Two full orchestras and several choirs joined forces Saturday night in Rupp Arena to celebrate the 75th anniversary of Keeneland Race Course in suitably grandiose manner. First, John Nardolillo and the University of Kentucky Symphony Orchestra; then, Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra; and then, both maestros and orchestras together entertained a receptive audience with a diverse program combining light classics, folk songs and popular music from stage and screen.
With the arena's main floor reserved for VIP dinner patrons around tables and the rest of the audience in the stands, the basketball palace seemed transformed into a gigantic old-time nightclub, which enhanced the loose, festive atmosphere of the event.
Both orchestras played very well, although in freestyle concerts like this, occasional mistakes are to be expected. For example, Copland's famous "Hoedown" from Rodeo suffered from spots of rhythmic imprecision, and the combined forces almost fell apart at one point in Bernstein's Overture to Candide, but these quibbles did not really mar the overall musical excellence of the evening.
Each orchestra was at its best in the multimedia segments highlighting their sets. The UKSO played Carmen Dragon's evocative arrangement of Beautiful Dreamer to a short film about Keeneland, narrated live by the racetrack's former president Ted Bassett, with a beautiful violin solo by Jessica Miskelly. Later, the Boston Pops played a soundtrack to The Horse, another short film narrated live by legendary sportscaster and Lexington native Tom Hammond, with a stirring trumpet solo by Bruce Hall. The Boston Pops also shone in its swinging rendition of 42nd Street and its exciting Theme from The Magnificent Seven.
Perhaps the most delicious morsel of the evening was served in Dragon's lush arrangement of De Camptown Races. On the other hand, a choral/orchestral setting of Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody did not work, coming across as uncomfortably square until finally the rock instruments kicked in toward the end of the arrangement.
Another fun feature of the concert had the conductors trade orchestras for one number in each other's sets. Nardolillo, in white tie and tails and working with a baton, made a lively Boston Pops debut with von Suppe's Light Cavalry Overture. Lockhart, in red bow tie and cummerbund and conducting with his hands, led the UKSO in an elegant reading of Rodgers' Carousel Waltz, inspiring particularly fine legato playing from the strings.
The most thrilling part of the evening came when both orchestras joined forces for an unprecedented "side-by-side," in which the UK students shared music stands with the professional Boston Pops players. The huge chorus, composed of the combined UK Choirs, the Lexington Singers and the Lexington Singers Children's Choir, under the direction of Jefferson Johnson and Lori Hetzel, also participated more prominently in this portion of the concert, which began with the rousing sounds of John Williams' Call of the Champions.
Metropolitan Opera soprano Cynthia Lawrence, who also occupies an endowed chair in voice at UK, joined the massed forces for a moving rendition of America the Beautiful, her voice soaring gloriously above the choruses and orchestras. The program ended climactically with Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture, complete with simulated cannon fire to take the excitement over the top.
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