In Wednesday’s (9/7) New York Times, Daniel J. Wakin writes, “When it came time to make a movie of his ‘West Side Story,’ a busy Leonard Bernstein entrusted the score to Hollywood and his loyal arrangers. … the guardians of Bernstein’s musical legacy have painstakingly recreated a written score of the soundtrack to be performed live by an orchestra during a screening of the movie, which will be stripped of its instrumental music. The New York Philharmonic will do just that on Wednesday and Thursday evenings at Avery Fisher Hall. This is one of a spate of movie jobs by the Philharmonic this season, including a performance of the score to ‘Henry V’ by William Walton (no movie shown, but narration by Christopher Plummer) on Sept. 17; a program of classic movie score excerpts accompanied by film clips on Oct. 25; and a performance of Philip Glass’s score during a showing of ‘Koyaanisqatsi’ on Nov. 2 and 3. … The [‘West Side Story’] live-orchestra version had its premiere on July 8 and 9 at the Hollywood Bowl by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, old hands at playing movie scores during screenings, and moves on to Chicago and London in the coming months.”
Posted September 8, 2011
