By Tim Gaylard, Special to The Roanoke Times

The famed Irish flutist Sir James Galway and his wife, Jeanne, were the featured artists with the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra at the Performing Arts Theatre on Sunday afternoon. Maestro David Stewart Wiley led the appealing program of Glinka, Mozart, Mendelssohn and Cimarosa for a sold-out house of more than 2,000 audience members.

Galway, who has been a leading classical performer for decades, played a joyful rendition of Mozart’s Flute Concerto in D major. Galway applied the sound of his golden flute with admirable breath control, and he displayed sensitive nuances in the dynamic shadings of his instrument, most notably in the sustained beauties of the slow movement.

The audience was lucky to have not just one Galway but two, when Sir James’ wife, Lady Galway, joined him to perform Cimarosa’s Concerto for Two Flutes in G major. The couple sailed through the elegant and graceful score, playing off each others’ musical lines with a unified approach and delightful repartee. The audience responded to this expert partnership with a well-deserved standing ovation. The Galways reciprocated by playing a number of encores, the highlights of the whole concert.

Sir James amused the audience with his Irish wit and charm as he introduced the items. He and his wife played a zippy arrangement of Mozart’s “Rondo Alla Turca,” followed by Cindy McTee’s beautiful arrangement of ”Shenandoah.”

Then Sir James took the stage alone. He played two Irish folk tunes, the latter an absolutely ravishing “Danny Boy.” Then a Bach “Badinerie,” taken at breath-taking speed, was repeated at an even more miraculous presto tempo.

Wiley provided a supportive orchestral sound for the soloists, and let the RSO shine in three crowd-pleasers for the orchestra alone.

In the second half of the program, Wiley conducted Mendelssohn’s beloved tone-poem, known as either the ”Hebrides” or “Fingal’s Cave” overture. In this piece, the audience heard some of the best orchestral wind playing of the concert, especially from the clarinets.

Finally, as the audience was leaving, Sir James appeared one more time and played an Irish tune on his own. The crowd responded with clapping.

Timothy Gaylard is music professor at Washington and Lee University.

Maestro Wiley in Lake Effects recording session.

RSO conductor and Music Director David Wiley and collaborator Kazimir Boyle wrote original pieces for the movie score. Wiley said he had been involved in discussions for almost two years with Sarah Elizabeth Timmins, the young producer of Lake Effects, about the project. Timmins came to an RSO pops concert as a guest and asked Wiley afterwards about contributing to the soundtrack.

“It seemed really like a wonderful possibility,” said Wiley, who splits his time now between the Roanoke Symphony and the Long Island (NY) Philharmonic. “It’s all come together and we’re all terribly excited.”

Seven short selections were recorded; Wiley isn’t sure how much of the music recorded by the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra will survive the editing process but is hoping for 5 to 10 minutes worth. Wagner’s “Ride of the Valkyries” was also recorded by the RSO for the film, which employed many local actors, extras and production personnel.

Wiley has scored arrangements for musicians like Bruce Hornsby and Billy Joel but had never been involved with a movie project. One of his early mentors, the late Leonard Bernstein, often talked about his work for “On the Waterfront,” the Marlon Brando flick from the early 1950’s. “One of his great scores, in addition to ‘West Side Story’ …” noted the curly-haired maestro.

Scoring for movies is “a very different art,” says Wiley, who “loved the script” for Lake Effects. “I think it’s going to be a wonderful film.” Wiley also used scenes from the movie as inspiration as he wrote the score. “I needed to find music that supported the characters and the feel for this.”

Walking around the set at the lake also helped provide motivation. He’s not aware of other regional orchestras being involved in such a project; usually studio orchestras from big cities like Los Angeles, New York or Seattle are contracted for symphonic movie soundtracks. “Our players are excited to try new and different things,” said Wiley, “and they worked very closely with us to make this possible.”

He had met Jane Seymour (an early “Bond girl”) in 1993, recalling the veteran actress as “incredibly gracious and warm … the antithesis of the Diva,” but did not get to meet her during the Lake Effects shoot. Wiley said he has probably staged at least thirty concerts over the years that featured music from films. “I’m a huge fan of movie scores … and classic films. This is another joy for me in that regard.”

Maestro Wiley with Lake Effects star Jane Seymour at Hotel Roanoke

Sarah Elizabeth Timmins is “the driving force behind [Lake Effects] and an incredible lady,” said Wiley, “her energy and enthusiasm … was infectious from the beginning. This was a really collaborative project.” Finding new ways to bring their music to audiences – like the pops series and now the Lake Effects sound track – is one reason Wiley thinks the RSO has been successful and stable. “We are constantly refining our business model for what we do.” Going to the movies “is a new experience for [the RSO players]. It’s always a fun process.”

Wiley also hopes Lake Effects will help attract more film business and visitors to the region. “Projects like this don’t come along very often. When they do, they bring attention to the beauty of our area and the diversity of music in our region – this can be a real tourist destination – I think that is a ‘win-win.’ The Symphony, I think, is part of that. We contribute to the quality of life; we’re a local business. I am hopeful that it will bring attention nationally and internationally to our region.”

The new RSO season starting this fall will be announced in the next few weeks. “I think this is an exciting time for us,” said Wiley, “Our community is going to be, I hope, excited and inspired by some of the things we have planned for next year as well.”

RSO’s Rock Symphony Cirque Serves Up Extraordinary Evening

Admittedly, I was not well-rested for last weekend’s Roanoke Symphony Orchestra performance. After mowing and planting and weeding and mulching and chopping and stacking and generally wiping myself out on a certain  Franklin County plot of land for the better part of the day, I was actually beginning to rue the idea of going at all.

What I needed was a shower, a glass of wine and a long deep back massage (necessarily in that order) – not taking five children, of all things, (three of mine and two imports) to a late evening show across town at the Salem Civic Center.

But the promise had long since been made and even though the mother of the three permanents (for whom the original ticket acquisition was made) had been called away on lacrosse tournament duty in Richmond, I persevered nevertheless.

Admission of Guilt #1

I had not been to a RSO performance in years – as in about sixteen – not so coincidently the age of my oldest child. The victim of the scheduling requirements foisted upon parents of my generation, the most culture I have witnessed in Roanoke outside of attending a few nice art shows and small music offerings, has been Sesame Street Live and the brass quintet featured at the 11:00 PM Christmas Eve Service.

Thus, I was originally excited about the opportunity to go – but now worn out to the point that I feared I might nod off in mid-performance. Would the house lights be down enough to hide such an indiscretion, I wondered? Would I break into an uproarious snore in an upright seated position?

I soon discovered that I shouldn’t have wasted the worry. The combination of RSO’s symphonic precision, the Cirque du Soleil style acrobatic performances and the accompanying Motown act provided by “Jeans and Classics” was an off-the-charts great experience. The result was an electrifying evening of entertainment – one that would have been met with rave reviews in any size market. The fact that it was conceived, coordinated and executed in Roanoke, was one more reminder that the conductor and top-drawer staff of the RSO deserve every bit of the praise they continually garner within and outside the valley.

Did I say sleep? I was on the edge of my seat from the moment Wiley and the gang struck up a strong, if not obligatory, opening allegro from Rossini’s William Tell Overture. The amplification could have been a little stronger, especially in several very up tempo pieces that came later in the evening, but the RSO’s creative vibrancy and clear attention to detail – a reflection of their intrepid conductor – was on full if not “high def” display.

Admission of Guilt #2

Circus acts are just not my thing. At least not typical circus acts involving a distant view of three rings in which trained animals are 90% of the offering. But, give me world class athletes and performers that are among the most accomplished veterans from the internationally acclaimed Cirque du Soleil, and I’m as mystified as the 10 year-old next to me who stared on in slack jawed wonder saying, “How did he do that? How did he do that . . .?” (And to think, it wasn’t happening on a video screen.)

How did they do that indeed – one performer played lead violin while swinging inverted upside down wrapped in long curtains of royal red cloth – others included “Jarek and Darek” who performed an “on ground” two body balancing routine that was one of the most astounding feats of strength, agility and balance I have seen live or otherwise. All this while the orchestra dished out a version of Led Zeplin’s classic “Kashmir” that would have made Jimmy Page and the boys proud to  have been in the room.

By the end of the third performance of combined music and physical artistry a real “chicken or the egg” question arose: Was the music “making” the extraordinary cirque performances? Or were the eloquent bodily expressions so informing the music that it was heard in a brighter, fresher and more inspirational way? The answer, of course, was both, and so all that was needed to round out the evening was a little . . .

Motown.

Admission of Guilt #3

I’m not much of a dancer.  But the Jeans and Classics group responsible for bringing the classic hits of Motown to life were dead on in their performances, and if you weren’t dancing on the main floor, you were at least bouncing a foot in the cheaper seats. (Me.) The lead vocalists didn’t just come close to bringing such artists as Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye and Diana Ross to life – they nailed their performances. And the band that joined the RSO in “groove support” laid down the classic beats with rifts and runs that often paralleled the originals to the point of a being nothing short of haunting.

You don’t just step up and “do” Marvin Gaye, and for that matter, any of the other classic Motown artists on display. This group had logged their hours and it showed, and when matched with Wiley’s creative, yet precisely constructed symphonic backup, the result was spectacular.

Perhaps the best testimony of the night came when I turned around in my seat to see how the children were enjoying the second set. To my surprise, they had all disappeared. Snacks? A Communal bathroom run, maybe? I scanned the floor as I turned back to direct my gaze towards the stage . . .  and there in the corner, so as not to be seen by her “way most un-cool” father, was my ever nonplussed and contrarian 15 year-old daughter, surrounded by the rest of the tribe, all dancing like there was no tomorrow – to music written well over a quarter century ago, performed by musicians my age and older.

Wiley – you just might be on to something.