Programme Notes Online
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If you are reading these notes on a device during a concert, please adjust the brightness of your screen so that others are not distracted. Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra Programme Notes Online The printed programme book contains information about multiple events. In each book you’ll find: ● informative programme notes, many newly written ● photos and brief biographies of conductors and soloists ● a list of contract orchestra members ● texts and translations of most sung items ● a list of choir members, where relevant ● at many events a separate list of the players at that particular event will be available As programmes can change at the last minute, please note that the online text may vary slightly from that in the printed version. You may print these programme notes for your personal use without seeking permission, but they may not be reprinted or circulated in any form without the writer's consent. To obtain permission please contact [email protected] Songs from the Musicals for Valentine’s Day Friday 14 February 2020 7.30pm As those who have made true love work know, romance requires patience, a quality at odds with a world in which any song (Spotify) and any person (Tinder) might potentially be available at the press of an icon on any phone in any pocket or handbag, anywhere in the world. And yet the emotions of romance won’t leave us, being fundamental to what it is to be human. So is it any wonder that, rather than the overly-direct, no- questions-asked songs of the present, on the default most romantic day of the year we turn to the music of a previous, less instant, more patient era? And doing so, we find time and again that the music of the great Broadway musicals of the mid-20th century particularly fit the mood, being charming, playful, witty, beautiful and, oh, so flirtatious. So come with us tonight as we celebrate Valentine’s Day by falling head over heels for a selection of the finest, most romantic songs from the Great American Broadway Songbook. We begin with the Overture from The King And I, the first of many works we’ll hear tonight from the pen of the legendary songwriting team of Richard Rodgers (music) and Oscar Hammerstein II (lyrics). The story was based on the real life experiences of English governess Anna Leonowens, who spent six years at the court of the king of Siam in the 1860s. It became a smash Broadway hit in 1951, via a 1943 novel and a 1946 (non-musical) film. Listen out for how many of the iconic melodies you can name. Before Richard Rodgers ever wrote a note with Hammerstein II he enjoyed a hugely successful 20-year musical partnership with Lorenz Hart. One of the last musicals they wrote together was The Boys From Syracuse (1938), based loosely on Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors, and from it we’ll hear Falling In Love With Love, a lyrical waltz which wittily dissects the very idea of romance. Younger Than Springtime finds us back with Rodgers & Hammerstein for a number from South Pacific, a haunting paean to one of the great aspects of romance – youthful innocence. Implicit here is the notion that nothing, not tender years, spring leaves, or romance, lasts for ever. Now for a change of composer – music and lyrics by the great Cole Porter and So In Love from Kiss Me, Kate. A late-night smoky ballad filled with ache and longing, it continues the Shakespeare connection, the show being a version of The Taming of the Shrew. The song is so versatile Shirley Bassey recorded a version which made it seem like a long lost Bond title song. The tragedy of King Arthur, Genevieve and Sir Lancelot is one of the great romances in all literature, so inevitably formed the basis for a great Broadway show, Camelot by Frederick Loewe and Alan Jay Lerner. If Ever Would I Leave You uses the passage of the seasons to capture Lancelot’s romantic devotion. Spamalot, it ain’t. An instrumental diversion now, the lovely Waltz For A Ball, another melody from Richard Rodgers, this time hailing from the only musical he and Oscar Hammerstein II wrote for television, the 1957 Cinderella. The broadcast starred a 21-year-old Julie Andrews and was watched by an estimated 100 million people. Next we stay with Rodgers & Hammerstein for Love, Look Away from Flower Drum Song. Set in San Francisco’s Chinatown, it is a show which is rarely revived due to concerns over the portrayal of Chinese- Americans. Indeed, a new production, 20 years ago, offered a revised, more culturally sensitive plot. Whatever the controversies, it gave us tonight’s lovely melody, a soprano ballad as operatic as it is theatrical. A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum is Stephen Sondheim’s witty take on love and life in ancient Rome. Love, I Hear is classic early Sondheim, stylistically a little more modern than the older generation of Broadway composers, but still with a yearning, tender heart. It’s back to Rodgers & Hart now, for My Funny Valentine – that’s funny peculiar, not ha-ha – a hit from the 1938 show Babes In Arms, a production which also gave us ‘The Lady Is A Tramp’ and ‘Where Or When’. Now another number from South Pacific, and a title which might sum up tonight, Some Enchanted Evening. Finally, taking us to the interval, a medley of three numbers from An American In Paris by George Gershwin, though ‘Love Is Here To Stay’ originally hailed from The Goldwyn Follies, ‘Embraceable You’ from Girl Crazy and ‘Nice Work If You Can Get’ It from A Damsel In Distress, thus demonstrating that recycling is nothing new. We open part two of tonight’s concert with the intoxicating Carousel Waltz from Carousel, by – who else? – Richard Rodgers. It’s followed by If I Loved You from the same show, a number which goes from introspection to celebration in three minutes of musical joy. Goodnight, My Someone comes from the pen of Meredith Willson and the show The Music Man. It’s one we tend to think of involving rambunctious brass bands, but here’s a quieter interlude, a classically flavoured lullaby of charming innocence. Cole Porter takes us into the sophistication of High Society, and a wonderfully refined portrait of True Love amongst the riches and glitter, the definitive take on which surely remains the duet between Bing Crosby and Grace Kelly in the 1956 Hollywood film adaptation. Now back to Sondheim, this time just penning the words, but to accompany the still astounding music of Leonard Bernstein for two numbers from West Side Story – and another Shakespeare connection, the show being Romeo and Juliet in 1950s New York. One Hand, One Heart and A Boy Like That dazzle with their artistry while capturing the intensity and passion of young love. [image with caption: Richard Beymer as Tony and Natalie Wood as Maria in the 1962 film of West Side Story] Composer and lyricist Jerry Herman remains best known for Hello, Dolly!, his 1974 Broadway show, Mack & Mabel, taking 21 years to earn a British production. Perhaps it was the niche subject matter, the tempestuous relationship between real life silent movie stars Mack Sennett and Mabel Normand. Whatever the reason for the show’s low profile, it has a fine score, including the heart-breaking I Won’t Send Roses and valedictory Time Heals. Gershwin again for our penultimate number, this time with his brother, Ira, for ’S Wonderful from Strike Up The Band, our earliest show tonight, dating from 1927. It’s a direct, heartfelt statement of simply how wonderful it is to be loved – albeit by the right person. And finally, back to Bernstein, this time with lyrics by Betty Comden & Adolph Green, and the classic, keeping it together, wrong time, wrong place, saying goodbye song – Some Other Time. It’s a showstopper for the full ensemble, and there’ll not be a dry eye in the house, guaranteed. And with that – well, the encores are sure to have something to mend our broken hearts again, but that would be telling! Programme notes by Gary Dalkin © 2020 .