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By Katrina Margolis
Hometown Weekly Reporter
When Ann Stimson described her concert as a “smorgasbord,” she didn’t lie. Glancing through the program, there were songs from the classical era, from pop culture, from Jewish and Chinese culture, as well as pieces by Scott Joplin. However, the selection appealed to everyone in one way or another, and it was not simply a “sit-back-and-listen” sort of event.
Stimson performed at the Center at the Heights on October 4, “with help from the audience,” as she put it herself on the program. The program’s official title is “Halloween/Smorgasbord Concert.” She began with Halloween music from the Classical tradition. These pieces included “A Night on Bald Mountain” by Mussourgsky and “Danse Macabre” by St. Saens.
However, she quickly moved into Halloween music from the popular tradition, even providing lyrics to a number of songs in order for the audience members to truly be able to participate. Among this section was “The Ghostbusters Theme,” “Monster Mash” and “The Addams Family Theme.” The latter was particularly popular with the crowd, who snapped and sang along.
After the Halloween portion, Stimson announced how she thought it would be nice to play music that explores some of the ethnic traditions of the surrounding areas of Newton and Needham, including Jewish, Chinese, and Russian. Her audience sang along to “Sunrise, Sunset” from “Fiddler On The Roof,” swaying back and forth to the melody. For the following, pieces she gave explanations regarding their origins or meanings.
Even for a piece as ubiquitous as “Hava Nagila,” she explained what it meant and some cultural context. “‘Let Us Rejoice’ is an Israeli folk song played at weddings, bar mitzvahs and bat mitzvahs and other celebrations. It was written in the 1920s as part of a revival of the Hebrew language. Many Olympic figure skaters and gymnasts have performed to it. Harry Belafonte has sung it at almost all of his concerts, saying life is not worthwhile without it,” she explained.
Moving on to the Chinese folksongs, she began with a piece titled “Wa-Ha-Ha!”, a piece Stimson seemed to be particularly fond of herself. “‘Wa-Ha-Ha!’ means something like ‘fa-la-la,’” she said. “It’s nonsense syllables in Chinese! I think it’s a wonderful expression, I’m trying to figure out when I can use it. Anyway, it’s is a joyous expression of the countryside and the children living there.”
The concert finished on an upbeat note, the last piece Stimson performed being Scott Joplin’s “New Rag,” a piece you could see the audience members dancing to in their seats. Overall, the smorgasbord was a well-balanced and entertaining performance to usher in the fall.
