Since 1937’s “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” right up to last November’s “Zootopia 2,” the films of Walt Disney Studios have enchanted worldwide audiences of all ages. The Vermont Symphony Orchestra is about to transport Vermonters to the world of Disney.{/span}
“Disney is as much a part of my life as he is anybody else’s,” says conductor Matt LaRocca. “I was looking at the music a couple weeks ago, and it is so ingrained — with me and my kids and my siblings and my parents. I grew up with all that stuff.”
LaRocca, VSO artistic advisor and project conductor, will lead the VSO in “Disney in Concert — Around the World,” featuring suites from some of his most popular movies, at 7 p.m. Friday at Rutland’s Paramount Theatre, and at 6 p.m. Saturday, March 21, at The Flynn in Burlington.
From the sweeping savannas of “The Lion King” to the icy magic of “Frozen,” the adventure of “Pirates of the Caribbean,” to the timeless romance of “Beauty and the Beast,” among many other familiar classics, the VSO’s live performance will bring Disney’s most beloved stories to life. The program combines the power of a live symphony orchestra with moments from Disney’s animated masterpieces projected on screen — creating an immersive, family friendly event.
There are three parts of the program that stick out to LaRocca.
“The Lion King” — “The music is absolutely brilliant, so wonderfully written, so perfectly scored — the orchestration is spectacular with what it does.”
“Frozen” — “I love the ‘Frozen’ movie. We have young kids and they’ve seen it many times. I never got a chance to actually sit down and watch it until they’ve been watching it, you know, for probably a couple years after we had first seen it. I never watched it all the way through.”
“I kind of fell in love with the movie because it’s different from the usual Disney formula. It’s funny. There’s really, really, a lot of humor in it. And then there’s twists and turns that kind of you don’t expect. You know, the Prince doesn’t save the day.”
“Disney Classics Overture” — “It has a lot of the old ones, you know, Dumbo, and “Mary Poppins,” which is one of my all-time favorite Disney movies. It’s, you know, a lot of the older themes all woven together.”
And regardless of whether you’ve seen your favorite Disney movies in a theater or streamed them, the experience of a live symphony orchestra is different.
“It feels different,” LaRocca said. “It hits you in a in a way that’s tactile.”
Of course, the music is by many different composers.
“By and large, so much of Disney takes a page out of the Late Romantic playbook for orchestral music,” LaRocca said. “It’s sweeping, it’s a rush. There are moments where it feels like sausage. There are moments, especially in ‘Beauty and the Beast,’ where it feels more and more like Stravinsky, where it’s pushing in more rhythmic ways.
“And then, from the ‘Golden Age’ of Hollywood, we feel that natural evolution of film score music, especially to John Williams.”
The music amplifies what’s happening on the screen.
“It’s operatic,” LaRocca said. “It’s absolutely operatic.
“We can’t wait to see people of all ages, from kids to adults, experience the wonder of bringing that magic to life.”
