John Williams conducted his own music at the Kimmel. He wowed in a lot more than ‘Star Wars.’
In his tenth decade, Williams' compositional voice seems limitless and nowhere near done.
Menace came to Verizon Hall Tuesday night. Pride, tenderness, and a buoyant elation, too. The Philadelphia Orchestra was the sensitive tool releasing these emotional charges — conjured by an unassuming 92-year-old magician in the fine art of portraying what it means to be human.
This extraordinary night at the orchestra echoed in unexpected ways. If the American spirit is to recover its sense of optimism and ambition, it will be because each one of us has once again heard aspects of our national character that John Williams never stopped hearing — positivity and the power of a common purpose, for starters.
An overreach? You might not have thought so if you had been in the hall with Williams, who was on the podium for the better part of an evening devoted entirely to his film and concert music. The Olympic Fanfare and Theme has its martial elements, but it also takes flight and pulls off the neat sensation of patriotic stars raining down. It’s stirring stuff, designed to make believers of listeners when it premiered in 1984. Now, four decades later, it sets off pangs for an era when a state of believing wasn’t quite so hard.
Williams’ concert music was represented with his Cello Concerto, which, despite a convincing performance by Yo-Yo Ma and conductor Stéphane Denève, came across as largely dour and dissonant. Only in the last movement, “Song,” did Williams touch on something important — in the vein of Mahler, Berg, or Bernstein at their most poignant. It was surprising to hear Ma not entirely secure (but still sweet) in the encore — the Theme from Schindler’s List — where English horn player Jonathan Blumenfeld wove a sound of velvet.
Every artist must grow and develop, but I wondered if a composer with less name recognition had written the same music whether this cello concerto would be getting stage time. And isn’t it enough that Williams is a great film composer? He was the conductor for the second half of the long-sold-out concert, rendering full-blooded characterizations of old friends Princess Leia, Darth Vader, and E.T., and this was enough for me.
Maybe for others, too. Just the first note or two of some pieces triggered synapses and collapsed the decades for listeners who let out spontaneous roars of joy. Williams’ film music does that, and the precision and deep well of sound with which the Philadelphians played had much to do with the impact. Not everyone might be able to say exactly how, technically speaking, Jennifer Montone sent shivers up the spine with a soaring horn solo or Philippe Tondre conveyed vulnerability through an oboe flourish. But listeners know. These performances went straight to the soul.
The John Williams Sound is a time tunnel for many, and at this concert he proved a great deal more. As a conductor, without drawing much attention to himself, he pulled an impressive range of subtleties from the ensemble, both with his facial expressions and an expressive left hand.
As a composer, he appears far from done. One of the three encores was “Helena’s Theme” from Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, released in 2023. In his charming comments, Williams undersold the piece, telling the audience it was meant to echo film music of the 1940s. But the music is hardly a copy of anything. With a quiet, cool glow, strong but tender, it featured a melody so shapely it almost suggested the presence of a ghostly, unsung lyric. That’s great music, whether it’s played in a concert hall or movie house.