SPAC first: Solo trio

by Martin Moynihan, The Knickerbocker News, August 15, 1977

“He doesn’t keep time with the orchestra,” said Edgar Bergen of Arthur Fiedler. “Well he tries to,” responded the wisecracking puppet Charlie McCarthy.

The interchange between the veteran ventriloquist and his long-time companion was typical of the second half of the Philadelphia Orchestra’s concert of pops and light classical music at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center Saturday night. And it made a point for this type of entertainment: adding jocularity and a little show biz to good music doesn’t have to hurt the music and can add to the fun.

Bergen, McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd (in particularly fine form) were “soloists” in a narration of Ogden Nashery to accompany Saint-Saëns’ “Carnival of the Animals,” a piece of music/verse that was the highlight of an evening’s performance before an appreciative near-capacity audience in the SPĄC amphitheater.

Conductor Fiedler, recovering from an illness, walked slowly but conducted with gusto from the podium in a piece of music that showcased the various individual strengths of the Philadelphia Orchestra and also showed off lively skills by duo pianists Annette and Regina DeMedio.

The orchestra was strong under Fiedler, giving a moving interpretation of Tchaikovsky’s “Marche Slav” Opus 31 and handling with equal relish a medley of Cornell University songs (these directed by associate conductor William Smith) and several popular modern selections including “Evergreen” and a surprising “A Fifth of Beethoven,” a rock song inscribed over Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony.

The crowd applauded Fiedler back for three encore selections, “Send in the Clowns,” “Cabaret,” and the inevitable Sousa march, a staple of the conductor’s Boston Pops performances.

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