ROTK: CR Available Again... but for how long!?

I don't know how long this one will last, but Warner Brothers' own online store is now listing the ROTK: CR set as "in stock." No telling when it'll sell out again, so if you've been waiting, this could be your chance. Click quick!

-Doug

Wolf Trap Reviews

Hi everyone,

By all accounts, Wolf Trap was an immense success. (And if you're joining us for the first time after this week's performances, welcome!) Please enjoy this collection of reviews, both from this site's readers and elsewhere on the web. I hope to add to this regularly throughout the next few days.

...and yes, Wolf Trap is already gearing up for The Two Towers next year!


The Washington Post:

"...the music is rich and complex, drawing on a vast range of styles and exotic instruments to evoke J.R.R. Tolkien's world of elves, hobbits and warlocks. But it's more than just background music: Shore uses an elaborate leitmotif technique (where musical themes are associated with specific characters or ideas, and are developed across the entire series) to hold the sprawling tale together. Lush, beautiful and full of intriguing surprises, it's no wonder that it's become one of the most popular film scores ever written."

Read more...

ineti:

My wife and I had a chance to make it to the Wednesday Wolf Trap performance. Other than a minor hiccup with the sound system and a tiny burr in one of the later solos, it was outstanding. We had a great time and listing to a live orchestra with the film was a great way to get a whole new perspective on the beauty of both the film and the music. 

Timothy Fisher:

It will rank as one of the most outstanding experiences I have ever been priviledged to enjoy! I cannot express with enough gratitude, wonder and enthusiasm for Maestro Shore, Maestro Ludwig Wicki, and the forces of the "Filene Center Orchestra", the City Choir of Washington, and the World Children's Choir and the techies of the Filene Center itself how I felt after it concluded and we stepped out in the brisk starry, moonlight, forested night. To have pulled this off as movingly and flawlessly as they did was truly heroic! The massive technical equipment in evidence made one marvel at how easily a minor techinical gitch might have brought this complex event to grief. Yet technically with the superb HD visuals and superb sound equipment this presentation of the theatrical version of the film with adjusted score went off almost without flaw. 

So let me begin by setting the stage: I and a few other Tolkienites arrived at Wolf Trap about 6 pm, got our picnic fixings together and despite light rain and drizzle under greyed skies that gathered late that afternoon and temperature about 65, we sat under the trees at a picnic table and had a grand meal of stuffed mushrooms (what else!), ratatouille, salad, fish, shrimp, wine, eggs and what not... By 7:15 we were done and adjourned for the lecture by Deb Lamberton describing (a la Doug Adams) and playing sound bites of the most important leitmotivs of "Fellowship" which concluded with some important precoursers of Shore's score: Rachmaninoff's 1st Symphony, Berlioz' Symphony Fantastique, and several others, showing his work as fully within the mainstream of Western classical music. 

We settled then into our seats up in the "box" section (front balcony) of the huge Filene Center. The "shed" is magnificent and very impressive. All wood and open on three sides to the grassy lawns and woods beyond and rising high above us, while seating 3800, it outranks the Met here in NYC in seats and the front of the proscenium surely dwarfs that of even the Met! As the evening wore on, the clouds cleared and the temperature dropped (one can imagine the efforts of the instrumentalists had to keep their instruments in tune!), so it was a bracing evening, but we were bundled up in preparation for just that. By the time the concert was over, the stars were out and a full moon in a clear night sky greeted us as we left the auditorium. What a perfect venue for a work (book and film) that is so immersed in the wonders of created nature! 

From our vantage point we could see most of the orchestra seated below on the stage, but half of it was hidden by the movie screen hung in the front of the stage which had to be low so those back under the balcony could see it. There was another large screen hung outside the back for the many hundreds gathered on the fresh green lawn. The chorus was placed behind the orchestra and also mostly hidden from us. Come the intermission, we quietly moved down to the vacant middle orchestra seats to be able to watch the full forces rise to their triumph and I found the orchestral sound so much richer and fuller. The only reason we had settled for the balcony was the inflexible Internet system of offering seat locations, which would have had us in row B for the film!

The first ten minutes were a bit problematic as the sound level of the film dialogue was inadvertantly set too low (I think we might have been hearing only what the lawn folks outside were hearing...) But a sound engineer appeared with a portable computer gizmo and that was soon rectified. The entire orchestra and chorus were extensively miked. The result was an excellent balance of live sound to dialogue... It might seem this vitiated the point of a live acoustical orchestral performance, but obviously the folks on the lawn would have otherwise heard nothing, and I am not sure if much of the miked sound was piped into the auditorium actually. I certainly noticed no time delays between instrumentalists's motions and actual sound. It certainly sounded like a direct instrument to ear sound! 

But as to the heart of the matter: We marvelled as the evening wore on at the precision, professionalism, inspiration, and genuine musicianship of the complex forces massed before us. I can assure you that not a cue was missed (as we could see the monitor in front of Maestro Wicki), not an expressive moment or dynamic crescendo lost. This despite the lights on the score desks of the lead string section intermittently going out early in the second half ! This was eventually fixed thanks to a discreet engineer crawling about to check for the faulty connection. But nary a beat was lost by this fellowship... and the balance, intonation and timing of the orchestra was superb; M. Wicki proved to be an inspired and thoroughly expert master of the score and his forces, so the playing was spot on technically and emotionally. One often simply felt one was hearing the score as one had heard it as recorded in theaters and at home... The volume levels were just right, the climaxes fully met and the quiet moments sublime, the text in Tolkien's various languages clearly, movingly and precisely sung. The soloists, soprano Kaitlyn Lusk, "May It Be", and boy soprano Nelson Reed, "When the Cold of Winter Blows" (who by some unfortunate oversight was not listed in the program!) were more than up to the task and gave us inspired performances to equal those in the original film, but with the refreshing newness of another artist's rendition.

And all this was accomplished in a matter of only 2 or 3 weeks of rehearsal! Obviously, as this was the very first event of the Wolf Trap season, announced only 4 or 5 weeks earlier, the performance had been hastily inserted in the season to be able to happen at all. I am sure this inevitable lack of publicity accounts (plus the cool evening with rain threatening all day) for the fact that I estimate only 60% of the seats and lawn were filled. One can only hope that this will not dampen the guts and enthusiasm of the impresarios and promoters of these film/concerts to schedule more. And one can only surmize that this performance, accomplished so flawlessly and enthusiastically (with only one other scheduled the next day), will be the first of many and that there must be plans to do this more often in the future (perhaps with these very forces going on tour...?). One certainly hopes so! And what a magnificent way to acquaint classical music audiences with the book and the film, and not-so-classical music audiences with a stunning full orchestral original score, and thus introduce them to one most recent example of the glories of classical music. One can imagine just such a Tolkien/PJ/ Shore "Ring" in our Central Park for example! 

This is adds a whole new dimension to classical music multi-media... In line with recent HD live broadcasts of operas from around the country in theaters, this combination of the precision and inspiration of live orchestral sound and superb visuals is perhaps a major step forward in presenting great works of music and attracting new and bigger audiences of all ages and backgrounds. This kind of venue and across the board multi-media (= "gesamtkunstwerk") approach promises to be as significant an innovation as was Wagner's astounding 19th century festival theater at Bayreuth Bavaria (where "that other Ring Cycle" is presented), which often came to mind as I listened and watched. This performance surely was a worthy and superb herald of events to come! Let us hope so, as venue, artists and technicians combined to make this, in Bilbo's words from the film, indeed: "...this will be a night to remember..." 

As our little band left for home, we only regretted we could not stay on for the second performance the next day!

More to come! Send me yours here. 

Wolf Trap Tomorrow

Remember, Wolf Trap's presentation of The Fellowship of the Ring begins tomorrow night. I'm not able to finesse my schedule such that I'll be there this time, but we still need reports. Get your tickets here, bask in the music there, and email me your impressions here!

Enjoy! You're in for a real treat!

Kaitlyn Lusk

If you've seen The Lord of the Rings Symphony anytime in the past four years, there's a very strong chance you've seen soprano, Kaitlyn Lusk. Kaitlyn has spent the last four-plus years of her life touring with the Symphony, performing the work's prominent vocal solos--everything from the razing of Isengard to Gollum's momentary rapture upon reclaiming the One Ring.

A few weeks back, Kaitlyn stepped into a new role when she started singing the solos in Winnipeg's full Fellowship of the Ring performances. Next week she'll appear in Fellowship at Wolf Trap, and it's off to Poland shortly after that. In between this and numerous other projects, Kaitlyn was kind enough to jot down a few words for the blog. She's also offered to stop the comments section to answer a few questions, should they materialize.

Thanks, Kaitlyn!

-Doug

I could call myself a fan, or maybe even obsessed; but in reality I have the privilege of saying I am a part of the continuing story that is The Lord of the Rings. The Lord of the Rings Symphony has benchmarked my life since I was fifteen. As the vocal soloist, I’ve traveled across the globe and always had the best seat in the house: front and center on stage. Sitting next to the conductor and directly in front of the orchestra, I’m the only person who takes in both the audience’s perspective as well as that of the musicians. Whether through the vibrations of my seat, or looking out into the enraptured crowd, I’ve uniquely witnessed hundreds of nights filled with the human and artistic emotions that are inspired by Tolkien’s story and Howard Shore’s beloved music. Through the books, through the movies, and through the LOTR Symphony there is a journey we all take, only I get to see it lit up on your faces. After five years of singing this music, in preparation for the U.S. premiere of The Fellowship of the Ring at Wolf Trap, I can whole-heartedly say I am as thrilled today as I was the first time I got the call to sing. Funny story: after jumping and screaming on the phone they asked if I needed the music and I replied, “Are you kidding? I already know it!” I’ll see you from the stage soon!

Kaitlyn Lusk

Guest Blogger #2: Lynne Price, The City Choir of Washington

Wolf Trap's Fellowship rehearsals have now official begun. Lynne Price of The City Choir of Washington has checked in to keep us all up to speed on the preparations. Enjoy this first installment from Lynne, and keep your eyes open for the next!

-Doug

As a member of The City Choir of Washington, I was thrilled to find out that we would be a part of the American premiere of The Fellowship of the Ring's performance with live music! Having sung at Wolf Trap several times, I know how wonderful the music sounds "in the house," and even on the lawn. And what a thrill it will be for the audience to see the film in high definition on such large screens; makes me almost wish that I could see it instead of being behind the scenes.

So far, we've had three rehearsals with our music director Bob Shafer. Bob is the quintessential classical musician and I knew that this would pose quite a challenge for him, but he was very happy to take on this challenge, knowing that it would provide us with good exposure in the musical community. We have just completed our first season to excellent reviews, and Bob knew that Wolf Trap would no doubt sell out both performances on May 21 and 22.

Thankfully, the Elvish words in the musical score are spelled out phonetically, but we are blessed to have in The City Choir a retired linguist from the Library of Congress who has done extensive research into the pronuniciation of Tolkien's language. However, some of the music is very fast and we are spitting out lots of strange sounding words at break-neck speed! Many of the chorus parts are for 10 parts so all of us are learning music at home, listening to the film soundtracks on CD, and even watching the movie time and again with our scores. Bob has gotten the orchestral score from Wolf Trap so he can learn the music backwards and forwards and I am amazed at the size of both volumes.

I confess that I am a Lord of the Rings fanatic so this opportunity is such a pleasure for me. I think the entire chorus should be supplied with elves' ears!

More later as the concerts approach.....

Lynne Price

Guest Blogger #1: Jill Smith, Berklee College of Music

As you all know, Howard Shore received an honorary doctorate from the Berklee College of Music this past week and guest conducted the orchestra at the school's commencement ceremony. Jill Smith played French horn in the orchestra, and has kindly sent in her impressions of working with Shore. Enjoy!

-Doug

Myself and 60-70 other Berklee students, faculty and Boston Conservatory students were privileged to have the honor of working with Howard Shore for the past two days. Mr. Shore came in to work on Naked Lunch with us on Thursday and as soon as he walked on stage he was ready to get down to business. We started from the beginning of the Main Title and worked our way through until Mr. Shore stopped us to correct the errors that were made. He never yelled or made bitter comments and when he had something to say about the performance, he was always very encouraging towards the players, saying for example, “not quite strings, but it’s getting there, it’s getting there” with a smile. He always complimented each section when they showed their strengths and he made sure that the audience recognized the players before and after the performance of Naked Lunch on Friday evening. Mr. Shore was a wonderful conductor to work with; better than any conductor I’ve ever worked with to this day. He was very encouraging, his conducting was very easy to follow, he always stopped to polish the music as much as he could, and he really cared about every note. That’s something to be highly appreciated in a day where much film music is the result of sequenced notes simply entered into a program.

Book Update: May, 2008

Hi everyone,

Boy I'm glad you're keeping up with the posting here, because I've done a terrible job of updating the blog lately! The work on The Rarities Archives has kept me incredibly busy, but I'm absolutely thrilled with the way everything is coming together. TRA: FOTR and TRA: TTT have been cleaned and tightened now. FOTR is currently clocking at about 2.8 hours (no we haven't lost any music, just trimmed unnecessary talkback from the sessions, standardized the fade ins and outs, etc.) while TTT is coming in just under 2 hours. (FOTR has a lengthier "Making Of" suite attached to it, which is why it's still a bit longer than TTT.) Neither is finished yet... there are still a few materials needed... but both are already at HS' office awaiting comments, requested edits, etc.

TRA: ROTK is slightly over 2 hours right now, though again there are a few bits awaiting inclusion. (If you count the video doc, we'll be well over 3 hours.) Just last night I finished a rough assembly of ROTK's "Making Of" suite, and I think it's truly exciting... more than anything else we've got, it exposes the collaborative creative process that was so integral to these films/scores. There was such a positive energy in the air, and revisiting it is genuinely rewarding... I hope you'll agree!

I'm still actively trying to find a way to get out to Wolf Trap week after next. I have a responsibility in Chicago the morning of May 21, so I'm just trying to assemble some sort of travel plan that allows everything to fit together. Not always the simplest endeavor. I'll keep you updated. One way or the other, I'm sure we'll have thorough coverage from the event. It is the US premiere after all! Remember to keep your eyes of the Wolf Trap Insider as well.

-Doug

Ongoing Discussion Thread [May, 2008]

ROTK: CR is back in stock, FOTR Live is still tromping around the globe, The Rarities Archives continue to fill up with amazing material... plenty to talk about!

Known Issues: There is currently no convenient way to edit your posts after they've been published. Proofread carefully. If you must make corrections, simply post a revised draft and I'll delete the original as quickly as I can.

Last month's posts are accessible here.

ROTK Box Back in Stock

Well, that didn't take long! ROTK: CR is once again sold out at Amazon. Updates as events warrant.