Presented on this 2LP set in spectacularly huge orchestral sound, you can readily hear Gerrard’s otherworldly contributions to Zimmer’s punchy, pungent tonal palette. The resultant score sounds nothing like conventional Hollywood Roman extravaganzas, ala Spartacus or Ben Hur. But as Dead Can Dance fans knew, Gerrard is not a typical pop vocalist. Initially, the collaboration between the veteran film composer (Zimmer) and pop singer (Gerrard) seemed an odd pairing. Yet Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard’s score has as much to do with the film’s impact as the visuals or narrative. A.Z.Largely thanks to enduring themes of persecution, freedom, and heroism, Gladiator counts itself as one of the new millennium’s blockbuster movies. Presented by the Boston Symphony Orchestra in association with Celebrity Series of Boston. However, the visual projections by Camilla Tassi, based on the arresting work of English painter and sculptor Mary Frank, effectively created a world apart from the mundane, perfect for the piece’s dreamlike narrative of archetypes. According to the synopsis, the Centaur is supposed to be half human and half desk, which no one would have known by looking at Fischer. The semi-staged production didn’t get too elaborate with sets, props, or costumes. It’s almost impossible to imagine anyone as the piece’s narrator, the Centaur, other than Nora Fischer, a vocalist whose theatrical mien gave her the spellbinding presence of an omniscient oracle. The central role of the bereaved father called for greater vocal and dramatic range than Israeli singer Yoni Rechter, who was not on the original recording, gave it. Da Costa, a Golijov collaborator for over 20 years, gave staggering emotional depth and dimension to the role of the grieving mother (the Woman). That said, it’s tough to imagine many groups besides Silkroad doing justice to this musically and culturally intricate score. There is clearly some flexibility in the piece’s instrumentation for example, pipa (Chinese lute) player Wu Man was not present for this performance, but harpist Megan Conley joined in. Most of the instrumentalists and vocalists featured on Silkroad’s 2020 album reprised their roles at Sunday’s performance, which was presented by the Boston Symphony Orchestra in association with Celebrity Series of Boston. (Tell me I wasn’t the only one who heard what might have been an homage to “The Great Gig in the Sky” near the end? Venezuelan jazz singer Biella da Costa’s smoky, wordless wails were immaculate.) The wide array of influences made the piece feel of the moment yet not constrained by it I heard bits that sounded like Jewish folk music and liturgical chanting, American blues, medieval hymns, even the psychedelic rock of “Dark Side of the Moon”-era Pink Floyd. (Left to right) Composer Osvaldo Golijov and soloists Yoni Rechter, Nora Fischer, and Biella da Costa onstage at Symphony Hall. Finally he accepts that “a timeless border stands between here and there … this is to be human.” He allows himself to truly grieve the loss, and he hears the voice of a child - maybe his son and maybe not - singing. In the piece, a father (the Man) whose son has died in an unnamed place and time period feels compelled to walk “there, to him,” and he becomes a sort of macabre Pied Piper as more mourners follow in his meandering wake. The 80-minute piece is adapted from the poetic novel of the same name by Israeli author David Grossman, who wrote the book after the death of his 20-year-old son. The stuff of “Falling Out of Time” is deep grief, and who could chart a straightforward path through grief? In the grand scheme of things it wasn’t important. Maybe there was a printing error, I thought looking later at the 2020 recording of the piece, I realized that the synopsis matched that and not the live version I saw. The order of two other segments was reversed. One segment that was described in the synopsis’s second half showed up early on. Approximately halfway through Sunday afternoon’s performance of Osvaldo Golijov’s “Falling Out of Time” at Symphony Hall, I realized the synopsis I’d been given in the program book didn’t match what was playing out on the stage.
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