Both are accompanied by audio commentaries, by August Ventura (“Fanfare”) and Jan-Christopher Horak (“Mauvaise”). Also included are a printed essay and new English subtitle translations. For info visit flickeralley.com.
Photo: Carl St. Clair. Courtesy of Pacific Symphony.
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