Chicago Philharmonic 2018-2019 Spring

12 SPRING 2019 | THE CHICAGO PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY 2018 2019 SEASON: SILENT SHERLOCK Join other like minded classical music lovers and get closer to Chicago Philharmonic with a community membership and receive a host of bene ts. Go to chicagophilharmonic.org/community-membership for details. Concerto - $70 Student Connect - Free Includes chamber concert tickets, behind the scenes events, intermission beverages, merchandise and more Available to any music student under 21 Special events, discounts and more Fadeaway (1926) e technique of rotoscoping, whereby an artist creates an animation by tracing live action lm, was originated by Max Fleischer. His rst original character using the technique was a clown, tracing the footage of his brother Dave in a clown costume. A er thousands of hours and tests re ning his work, Koko the Clown was created in 1918 (although he didn’t receive the name Koko until 1924). e clown gained prominence through the Out of the Inkwell series of shorts created by Fleischer rst for Paramount and later for the Goldwyn studios. e series featured Koko being drawn by Fleischer (appearing in live- action as “ e Artist”) and pulling pranks on his creator and going on adventures – o en escaping into the real world. is mix of live-action and animation together was extremely popular with audiences; at the same time Walt Disney was creating the Alice Comedies with a young actress (initially Virginia Davis) in animated Alice in Wonderland -style adventures. For 11 years Out of the Inkwell , and later Inkwell Imps , featured Koko’s adventures across 62 and 56 lms respectively. Koko was temporarily retired in 1929 for legal reasons, though he did make a brief comeback from 1931-1934 appearing in lms alongside other Fleischer Studios characters Bimbo and Betty Boop. e plot of Fadeaway is typical of Koko the Clown stories. Max Fleischer, “ e Artist”, pulls Koko and his companion Fitz the dog from his inkwell. On this occasion, e Artist decides to pull a prank on Koko, tricking him with ‘Fade Out Powder’ which makes the images disappear not long a er they are drawn. Hilarity ensues as Koko and Fitz eventually steal the Fade Out Powder for themselves, escape from the animated world, and cause mayhem in the real world. Nazziola’s score highlights the fun and lightheartedness of the cartoon. Jaunty piano melodies bring to life the world of the 1920’s and the ensemble uses their instruments in non-traditional ways to achieve an almost sound e ect tone – from quirky percussion stings to punctuate a joke to pizzicato strings to highlight a movement. In this way Nazziola is able to recreate some of the feel of those initial early cinema experiences with accompaniment and sometimes sound e ects created live in the theater, but with the depth and nuance of a larger ensemble. Sherlock Jr. (1924) “He was, as we’re now beginning to realize, the greatest of all the clowns in the history of cinema” – Orson Welles Actor, comedian, lm director, producer, screenwriter, and stunt performer Joseph Frank “Buster” Keaton was one of the greatest lm stars of the silent era. Known for his deadpan expression and physical comedy, Keaton has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and an Academy Honorary Award conferred on him in 1959 and his legacy is still seen in cinema today. Keaton’s skills as a storyteller were honed during the age of vaudeville; born into a performing family (his father was partners in a travelling show with the great magician Harry Houdini), he began performing stunts at the age of three and earned the billing “ e Little Boy Who Can’t Be Damaged”. In 1917 he met and developed a partnership with Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle who introduced him to the increasingly popular world of lm. He appeared in 14 Arbuckle short lms, and quickly learned the mechanics of the camera to become Arbuckle’s second director and ‘gag man’. In 1920 he was given his own production unit and began making his own lms. Sherlock Jr. was made during his most artistically brilliant period of lmmaking between 1920 and 1929. His work is distinguished by his dedication to being a visual storyteller. At the time most silent lms used an average of 240 title cards to ‘tell’ the story between the action. Keaton was determined to let the action tell the story and saw each moment as an opportunity for creative storytelling with unique, expressive gesturing and well framed stunts. In fact, all the ‘gags’, or stunts, are lmed in one shot with no cuts meaning Keaton himself is actually falling from the building or jumping through trick walls. Sherlock Jr. follows the story of a shy lm projectionist who is also studying to be a detective. “Don’t try to do two things at once and expect to do justice to both,” warns the opening panel. His attempts to impress his sweetheart by presenting her with a gi he pretends costs more than he paid back res when he is framed for the the of her father’s pocket watch and the gi is used as evidence against him. Separated from his love, he dozes o while projecting the a ernoon movie and dreams he is suddenly within the action of the lm. Not only that, he is playing the greatest detective of all time, Sherlock Jr., and both his sweetheart and the villain are involved in a great mystery. rough a series of happy accidents, and with the help of his trusted assistant Gillette, he manages to avoid being murdered, save the day and win the girl. As Sherlock Jr. he is a suave and successful detective, but can he solve the real life mystery to get his happy ending? Filled with stunning cinematography, Nazziola seamlessly blends the score with the action and enhances the comedy. Featuring contrasting scenery including city streets, a beach, the North Pole and a windy desert setting, the music transports the audiences to far-away places with a colorful palette of violin, piano, bassoon, upright bass, ute/clarinet and percussion.