Photo courtesy: David Dunkle
Photo courtesy: David DunkleIF YOU GO
What: Cirque de la Symphonie, Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra Pops Series
When: 3 p.m. Sunday, March 3
Where: The Forum, Fifth and Walnut streets, Harrisburg
Tickets: $12-$64 (show is sold out)
Info: www.harrisburgsymphony.org or 717-545-5527
REVIEW
By DAVID N. DUNKLE
They seemed mismatched, at first, these powerful athletes and such delicate music.
Yet, as the performers from Cirque de la Symphonie soared above the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra at The Forum on Saturday night, the sinuous power of muscle melded surprisingly well with the swirling notes emanating from strings, woodwinds, brass and percussion.
By the time the dazzling aerial duo of Christine Van Loo and Alexander Streltsov flew aloft, entwined in ribbons of red silk while HSO maestro Stuart Malina led his musicians in a performance of Tchaikovsky's sumptuous Waltz from "Swan Lake," a sold-out house at The Forum was entirely entranced by this breathtaking marriage of acrobatics and classical music.
The pops concert was rousing entertainment for both eyes and ears, as world-class athletes tumbled, juggled and contorted above the stage and occasionally over the audience. which responded with frequent applause in addition to gasps of amazement. The show will be repeated at 3 p.m. today in The Forum, but that performance is also sold out.
Music and circuses have a long-standing relationship, dating back to at least the ancient Greeks. By the Barnum and Bailey heyday of the mid 20th century, that music had evolved into mostly crass up-tempo ditties characterized by the whistling sound of the calliope. Its function was solely to amp the crowd as lion tamers, trained seals and trapeze artists provided the entertainment.
That is not the approach of Cirque de la Symphonie, an Atlanta-based troupe that has performed with many leading orchestras since its formation in 2005 by co-founders Streltsov and Georgia native Bill Allen. Following in the footsteps of wildly successful contemporary circuses like Canada's Cirque du Soleil, the partners have mapped out their own turf with carefully choreographed routines artfully performed in time with melodic classical masterpieces by composers such as Bizet, Rimsky-Korsakov and Khachaturian.
The end result is a breathtaking mind meld of gymnastics set against an orchestral backdrop of beautiful music from works such as "Swan Lake" and "Carmen."
This adventuresome troupe found willing partners Saturday night in Malina and his orchestra, which was pushed to the back of the stage to provide space for Cirque de la Symphonie performers. The foreshortened formation caused the music to wash out ever so slightly, but that was a small price to pay for the sequined artistry on display.
Malina, working with his back to the performers, likely had the worst seat in the house. At one point he laughingly complained, "I can't see anything," although he did occasionally turn around to take a peak during big applause moments. The conductor also got to participate in a cool magic trick to open the second half of the show, which may have alleviated his frustration at missing so many visual treats going on behind him.
After an appropriate orchestra-only opening featuring Dvorak's fast-moving Carnival Overture, aerialist Van Loo became the first Cirque de la Symphonie member to join the orchestra on stage. She performed several eye-popping stunts suspended from a rope some 15 feet above the stage, as Malina led the orchestra in an elegantly creepy turn on Saint-Saen's familiar tone poem, "Danse Macabre."
The power and grace of Cirque de la Symphonie's artists, who hail from all over the world, continued to be on display as the fast-paced program rolled on. Ring juggling by Vladimir Tsarkov and cube spinning by the versatile Streltsov were accompanied by separate pieces from Bizet's Carmen Suites. Later, HSO accompanied contortionist Elena Tsarkova on Khachaturian's Waltz from "Masquerade," while phenomenal juggler Vladimir Tsarkov dazzled to the same composer's well-known Sabre Dance from "Gayaneh."
This was rare entertainment indeed, a delightfully unexpected merger of art forms that produced high-flying thrills in a state-owned venue which generally hosts rather more staid entertainments. The attraction for the public was apparent, as HSO scored a rare complete sellout for both weekend performances.
High times, indeed.
