Richmond Symphony: Experience the Pops

For the Richmond Symphony, a new season is a chance to see the unexpected. Standard fare of Ravel, Bartok, and many more, of course, line the schedule that begins September 17 and goes through May of next year. For many, however, the Genworth Financial Symphony Pops will stand out as something special.

March 30, 2011; 6:00 AM • by Dean Christesen

RVAJazz presents RVAJazzfest 2011
sponsored in part by Richmond Symphony
Saturday, April 9, 2011, 9pm
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“Pops is a chance to see and hear the orchestra in an unexpected way,” Richmond Symphony’s associate conductor Erin Freeman said. It’s true. Performing a live soundtrack to a film isn’t exactly the norm when it comes to symphony orchestras, nor is performing pop and jazz standards à la a certain vocalist. But October’s Casablanca and January’s tribute to the “First Lady of Song” Ella Fitzgerald are just half of the Pops’ four-concert schedule. Let It Snow! in December and Wild Wild West (featuring the Richmond Ballet and works such as Copland’s Rodeo) in April round out the exciting line-up.

Following up from the Symphony’s performance of Alfred Hitchcock scenes two years ago, they decided to present an entire movie. Casablanca was just released in this format and the Richmond Symphony will be one of the firsts to provide their sounds as a live soundtrack. “I love Casablanca,” Freeman said. “It’s perfect for us to do it since we’re in an old movie theater.”

For Freeman, who in addition to being a conductor is also an accomplished vocalist, “For Ella – The Music of Ella Fitzgerald Starring Patti Austin” stands out as a highlight. “That’s something that you don’t often see in an orchestra,” Freeman said, “but it makes total sense because the music lends itself to that beautiful, lush, full, strong orchestration.”

She describes herself as a huge fan of the singer. “Ella could make her voice sound like just about anything,” Freeman said. “I was always impressed with that virtuosity that she was able to achieve while at the same time making it seem so effortless. It never seemed like she was struggling to create those colors.”

“I love the way she scats,” Freeman continued. “I’m a singer, but I am not so good at scatting! It really is a particular skill, and I think we downplay the difficulty of it because it appears so easy when it’s done so well.”

The effortless improvisation found in Fitzgerald’s recorded music isn’t a musical device often employed by an orchestra, but Freeman points out that improvisation is nothing new. “It’s something that Mozart and Beethoven did all the time,” she said, “just with a different set of scales or a musical language. We think of them as composers, but I think a lot of their compositions were borne out of their ability to improvise with the sounds that they were faced with every day.”

Along with the Pops concerts and a handful of other symphony concerts like Mendelssohn’s Italian Symphony and Handel’s Messiah, Freeman also conducts the LolliPops concerts, which include “Mozart’s Magnificent Voyage,” “Emperor’s New Clothes,” and Benjamin Britten’s The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra.

“We started this series last year because we saw a need, not just for kids but for families,” Freeman said. “What’s been remarkable to me is watching generations come in. You’ll see kids and their parents and their parents all come in and enjoy the same concert together. Everyone’s getting something completely different out of it.”

Like the Symphony Pops, she says, it’s just another way of presenting the orchestra in an unexpected way.

Richmond Symphony Orchestra subscriptions go on sale on May 2 online (richmondsymphony.com) and phone (804 788 1212). Subscription packages include four Pop concerts for 15% off ticket price, compose your own for 10% off ticket price, and students pick four or more concerts for $5 per concert.