By GREGORY LASKI
A visit to Heinz Hall, with its luxurious red interior and stately marble columns, is always a treat. Soon, the venue will offer even more gifts when the skyscraper Christmas tree stretches toward the lobby sky.
On Friday evening, listeners prepared for the holiday season as the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra [PSO] performed the score of Home Alone while the film played on a screen suspended above the stage.
From first notes to final credits, it was a pure delight, even if the morning snow had turned to a less magical rain by the time the PSO, under the direction of associate conductor Moon Doh, intoned the recognizable 2oth Century Fox fanfare that introduces Home Alone, the 1990 Chris Columbus film starring Macaulay Culkin as 8-year-old Kevin McCallister, who defends his family home from a duo of Christmas Eve intruders, memorably played by Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern.
PSO previously presented this production in December 2018. It’s part of a regular series of film screenings with the orchestra providing the soundtrack.
In October, PSO played the score of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. They will produce Love Actually this December, with Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope slated for February 2025 and Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring for June.
But for Friday night’s audience — who left empty only a few of the venue’s 2,661 total seats — the winter holidays were top of mind, as many came decked in red and green, with more than one sequin shimmering.
Home Alone boasts a score composed by Oscar- and Grammy Award-winning John Williams, who also wrote the music for Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones, and Raiders of the Lost Ark, among many other Hollywood blockbusters. Now in his 90s, Williams continues to produce, and the PSO’s performance of his Home Alone score shows why.
“Somewhere in My Memory,” the film’s signature song and a leitmotif across the score, resonated powerfully throughout the evening. The Pittsburgh Girls Choir Concentio (directed by Dr. Ryan Keeling), along with members of the Westminster College Choirs (Keeling) and Duquesne University Choirs (directed by Dr. Caron Daley), hit the haunting high notes as they sang the lyrics from their position behind the orchestra.
Heinz Hall’s movie screen is different from the premium XD format you’ll find at the most high-tech theaters, and onFriday, the dialogue sometimes sounded tinny set against the lush sounds of Williams’s score. But the PSO was the true star of this screening, Culkin’s child-star power aside.
And that’s fitting as the orchestra prepares for a December performance sprint, which includes the annual Holiday Pops, whose spirit the PSO previewed in a rousing post-credits encore that carried everyone right into the winter holidays, ready or not.
TICKETS AND DETAILS
The Pittsburgh Symphony presentation of Home Alone In Concert runs Friday., November 22 (7:00 PM) and Sunday, November 24, 2024 (2:30 PM), at Heinz Hall, Details: https://www.pittsburghsymphony.org/production/94369/home-alone
AUTHOR BIO
Gregory Laski holds a PhD in English from Northwestern University and writes about culture and civic life in Pittsburgh and beyond. To learn more about his work, subscribe to his Substack.
Categories: Arts and Ideas, Reviews
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