Strings in the Air

One of our most popular images of “the good old days” immortalized in Impressionist paintings and old Technicolor movies is of people strolling and lolling in a sun-dappled park while a string orchestra plays in the background.

Come Sunday, in a leafy pocket of Griffith Park overlooking Glendale and Burbank you can relive such a bygone day when the Symphony in the Glen, a 40-piece professional orchestra led by Arthur B. Rubinstein, plays compositions by Mozart, Tchaikovsky and other composers for string orchestras.

The free concert begins at 3 p.m. The outdoor performance, one of three Rubinstein will conduct this summer and fall, is not simply an exercise in nostalgia.

“I have a personal affinity for music in the outdoors,” said the Emmy-winning composer and founder of the symphony. “[It] has a very different impact than inside the walls of your living room or a concert hall.”

Having led the concerts for six years, Rubinstein said the natural surroundings create a different relationship between the audience and the music.

“For one thing, the listener is free to connect all his or her senses with the music, not just the ears,” he said.

Sunday’s program offers a spectrum of well-known classical works, including Mozart’s “Eine kleine Nachtmusik,” Vaughan Williams’ “Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis,” Tchaikovsky’s “Serenade for Strings” and two new symphonic works based on traditional American bluegrass music. Those are “Done Gone Waltz” and “The Little Rabbit,” performed with composer Richard Greene as violin soloist.

The eclectic program reflects Rubinstein’s wide-ranging tastes and musical experience. He conducted stage musicals--”A Little Night Music” and “Jesus Christ Superstar”--and composed scores for Matt Groening’s “The Simpsons,” John Badham’s “Stakeout” and Henrik Ibsen’s “The Seagull.”

The program will be preceded by a “Junior Maestro Conducting Class” for children from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m.

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At the Symphony in the Glen’s initial performances some years ago, Rubinstein noticed that kids--generally a third of the audience--would pick up sticks in the park and “conduct” the orchestra from the grass.

For the past few years, he has invited parents to bring their children to the park before the concert for instruction in his art.

Six children, 5 and older, will be selected by lot Sunday to “conduct” with a baton in front of the audience.

Arrive early, especially if you are bringing children to the preconcert program, and allow plenty of time to park and get settled on a spot near the orchestra.

Take a blanket and a picnic basket. Admission and parking are free, but concert organizers encourage visitors to take canned goods for Salvation Army Family Services.

BE THERE

Symphony in the Glen, Sunday, 3 p.m., Griffith Park. To get to the concert site from the Valley, enter the park on Zoo Drive off Interstate 5 and follow the blue-and-white signs on Crystal Springs Drive to the concert parking areas. Call (213) 955-6976.