Maybe Carl Topilow should be considered the Cecil B. DeMille of pops
conductors. His programs for the Cleveland Pops Orchestra are epics that often
last forever and fill the stage with casts of thousands (all right, hundreds;
so sue me).
Topilow's third annual "Salute to Our Armed Forces" Saturday at
the State Theatre contained about two dozen pieces, the fine Riverside Youth
Chamber Choir, a handful of soloists and a veteran who went on and on about
his wartime experiences with a beloved dog. Dick Goddard, the weatherman with
the sonorous baritone and cheeky sense of humor, broke the ice niftily,
telling the storyteller, "That was longer than World War II."
So seemed the evening. But much of it was stirring, touching and exuberant
enough to prevent a happy audience from heading for the exits. The program,
part concert and part history lesson, blissfully kept the corn as low as an
elephant's toe (with thanks to Oscar Hammerstein II).
Hearing the Pops Orchestra at the State Theatre wasn't exactly heaven. With
no stage shell, a good deal of the sound traveled backstage rather than into
the auditorium. The brasses sometimes sounded like they were sitting on
Chester Avenue.
What did make it to our ears usually was vibrant and colorful, in true
Cleveland Pops tradition, though sometimes in need of another rehearsal.
Topilow whipped up plenty of excitement in the purely orchestral works,
including Dudley Buck's Mendelssohn-inspired "Festive Overture on 'The
Star-Spangled Banner' " and Burce Broughton's rousing "American
Hero."
Another local TV personality, Tim White from WKYC Channel 3, read a deeply
moving letter from a doomed Civil War major to his wife and gave the
interesting history of the bugle call known as "Taps."
There was even an appearance by Abraham Lincoln, portrayed with uncanny
verisimilitude by Jim Getty, who lives in - get this - Gettysburg. He recited
the full "Gettysburg Address" and then repeated several of the lines
as first-person narrator in Copland's "A Lincoln Portrait."
For some reason, two staff sergeants with stellar voices were amplified.
Yet, soprano Christal Rheams did elegant work in three pieces, and
bass-baritone Alvy Powell sang a fiercely expressive "Old Man River"
that he graciously reprised.
Along the way, we heard (and sang) loads of well-known patriotic tunes. The
night's most curious item was Henri Vieuxtemps' variations on "Yankee
Doodle" for violin and orchestra. Merwin Siu, associate principal second
violin of the Toledo Symphony, was the dashing soloist, negotiating all sorts
of fancy fiddling techniques without chuckling.
Everyone beamed, of course, when Sousa's "The Stars and Stripes
Forever" showed up - and not with just two piccolo soloists up front.
Topilow helped them out by playing along with his red clarinet.
DeMille would have approved.
