Review: ACROSS THE STARS: THE MUSIC OF JOHN WILLIAMS Made Our Night, Our Year and Gave Us L-I-F-E At Carnegie Hall

Heigh-Ho, My Merry Rainbow Tribe! Bobby Patrick your RAINBOW Reviewer here. Putting the silent T in cabareT to bring you all the T!

Oh, my dearlings this week we had no Cabaret but a Concert with a capital C! So, Bobby had to get all swankified Thursday night and take a trip uptown to venerable Carnegie Hall for ACROSS THE STARS: THE MUSIC OF John Williams, because when you're offered the chance to see The Great One conduct his own legendary music, you get yourself dressed up and you GO! With a stage full of the Philadelphia Orchestra (whose immense string section alone could have powered a battleship just with all their bowing) the Meastro entered to a powerful standing ovation, an approbation (what? Bobby knows words!) that would be repeated time and again throughout the night, both after each music selection and each time the composer-arranger-conductor left through the big white double doors stage right and returned again for more clap offerings at his altar. Now, not to get too personal with you dear rainbow readers, but once upon a band camp, many years ago, little Bobby harbored little dreams of conducting big orchestras. This was completely by the by, however, since our meager honkings on a baritone saxophone slung round our neck in marching band exposed a slight disadvantage in this area... Bobby had no talent. This was not a strong enough deterrent to keep us from waving our arms about like a mad bird while listening to all forms of band & orchestral music, and chief among those selections in the soundtrack of our life were the works of Mr. John Williams. He who made movie music chic, elegant and profitable. Record sales of the soundtracks to every movie he has waved his magic baton at have been huge pieces of those films' profitability puzzles. So, needless to say, my rainbow tribe - Bobby was all a kvelling, all night long.

With the aid of master violinist, Anne-Sophie Mutter - looking stunning in her sparkly, gold strapless evening number with tasteful white floral pattern and her blonde, blonde hair atop her rare, fair features - the music of the evening included:

Act 1

SOUND OF THE BELLS

VIOLIN CONCERTO No. 2

Act 1 Encore

ACROSS THE STARS - (Star Wars: Attack Of The Clones)

Act 2

FLIGHT TO NEVERLAND

EXCERPTS FROM CLOSE ENCOUNTERS...

THE DUEL (Adventures Of Tin Tin)

THEME FROM CINDERELLA LIBERTY

HEDWIG'S THEME

THRONE ROOM

Act 2 Encores

THEME FROM SCHINDLER'S LIST

FLYING THEME (ET The Extraterrestrial)

IMPERIAL MARCH/DARTH VADERS THEME

The rapturous experience of hearing the violin concerto, written specifically for Mutter, caused gasps and moans in the house as these two great friends made art together that was beyond compare. Williams' use of minor keys and diminished intervals to bring dissonance to our ears - especially in the tense plucks from the harpist - painted tones in colors that thrilled and frightened because it all felt like a great pursuit, a dangerous chase. Each of the four movements brought tension, drama, noise, and nerve from Anne-Sophie's instrument that were all palpable, through to the end, where deliverance was promised, and then a touch of healing granted. Unable to just walk off the stage and end the first half, the maestro returned with an Act 1 encore from the Star Wars universe. "There were NINE of those movies and I don't remember exactly which one this piece (ACROSS THE STARS) was in," said Williams. "Attack Of The Clones!" a helpful man in the audience shouted, and with a hearty laugh, JW mouthed "Thank you" and off we went, ending the first half on a note that demanded his third standing ovation of the night... and we still had a long way to go.

FLIGHT TO NEVERLAND opened Act 2 and, really, what can one say about this soaring, childlike piece except - HOOK! EXCERPTS FROM CLOSE ENCOUNTERS... began with its high whistling violins that gave way to thundering stampedes from percussion and horns with all the selections flowing together perfectly, leading us through that story of the lonely outsider trying to make sense of his world turned upside down. The next 3 selections: THE DUEL (from The Adventures Of Tin Tin), THEME FROM CINDERELLA LIBERTY & HEDWIG'S THEME (in case you live under a rock, Hedwig is the name of Harry Potter's snowy white owl) were all the musical playgrounds of the evening's soloist. Anne-Sophie Mutter is truly one of the great musicians of our age, and her rapport with her conductor, spilling over from their deep, abiding friendship, brought the pieces to life perfectly. Telling the story of an exchange he had with another life-long friend, the late, great Andre Previn, Williams told of the time Previn said Williams should have Anne-Sophie play CINDERELLA LIBERTY. "But she's all Bach and Beethoven classical, I'm not sure she can really play that piece." "She can play ANYTHING," Previn grumbled and, indeed, she can and, indeed, she did. Wrapping the program list with one of the greatest of all the great Star Wars themes, THRONE ROOM, one could spy lightsabers over the heads of yet another standing ovation, as fans lifted their swords in tribute to a man of music who takes our hearts and minds with him wherever he is tasked to go. But that wasn't all - the audience was insatiable to the tune of 3 full encores and after conducting his way through the THEME FROM SCHINDLER'S LIST & the FLYING THEME from ET The Extraterrestrial, Williams returned, held up one finger to indicate there would be one more piece, then he laid his two hands to the side of his face indicating it was his bedtime (He is 90 after all) and the horns struck up the all too familiar IMPERIAL MARCH, that ominous DARTH VADERS THEME that still brings chills and flutters of excitement. Bow after bow he took with his friends until finally, the audience had to let him go.

Now my dear readers, if you read Bobby regularly - and we certainly hope you read Bobby regularly - you know that blow by blow reporting is something we usually avoid because, well... (snore) but in this case, with this one performance only, it felt essential to use my insubstantial nouns and verbs to put you in the picture of a special night that shall not come again. But take heart my lambs for Bobby has a consolation for you. I have checked with my dear friend, Alexa, and she has been able to call up each and every piece of music from the Carnegie Hall Concert, and so you can do the same with your preferred mechanical music monstrosity. Program an afternoon or evening of your own in the comfort of your home and spend real quality time with ACROSS THE STARS: THE MUSIC OF John Williams... and true to ourselves and the music that gave us all the feels, we must say that our trip to Carnegie Hall gets our resounding...

5 Out Of 5 Rainbows.

Catch up On What Happening At Carnegie Hall: HERE

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