Concert Review: Beethoven Meets Coldplay, Indianapolis On

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CONCERT REVIEW: BEETHOVEN MEETS COLDPLAY

BY: CAVAN MCGINSIE

“Coldplay explores, through their music and lyrics, universal themes such as doubt, fear, hope and love; many would assert that, out of any composer, Beethoven most directly and strikingly addresses these themes.”

It is with this thought in mind that Steve Hackman sat down to compose his orchestral piece, “Coldplay V. Beethoven.” It was the perfect piece for the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra’s Happy Hour series. The Happy Hour is being utilized to bring the ostensibly sophisticated symphony to a younger, inexperienced crowd. This past Thursday’s Happy Hour marked the 5th anniversary of the affair — which is the brainchild of Steve Hackman and artists-in-residence, Time For Three — and it was evident that the event is effective.

PHOTO CREDIT: CAVAN MCGINSIE

Looking around the ornate, expansive lobby of the Hilbert Circle Theatre (home to the ISO since 1984,) I saw young, old, male, female, blue collar, white collar, pink collar, maybe even some teal and gold collars. The packed room was ebullient as everyone moved around one another, chatting over plastic cups filled with Shellback Rum & Coke, Stella Artois, Prairie Vodka Cucumber Cocktails, and red, red wine. Seeing the mass, buzzing around in anticipation for the sold- out event, it was hard to believe we nearly lost the ISO in 2012. It was a major improvement from my first experience with the Happy Hour series back in 2010, where the crowd was quite lacking. Despite the small crowd, the show, even at its conception, had been exhilarating for me.

I had high hopes as I made my way to my seat. (If you go, claim your spot early by tossing your coat on a seat to avoid the nosebleed, since it's general admission.) The backdrop looked like a sky full of stars, reminiscent of Coldplay’s newest single and Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata. Time For Three made their way onto stage and moved immediately into a beautiful, Celtic-y rendition of the quiet, happy, little known Coldplay song U.F.O. The piece evoked much emotion and had an enormous response from the crowd. It set the bar for the rest of Steve Hackman’s piece.

converted by Web2PDFConvert.com TIME FOR THREE VIA THE INDY STAR

After thanking the sponsors, Hackman proceeded to explain his thought process on the piece, which tied the lyrics of Coldplay and the life of Beethoven together. He then announced the trio of singers for the evening: Will Post, Ben Jones, and Malia Civetz. Steve raised his baton, the audience hushed, and the Eroica commenced. Allegro con Brio, the first movement, was deftly blended with the lyrics from Clocks, 42, and Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall. The piece was wonderfully composed and the instrumentals were striking. Post, Jones, and Civetz, inspiringly layered their vocals with the instrumentals. All three vocalists were incredibly talented and yet all had entirely different styles, which was gave the performance a nice diverse sound.

Civetz, a 20-year-old in her junior year at USC, was my favorite vocalist of the evening and showed off her soulful, heartfelt voice in the second movement, during her rendition of The Scientist. Backed by Chicagoan, Will Post, she blew the audience away. While the entirety of the group tried to make the next song, Princess In China, work, I was terribly underwhelmed by that song and thought it a poor choice. Not that anyone in this performance was doing anything wrong, but it made it glaringly obvious how cheesy and childish the Coldplay lyrics are. (Sidenote: I love Coldplay. I’ve seen them live multiple times. That song’s lyrics are ridiculous though.)

The performance went on to the best of all four movements, the Finale. Viva La Vida’s lyrics rang out over the symphony and when the instruments jumped into the signature anthemic “Whoa-oh-whoa-oh-ohh, whoa-oh-whoa-oh-ohhhh” originally sung by Chris Martin, it was perfection.

The piece ended with the moving, hopeful, yet emotional song about being in a relationship with someone with a tortured past, Fix You. The last few measures tied back into The Scientist, which had been the strongest part of the whole. As the vocals finished, “Now let’s go back to the start,” the audience rose from their seats and sounded an emphatic applause.

converted by Web2PDFConvert.com PHOTO CREDIT: @KARENMANGIA

All in all, Happy Hour was everything it set out to be five years ago. It was a meshing of two time-periods, two artists, and two cultures. It was successful. The most successful it has been since it began. I believe it was a great night for all that attended and for the performers. I hope it continues and thrives. Most of all, I hope to see you at the next one in April. I know I will be there!

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HAPPY HOUR AT THE SYMPHONY ( 198 = 8 ) HILBERT CIRCLE THEATRE

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