Far, Far Away -- Closer Than Ever Before

I've written before on several occasions about attending symphony concerts in which a movie is projected above the musicians as they play its score live, in its entirety. I've thoroughly enjoyed every one of them. Last night came the granddaddy of them all -- the original Star Wars.

John Williams' score for Star Wars is regarded in many circles to be the best ever written for a film. Fans and experts agree, recognizing it as something special, a modern orchestral masterpiece. I've attended symphony concerts before where they've played excerpts from throughout the saga, but this is the first time the full original movie has been offered.

When I went to see Back to the Future in a similar format, I knew the movie so well that I barely needed to watch it, and could focus completely on the performers. Here, with Star Wars, I not only knew the movie that well, of course, I also knew the music inside and out. I've listened to that soundtrack so many times that I can tell you from the opening brass chord whether its the recording of Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, the prequel trilogy, or The Force Awakens. (Despite being identical on the page, the sound quality and musicians' technique are not identical in the performances.)

This level of familiarity with the music made this concert a particular treat. I would often find myself looking to a section of the orchestra just before they'd play a particular phrase I knew was coming. But also, I did discover new things in the music even after all this time. Because the music was being mixed live in a new space, instruments that were buried in the original recording had moments where they popped through. Also fun were moments when I could see performers playing without being able to discreetly identify them. There's way more piano and harp in the score than I was aware of before or that I could actually hear last night, but seeing it played made me wonder on what subconscious level it was blending with other sounds to create a particular effect.

There were really only a couple of minor things to detract from the experience. First, the film was subtitled so that the dialogue could still be followed even if the live orchestra overpowered it. A great choice -- except that it was subtitled quite inaccurately overall, with a lot of words omitted. It was fortunate that I really only watched the screen when the orchestra wasn't playing anything, since when I did watch the screen, I found it quite distracting. Second, the Colorado Symphony Orchestra wasn't playing in their native space. Rightly expecting a swell of interest in this Star Wars concert, they moved up to the 1st Bank Center, where they could accommodate a larger audience. But that also means this was a custom microphone/sound setup they're not accustomed to, and I'd say it wasn't quite 100% perfectly mixed all the time. Still, these small issues weren't enough to mar a wonderful experience.

Normally, when I write about one of these film/symphony concerts, the window has passed. My recommendation is just that readers consider attending another one like it, next time the opportunity comes around. But this time, for the folks in Denver at least, it's not too late. The CSO is performing Star Wars again tomorrow, Saturday the 24th. So if you want to see and hear it for yourself, snap to it! You won't regret it.