I have always wondered about space. It seems to be such an immensely vast area that humans can't even begin to understand completely. Because of this, countless print and visual materials have been created to represent the allure and dangers of space. Of all those materials, 2001 A Space Odyssey may be the best. First released in 1968, the film is considered one of the greatest films of all time and certainly one of the most influential science fiction films every made. Its use of special effects, lighting, and minimal dialogue, make it unique among most films. One of the more underrated parts of the film I think is the music. Compose entirely of classical music that had been released previously, the music is incredibly important to the film mostly because of the limited stage acting and dialogue. The NSO did a wonderful job and many of the great moments of the film such as the opener and the use of the "Blue Danube Waltz" were made even better with a use of a live orchestra. I had actually never seen the entire film and I was incredibly impressed with how the music really drove the film in a lot of the parts. Additionally, I thought the film itself was great and really ahead of its time in terms of the production. To top it off, the night was also a celebration of the 45th anniversary of the moon landing and both the head of NASA and Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin were in attendance. Additionally, the performance was being filmed for NASA TV and being broadcast all over the world. A great night to be out and glad I was finally able to see this classic film in its entirety.
As with most classical music shows, this performance had medium attendance and a pretty easy crowd. We were missing two of our lawn staff but luckily we were still able to get two breaks since the show ran until 11:30. Other than the length, the night was simple and the weather, despite brief moments of rain, held out for us once again. After the show, a bunch of the ushers went out for some live music and had a great time. As always, looking forward to more shows in the future!
My favorite part of the night was the opening space sequence accompanied by the "Blue Danube Waltz" One of the many moments in the film where actors take a back seat to simple filming and music, the scene is one of the most iconic of the science fiction genre and it must have been awesome to sees it back in 1968. Such a great film!
DC
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| HAL wasn't having it that day |
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