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closeSaturday, Nov. 07, 2009
Cheerful von Trapp Children can’t blunt sadness of past few days
By CHRIS SHULL
Special to dfw.com
Special to the Star-Telegram/Rachel Parker
The von Trapp Children, from left, Amanda, Sofia, Melanie and Justin, performed with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra on Friday night at Bass Hall. Special to the Star-Telegram/Rachel Parker
FORT WORTH — Murder at Fort Hood. Shootings in Orlando, Fla. Enough, enough. Can an orchestra concert ease the pain, distract us from tragedy?
The Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra certainly tried with its Pops concert Friday at Bass Hall, featuring the von Trapp Children, a quartet of youngsters who re-created the happy harmonies from the 1965 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The Sound of Music.
The songs, as well as finely sculpted waltzes and overtures led by conductor Ron Spigelman, made a case for diversion — yet I couldn’t shake a feeling of sadness, no matter how bright the vocal harmonies.
Justin, Amanda, Melanie and Sofia von Trapp are the great-grandchildren of Captain von Trapp, made famous with his second wife, Maria, in the movie. Their singing of the famous numbers — Do Re Mi, My Favorite Things, The Sound of Music — certainly resonated, with tight four-part harmonies and lovely orchestral accompaniment.
The quartet, dressed in Alpine costumes, were at home in the tunes so connected with their family’s name. The perky Lonely Goatherd got a fine hearing. Edelweiss presented wonderful, satisfying harmonies and carried more poignancy as thoughts turned to soldiers in harm’s way.
Although The Sound of Music was the focal point of the concert, the von Trapp Children scored their biggest hits with music not immediately associated with their family. They projected beautifully J’entends le moulin, keeping time with triangle, claves and finger cymbals, with pianist Shields-Collins Bray providing vigorous accompaniment.
The lovely harmonies of Amazing Grace resonated through Bass Hall.
The orchestra under Spigelman had the concert’s best moments: An overture by Franz Von Suppe and the overture to Die Fledermaus by Johann Strauss took us back to a more cheery Austria long before the von Trapps had to flee.
Those happy dances were the highlights of the concert; young voices, even finely blended, couldn’t blunt the sadness of current events.
$26-$78
www.fwsymphony.org; 817-665-6000
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