CALL me sentimental, but which-ever way you cut it, the RSNO's tribute concert to Jerry Goldsmith on Saturday, with the great man himself conducting in public for the first time in Scotland, was a classic night in the short lifetime of the big hall, a historic night in the long lifetime of the orchestra, and an utterly glorious night in the infinitely varied concert life of the city.
How on earth, one wondered beforehand, could the mighty career of Goldsmith, which extends back over 40 years through every diverse genre of film and tv music, be encapsulated in a single programme? Well, with the trim and elegant 70-year-old himself compering the proceedings (some good anecdotes, nervous delivery), the hall draped in atmospheric lighting and stuffed to near-capacity, it was achieved - successfully and brilliantly - with the organisation of potentially bitty extracts into two large, substantial, and wide-ranging medleys at the core of the programme.
Around these were a number of extended suites, buttressing the big pieces, and framed at one end by his signature music from the latest Star Trek movie, and at the other by his hell-raising marches from MacArthur and Patton.
The range embraced was astonishing, from his big themes for The Sand Pebbles and Air Force One, to the lesser-known, but glorious music from The Russia House and First Knight (exceeding the quality of the films themselves), to his role as constant innovator through his experimental music for Planet of the Apes. The band, sounding ravishing and rousing, with enormous pressure on all sections - especially horns and brass - played its socks off for the man. A night for the record books. Don't miss it in Aberdeen and Edinburgh at the weekend.
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