“I think symphonic music of the 20th century is some of the greatest music written for orchestra.” ~ Jeff Tyzik
This broadcast may be a first for the RPO. Principal Pops conductor Jeff Tyzik led the orchestra in a movie themed concert for the Philharmonics series. He combed through decades of soundtracks and selected pieces from the cinematic world, including terrific music from a silly film based on the comic strip Prince Valiant.
In the first half of this program, you’ll hear suites from Max Steiner’s Casablanca, Aaron Copland’s The Heiress, and Bernard Hermann’s Psycho suite. Dmitri Shostakovich’s music to The Gadfly underscores a swashbuckling costume drama from 1955.
After intermission, Jeff Tyzik conducts the RPO in John Williams’ “Escapades for Alto Sax and Orchestra” from the movie Catch Me if you Can with saxophonist Chien-Kwan Lin, vibe player Jim Tiller, and bassist Michael Griffin. Music from Erich Korngold’s Seahawk follows, alongside Ennio Morricone’s theme “Gabriel’s Oboe” (from The Mission). Finally, Franz Waxman’s Prince Valiant suite proves that a fantastic score can outlive a bad movie.
“Robert Wagner is Prince Valiant,” Jeff told WXXI’s Julia Figueras in conversation On Record. “He's got a wig which looks like they went to a horse and cut the back of the tail off and just stuck it on his head! It’s so bad that it's comical. But the score is so incredible. It dwarfs the film.”
