CENTERblog

ASO's Double Magic

by Monica Lettner - Alaska Pacific University

While the streets of downtown Anchorage were being taken over by costumed ghosts and ghouls, the Atwood Concert Hall was the place to be musically and visually entertained as the Anchorage Symphony Orchestra provided the live sound effects and melodic setting for two classic silent films. Double Magic: Silent Film Double Feature consisted of Haunted House (1921) starring Buster Keaton and Phantom of the Opera (1925) starring Lon Chaney and the ASO performing a brilliant score arranged and synchronized by Eric J. Beheim.

Randall Craig Fleischer, the Music Director of the ASO, didn’t try to contain his excitement while introducing the program for the evening. His brief history of the silent film era, as well as the current technological advances in film scoring, gave the audience the chance to appreciate the task at his hands - directing fresh, live sound for a showing of an old silent film without the ability to repeat a scene and record multiple takes before a film gets released in the modern film industry. Fleischer is an obvious fan of the kind of slapstick comedy that Keaton is famous for and it was evident in his flawless timing of humorous orchestral sounds that fit perfectly with the black and white moving picture on the big screen. While the majority of the symphony had to trust Fleischer for their cues, certain members of the ASO’s percussion section had their own small video screen to help them appropriately time the most memorable of the comedic effects. Beheim’s score was arranged beautifully and executed flawlessly. Haunted House was a perfect choice for the opening film of the evening and allowed the audience to settle in for some lighthearted entertainment before the more serious second film.

The 1925 cinematic adaptation of Phantom of the Opera based on the novel by Gaston Leroux is a hauntingly beautiful visual masterpiece set in the Paris Opera House. Even without sound, the film could stand on its own as the artistic legend that it is. Beheim’s aural vision only added to the suspense, romance, and horror that all exist within the famous tale of a tortured Phantom. Even though it was easy to get entranced by watching the perfect synchronization of the bows in the string section of the ASO, there were moments when the audience was able to forget about the immediate tasks of a live symphony performance because the music fit the movie so splendidly that one could imagine that the sound was part of the original film. The most enthralling moments of that effect were when the Phantom was playing the organ for his muse Christine and the Atwood Concert Hall was filled with the incredible reverberation of the exquisite sounds of the live organ. Those were opportunities that allowed the theatregoers to get lost in the moment and truly enjoy the entertainment that the ASO provided for the evening. Bravo!

Anchorage Symphony Orchestra's Double Magic

Anchorage Symphony Orchestra

Saturday, October 30, 2010 at 8:00pm

Atwood Concert Hall