The fourth Lumenocity light and music show this weekend presents new challenges – instead of capturing the sights and sounds outside Music Hall, radio and TV producers and directors will be broadcasting a live show from inside Taft Theatre.
"Lumenocity: Re-Imagine," the fourth and final Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Cincinnati Pops summer spectacular, moves indoors into the orchestras' temporary home, during massive remodeling of Music Hall.
RADIO: Mark Perzel and Brian O'Donnell host the WGUC-FM (90.9) live broadcast 7-9 p.m. Friday, with the new 45-minute Lumenocity: Re-Imagine concert starting at 8:05 p.m. The first hour features music from the past three "Lumenocity" concerts; interviews with executive producer Dan Bryant from Lightborne, which designed the visuals, and CSO associate conductor Keitaro Harada; and updates from the Lumenocity block partyoutside the Taft on Fifth Street by WVXU-FM reporter TanaWeingartner.
After the concert, Perzel and O'Donnell will interview CSO conductor Louis Langree and Pops conductor John Morris Russell.
TELEVISION: The live simulcast on WCPO-TV and WCET-TV starting 9:30 p.m. Saturday will have a new look and feel, since the animation will be projected on the theater's stage, proscenium arch, walls and ceiling. It will be more of an immersive IMAX movie experience than just seeing images flashing on the front of Music Hall, as in past years.
With WCET-TV director Taylor Feltner retiring in June, Channel 9's Peter Kasprzycki will direct his first "Lumenocity" telecast. He'll direct 12 cameras (some robotic) and a crew of about 40 from the two TV stations.
"I don't think anybody will miss anything. You won't miss the music, you won't miss the animation," promises Kasprzycki, who has been part of the Lumenocity TV team for all four years, and directed Channel 9's "Afterglow" specials following the concert.
"You'll get more on TV than in the theater. You will see more," he says. "We wanted to offer the TV audience the best possible seat. We want you to be immersed in the experience. The audience is in for a treat. It is very poetic. It is very visual. It is very appropriate."
At 9 p.m. Saturday, "Good Morning Tri-State" anchors Kathrine Nero and Chris Riva will host a new special, "Lumenocity: Lighting Up A City Inspired" on Channel 9. It includes stories on Lightborne's planning, Music Hall renovations and the block party, Kasprzycki says.
Channel 48's pre-show at 9 p.m. will be a repeat of "Lumenocity: Making Magic," about the first concert in 2014.
At 9:30 p.m., Nero and Riva will host a one-hour show simulcast by Channels 9 and 48, with "Lumenocity: Re-Imagine" scheduled to start at 9:40 p.m.
At 10:30 p.m., Channel 9 recaps the concert with "Lumenocity: The Afterglow" while WCET-TV returns to normal programming.
MUSIC CUES: Exactly what will you see and hear? Here is a list of the six pieces and the visual cues from the Lumenocity website:
1. John Williams' "Planet Krypton" from the Christopher Reeve's "Superman" movie (1978):
"We open the show with a spark of imagination and action. How can we re-imagine our city together? What to listen for: The remarkable crescendo that builds from a solo trumpet into the epic theme."
2. John Williams' "Olympic Fanfare" (1984):
"The sun rises over Cincinnati and the Taft Theatre with gleaming energy. The familiar theme symbolizes striving for a goal, the heights of human achievement and a wish for global unity. We commemorate the launch of the summer Olympics with this 'goose bump' music."
3. Leonard Bernstein's Symphonic Dances from "West Side Story" (1961):
"Bernstein’s famous music portrays a love story amidst violence, chaos and divisiveness. We see that on the path to greatness, there is hard work, grit and determination. As light emerges, we realize our history is not our future."
4. Leonard Bernstein's Overture to "Candide" (1956):
"As the tension fades, color and energy bound forth. The overture (opening music) to Bernstein’s operetta 'Candide' sparkles with can-can material and the famous song, 'Glitter and Be Gay.'
5. Johannes Brahms' "Symphony No. 3," Movement III (1883):
"A sense of calm and reflection overtakes us. Children play, we go about our lives. This is the feeling that Brahms characterized in his personal motto, 'Frei aber froh' (Free But Happy). While German immigrants were settling Cincinnati, Brahms was across an ocean composing symphonies—this one five years after Music Hall opened."
6. Dmitri Shostakovich's "Symphony No. 5," Movement IV (1937):
"The composer said the theme to this symphony was of suffering, and optimism. The pulsing energy and triumph of this finale never fails to blow your hair back. This is our city re-envisioned in all its gleaming glory."
STREAMING: Lumenocity: Re-Imagine will be streamed live three times – at 9:40 p.m. Friday, and at 3:40 and 9:40 p.m. Saturday – on the Lumenocity2016website.
