Versatile Player Turns Out an 18th-Century Glass Act

Theater organist Dennis James is well known to the regulars of the San Diego Symphony’s Nickelodeon series.

The lanky musician with the permanent grin has accompanied every silent film at Copley Symphony Hall since the orchestra inaugurated the series in January, 1988, with a screening of Douglas Fairbanks’ “Robin Hood.”

But what most of the local silent movie fans don’t know is that James is also a world-class virtuoso on the glass armonica and the theremin, an early electronic instrument.

This armonica is composed of a series of bell-shaped glasses on a revolving horizontal axis, with each glass providing a different note. The sound is made by a moistened finger touching the edge of a turning glass.

“Some people refer to these as oddball instruments, but I prefer to categorize them as unusual instruments,” said James, who is in town to accompany a Laurel and Hardy short, “Selling Christmas Trees in Southern California” on the symphony’s holiday WinterPops concerts at 8 p.m. today and Sunday.

“I see my interest in the glass armonica and other forgotten instruments as a natural outgrowth of my work on the theater organ.”

Over the past decade, film buffs and musicians have eagerly restored old silent film prints and unearthed the musical scores and cue sheets that have made it possible to present these pioneer cinema efforts in their proper original ethos. Once sound tracks were added to motion pictures, of course, theater organs and the obligatory pit orchestras in urban movie palaces had become obsolete by the early 1930s.

“The further away we get from the actual era,” James explained, “the greater the impetus is to restore instruments to their original function.”

During his 15 years as resident organist of the Ohio Theatre in Columbus, a post he left a year ago, James honed his accompanying technique and acquired a substantial repertory of scores for silent films.

“People are always saying that 90% of the old silent films were lost, but it is also true that a large percentage of the really good films were preserved. I have been able to find either cue sheets or actual scores for most of these ‘A’ films. From the music I now have, I can play another five seasons of silent films without repeating any I’ve done so far.”

Next year’s plethora of Mozart festivals to mark the bicentennial of the composer’s death has turned into a bonanza of concert dates for James and his glass armonica. A popular instrument in the late 18th Century invented by Ben Franklin, the glass armonica caught the fancy of a number of European composers, including Mozart. He wrote a solo piece for the musical glasses, as the instrument is sometimes called, and a more extended chamber opus, “Adagio and Rondo in C Minor,” K. 617, for glass armonica, flute, oboe, violin and cello.

In 1982, when James first began to teach himself to play the glass armonica, he thought there was little repertory for the obscure instrument, but he has been able to turn up more than 500 pieces that require Franklin’s musical invention.

“Even Mozart’s orchestration of Handel’s ‘Messiah’ calls for the glass armonica,” James noted.

James’ concert travels during the Mozart bicentennial year will take him to festivals in Australia and New Zealand as well as Europe. He is particularly eager to perform the “Adagio and Rondo” with original instrument guru Roger Norrington and his London Classical Players in identical all-Mozart programs in London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall and New York’s Lincoln Center.

“I can’t explain it, but the glass armonica has really caught on in France and in Italy. After I played in it Paris a couple of years ago, Bernard Raffielli of the Sorbonne decided to write a play set in the 18th Century in which I perform on the glass harmonica. He sent me the script, but when the producers realized how execrable my French was, the playwright made my character a mute. We’ve performed the play ‘Glass Music’ in Nantes, Nancy and Angoulem. And, on my next trip to France, we will tape it for French television.”

To keep in practice, James carries one of his glass armonicas with him when traveling. The delicate nature of the instrument’s sound makes it possible for him to practice in his hotel room when he’s not involved in orchestra rehearsals. He keeps his two other glass armonicas packed away in earthquake-proof crating in his Berkeley home.

James will return to San Diego next month (Jan 4, 8 p.m.) to accompany the symphony’s next Nickelodeon series offering, the 1920 classic silent film “Way Down East,” starring Lillian Gish.

Nautical but nice. Leon Natker, director of San Diego Comic Opera, announced a unique performance of Gilbert and Sullivan’s operetta “H.M.S. Pinafore” to be presented the summer of 1992 on the Star of India. The historic sailing ship will then be permanently moored on the Broadway pier, on which bleachers will be built for the audience. The company players will use the 19th-Century ship as their stage and set, aided by some distinctly 20th-Century amplification. The production will be a joint effort of San Diego Comic Opera and the San Diego Maritime Museum, which maintains the Star of India.

Even more opera. San Diego Opera has announced additional performances of Mozart’s “Cosi Fan Tutte” (Jan. 30), Strauss’ “Die Fledermaus” (March 13) and Verdi’s “La Traviata” (May 11). Each of these operas will have five performances, with the best seats available on the added dates. Single tickets for all of the local company’s 1991 season are now sale at the Civic Center box office, 202 C St., and all TicketMaster locations.

For the May 11 “La Traviata” performance, San Diego Opera general director has announced the following cast changes: American soprano Frances Ginsberg will sing the title roles, replacing Christine Weidinger; tenor Walter MacNeil will replace Fernando de la Mora as Alfredo Germont, and baritone Richard J. Clark will replace Richard Stilwell as Giorgio Germont.

Military salute. The San Diego Symphony is offering 300 free tickets to Sunday’s “Holiday Delights!” concert to all military personnel and family members. The free passes will be given out on a first-come basis starting at 4 p.m. at the Copley Symphony Hall box office. (One ticket will be given for each military identification card presented.) The 8 p.m. concert will feature the San Diego Symphony and the St. Paul’s Boys Choir under guest conductor Carl Hermanns.