By David Rogers. BLOWING ROCK, N.C. — Major rock stars did not turn down an invitation to play and Ravi Shankar did not perform through a rainstorm.
And yet, many of the baby boomers in the crowd estimated at nearly 4,000 might well have been revisiting Woodstock in their minds on July 19, as rain pummeled the revelers on the grassy slope leading from the Manor House down to Chetola Lake — while the Symphony of the Mountains, under the direction of Cornelia Laemmli Orth, performed for the 36th edition of Blowing Rock’s pinnacle event of the summer season: Symphony by the Lake.
We didn’t see anyone sliding through mud puddles or skinny-dipping in the lake, but that doesn’t mean people weren’t having a grand time listening (and in many cases, movin’ and groovin’) to a variety of tunes from different musical genres, from an operatic aria in O Sole Mio, to Kevin Robinson’s Fantasia on Appalachian Folk Music, to Lee Greenwood’s God Bless the USA, and so much more.
The curtain raiser performance for this year’s Symphony by the Lake was by East Tennessee’s The Fred Goodwin Band, who offered a number of of old favorites, many with an R&B flavor.
Blowing Rock got to meet new Chetola Mountain Resort owner Warren Cathcart, who not only welcomed the event’s guests, but offered extensive notes of appreciation for the work of the Blowing Rock Chamber of Commerce and the several major sponsors, including Hendrick Automotive. As he has done in the past, Hendrick’s Bobby Rice, who is a seasonal resident of Blowing Rock, offered his own welcoming remarks. He was followed by Mayor Charlie Seller before Orth’s entrance, baton in hand, to lead everyone in the playing and singing of The Star Spangled Banner.
The theme for this year’s Symphony was Live from Vienna and there was plenty of Austrian and other classical composers’ work sprinkled throughout the program, along with other familiar fare:
- John Stafford Smith (orch. by Leopold Stowkowski: The Star Spangled Banner
- Franz von Suppé: Vienna Jubilation Overture
- G. Capurro/E. Di Capua (orch. by Giancarlo Chiaramello): O Sole Mio
- Anthony Hopkins (arr. by Steve Sensenig: And the Waltz Goes On
- Franz Lehár: Das Land des Lachelns No. 11 – Dein ist mein ganzes Herz
- Johann Strauss II: Tritsch – Tratsch – Polka
- Johann Strauss I: Radetzky March
- Guest Conductor, Augustin Lara: Granada
- John Williams: Born on the Fourth of July
- Arnold Schönberg (arr. by Bob Lowden): Les Miserables Medley
- Schonberg/Alain Boublil (arr. by Bob Krongstad(: Bring Him Home from Les Miserables
- Camp Kirkland: Patriotic Overture
- Armed Forces Salute (arr. by Bob Lowden)
- Tony Arata (arr. by Benjamin Dawson): The Dance
- Danoff/Nivert/Denver (arr. by Benjamin Dawson): Take Me Home, Country Roads
The John Williams piece, Born on the Fourth of July, from the soundtrack of the 1989 movie of the same name (starring Tom Cruise) that helped define the conflict of Americans vs. Americans during the Vietnam War, alternated between haunting, dramatic and celebratory. For many in the crowd who lived through the Vietnam conflict era and recalled the movie’s characterizations, the song had special meaning as they relived their own experiences — and conflicts — of the time.
Intermittent rain caused a number of prepared audience members to pop open their umbrellas. The less prepared either embraced the downpour or scurried to the nearest patron tent they could squeeze into. One was heard to capture the sentiment of many mountain folks: “Oh, it’s just a little water.”
In spite of the rain and the overcast, the traditional fireworks display offered another climactic moment for the event — as Blowing Rock’s more genteel version of Woodstock came to an grand end.
