In Tuesday’s (4/27) Chicago Daily Herald, Scott C. Morgan writes, “The Elgin Symphony Orchestra continues its multiyear project titled ‘Exploring Our American Voice’ by focusing on Hollywood music this spring. … Previous concerts this April focused on American composers like George Gershwin, John Williams and Jerome Kern, but composers from Germany (Franz Waxman, Richard Strauss), Hungary (Miklós Rózsa) and Austria (Erich Wolfgang Korngold) are featured in the ESO concerts ‘Exiles in Hollywood’ this weekend. Though many consider the lush sound of Hollywood movie music to be a distinctly all-American creation, it has strong roots tied to tragic events in Europe. Many European composers and musicians had to flee their native lands during Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party’s rise to power. … But don’t expect to hear Academy Award-winning pops selections from Waxman’s score to ‘Sunset Blvd.,’ Rózsa’s score to ‘Ben Hur’ or Korngold’s ‘The Adventures of Robin Hood.’ The ESO wanted to emphasize the classical concert hall works of these composers.”
Posted April 28, 2010
