THE ARTS: A marriage of film and symphony orchestra in New Jersey (02/22/98)

THE ARTS: A marriage of film and symphony orchestra in New Jersey

by Adrian Bryttan

Greta Garbo ... alluring, enigmatic, perhaps the greatest film actress ever. John Gilbert ... the unrivaled star of the silent screen who, had he not died so young, would surely have played Rhett Butler, according to "Gone with the Wind" producer David O. Selznick. They appeared together in "Flesh and the Devil," a 1927 silent film stunningly photographed that sent audiences reeling and drew raves from all the critics not only for the acting but also for the direction and the luxurious and original cinematography as well. The "Herald Tribune" noted: "Never before has John Gilbert been so intense in his portrayal of a man in love ... Frankly, we have never in our career seen a seduction scene so perfectly done."

On February 27 and 28 I will conduct the 95-member New Jersey Youth Symphony in a full screening of "Flesh and the Devil" at the John Harms Center for the Arts in Englewood, N.J. The entire orchestra will be visible on stage with carefully masked stand lights while the screen is suspended over the center of the stage.

This event has already attracted quite a bit of media attention. Not only is this the first time anywhere that a youth orchestra has attempted to perform a complete film score in conjunction with the actual film, but this is one of the rare times that any orchestra has been able to coordinate all the complexities involved. On Saturday, February 28, Beatrice Gilbert Fountain, John Gilbert's daughter, will be present to introduce the film and to share some of her thoughts about her father and the Hollywood of his day. The New Jersey PBS television station WNJN has already taped a rehearsal with interviews, "Advertising Age" has called attention to this event, and in addition, there have been many radio interviews.

When I was appointed conductor of the New Jersey Youth Symphony, based in New Providence, N.J., last September I immediately thought of this project for the students. The NJYS is a hand-picked orchestra of the best players in New Jersey, and I knew it would be a challenging and exciting project to perform this score, which is truly operatic in scope with echoes of Wagner, Tchaikovsky and Richard Strauss. The music was composed in 1982 by Carl Davis, who has also written scores for many other silent classics, including "Ben Hur," "Napoleon" and "Phantom of the Opera." The press hailed his music for "Flesh and the Devil" as "magical and voluptuous."

The music perfectly mirrors every twist and turn in the plot and also illuminates the emotional world in ways that pictures and subtitles cannot. The story follows two soldiers, blood brothers from childhood, in 19th century Austria. One of them falls in love with Garbo, and the resulting conflict between the two friends is worked out in a late Romantic style. As the plot progresses, there are seductions, duels, banishment to the Foreign Legion and a surprise ending to take your breath away.

Critics raved about the many original features, including the silhouette staging of the first duel, the moonlit garden scene after the grand ball and the final confrontation on the frozen lake. The coordination of the music with the visual events must be very precise. Here's one example of several points that must absolutely line up to make a short scene work. The upstairs window flutters open, warning the husband getting out of the carriage that his wife has a visitor, the camera then focuses on the count's outstretched hand as he spots the lovers in the room, Gilbert snaps to attention in his army uniform and the count slaps him in the face to challenge him to a duel. Each of these points (and several additional ones in between) must be accurately matched by the music.

Much of my professional conducting has been in opera theaters, including many performances in Lviv and Kharkiv. This is difficult enough, but at least singers will follow you and there is a constant give-and-take. Here the film cannot adjust to you at all, and my task involves quite a bit of estimating and guessing when the next visual event will occur.

The score was one thing, but the film print presented many complications. We received the reels from MGM Turner in California, and it turned out that there were several differences in the actual film footage compared to the London print, on which Carl Davis based his score. In addition, while most of the film runs at 20 frames per second, there are a number of spots where the projectionist must speed up to 22 or come down to 18, basing this on visual cues. This meant our projection company in New York had to find a variable speed controller for the projector and also bore out a new aperture so that the correct dimensions of the original will be shown. We were all very pleased at the razor sharp photography of the print, which is literally a feast for the eye and looks like it was just filmed.

To anyone accustomed to merely hearing a film score as "background," this performance will be quite stirring as the viewer experiences a powerful orchestra simultaneously realizing this colorful and sensitive score in conjunction with a showing of one of the masterpieces of the screen. And it will be live!

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Both Friday and Saturday, February 27 and 28 performances begin at 8 p.m. Tickets are $15, $12 and $9 for students and senior citizens. For reservations call (201) 567-3600, or (908) 771-5544.

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