Music Review : Masters of the Supporting Role

Movie music may be a hot new thing in the recordings and concerts of major symphony orchestras, but it has always been a keen interest at the Hollywood Bowl. Friday and Saturday, John Mauceri and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra offered a salute to Universal Studios, an effective survey of scenes in which music is a crucial element.

The Friday performance was not without technical glitches of balance and timing, but all concerned have become highly practiced in the combination of film clips and live music. In remarks, Mauceri identified the large screen above him as the concert’s soloist, which the ensemble would be accompanying.

That they did it so well as to be taken for granted is testimony to their professionalism and high accomplishment. But it is also indicative of the self-effacing and rather insubstantial nature of the event, which was basically like an evening of trailers and previews--all preliminaries and no payoff.

The first half closed with a tribute to the Alfred Hitchcock centenary, most striking in the taut vividness of Bernard Herrmann’s main title to “Vertigo,” one of the few pieces played without film. The second half included some of Alex North’s heroic music for “Spartacus” in memory of director Stanley Kubrick, and inevitable moments from John Williams’ scores: “Jaws,” “Jurassic Park” and “Schindler’s List,” the last with eloquent solo work from concertmaster Bruce Dukov.

The rest of the program featured expansive, generally lyrical excerpts from scores by James Horner, John Barry and Dave Grusin, Franz Waxman’s finale to “The Bride of Frankenstein,” some of Alan Silvestri’s “Back to the Future,” a Jerry Goldsmith bit from “The Mummy” remake, and Scott Joplin’s “The Entertainer.”

Most potent of all and most individual in this lush symphonic company was Henry Mancini’s edgy main title for “Touch of Evil.” Most irrelevant, at least in terms of the orchestra’s live contribution, was a clip of the Andrews Sisters singing “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” from “Buck Privates.”

Mauceri and the orchestra played it all with competent flair, though they were often victimized by the overachieving amplification. In encore they turned to “E.T.,” Woody Woodpecker and “An American Tail,” with singer Nadine Renee working much too hard over-interpreting “Somewhere Out There.”