A Bittersweet Bowl Anniversary Party

The events of the week remade the Fireworks Finale at the Hollywood Bowl--originally meant to mark the 10th anniversary of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. The orchestra’s principal conductor, John Mauceri, on Friday began the first of the three weekend concerts with the national anthem, as usual, but the rest of the concert was reconfigured--by necessity and design.

First, the fireworks display was removed. Then a new, two-minute piece was added to the opening musical group. Jerry Goldsmith’s quietly intense threnody, “September 11, 2001,” was composed Thursday, Mauceri told the audience, “in honor of the Day of National Prayer and Remembrance.”

Brief and touching, the new piece added an emotional moment between Copland’s “Fanfare for the Common Man” and “Simple Gifts,” from “Appalachian Spring.” The orchestra played here, as it did all evening long, with tight professionalism and virtuosic skills.

One of the scheduled singers, 12-year-old country star Billy Gilman, was waylaid by travel problems and was replaced by 16-year-old Lauren Frost, who sang “You’ll Never Know,” “Someone to Watch Over Me” and “Over the Rainbow” with panache but no special skills in the first third of the evening.

At the other end of the proceedings, Nell Carter--who lives in L.A. and whose participation in the event was never in doubt--sang “My Funny Valentine,” excerpts from “South Pacific” and a Duke Ellington medley. Her oddball sensibility and that strange, leprechaun-like sound that can grate as much as entertain was again remarkable.

At midpoint came Marni Nixon, who told a tale of harried travel from the East Coast to make the engagement. Her contrasting song groups included excerpts from the three feature film roles she famously ghost-sang--”The King and I,” “West Side Story” and “My Fair Lady”--plus Schoenberg’s “Galathea,” accompanied by Scott Dunn. Nixon’s versatility remains unchallenged, her vocal abilities abundant and her stage presence charming.

Mauceri’s tasteful and appropriate comments avoided the prolix and provided the right touch of information and solace. His choice to end the evening with “America the Beautiful,” the orchestra joined by all the solo singers and the Cal State Fullerton University Chorus, was the right one, creating an uplifting moment for the large crowd.