There couldn’t have been a better night to open a Pops season than Friday, June 29. The moon rose about halfway through a well-planned program of American works, many of them patriotic, a few sung by vocalists Victoria Robertson and Petty Officer Jarrod Fowler. And the Padres were playing in Los Angeles, so traffic was minimal.
It’s obvious from the grand performances of three film works by John Williams “” “Midway March” (“Midway”) “Hymn to the Fallen” (“Saving Private Ryan”) and “March” (from the forgettable “1941”) ” that he is destined to supplant John Philip Sousa in the hearts of Pops audiences, who didn’t hear Sousa until the fireworks began.
It was good to hear favorites such as Morton Gould’s “American Salute” and William Steffe’s melody, which became Julia Ward Howe’s “Battle Hymn of the Republic.” The orchestral arrangement used by the San Diego Symphony is redolent of Peter J. Wilhousky’s much-performed orchestra/choral rendition. The orchestra was also well -heard in salutes to New York City, Chicago and the states of Arizona and Oklahoma, represented musically by “Sunrise” from Ferde Grofe’s “Grand Canyon Suite” and by a medley from the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical.
Robertson, who happens to be Miss USO San Diego, is lovely to look at and wore two different costumes for her singing of “Love Is Sweeping the Country,” “This is My Country” and “America the Beautiful.” With limited range and flexibility, hers is definitely a musical comedy soubrette-type voice, bearable but nothing to phone home about.
With a unique style, pleasant voice and a fine jazz style, Fowler is a find. He was most impressive in “Chicago, My Kind of Town” and “God Bless the USA.”
San Diego Symphony Summer Pops has discontinued the former double-decker bus service from Lane Field, but we found the $10 parking at 8th and Embarcadero South (just beyond the Convention Center) convenient. There’s a free tram from there to the site and back. The able-bodied may take the trolley to the Convention Center station and walk from there.
Upcoming July programs are “Abbamania” July 6 and 7; Fado singer Mariza July 12; “Viva Espana” with the Romero Family July 13 and 14; “Cirque du Symphonie” July 20 and 21; and “The Symphony Strikes Back” (all John Williams music from “Star Wars”) July 26.
Pianist/composer Marvin Hamlisch is featured in “Marvin at the Movies” July 27 and 28.
For more information, parking advisories, menu of available food and tickets, call (619) 235-0804 or visit www.sandiegosymphony.com. Embarcadero Marine Park is at 206 Marina Park Way.
