Cirque de la Symphonie and the Boston Pops make a great combination
A concert in which circus acrobatics and live music come together
Photo Courtesy of Winslow Townson
Cirque Goes to the Cinema
Boston Pops Orchestra
Conducted by Keith Lockhart
Featuring Cirque de la Symphonie
Symphony Hall
Sept. 20, 2024
On Friday, September 20, circus troupe Cirque de la Symphonie performed with the Boston Pops Orchestra as the second concert of Opening Weekend, a series of three concerts from Sept. 19 to Sept. 21 that marked the start of the BSO’s new season. Unlike other Pops concerts, what made this concert special was the combination of circus acrobatics and instrumental music. Not only was the repertoire diverse, but so were the circus performances, which ranged from aerial hoops to the Cyr wheel. Symphony Hall was packed with audience members across all ages, reflecting the BSO’s interest in engaging with a younger demographic.
The concert began with the orchestra performing The Cowboys Overture by John Williams. The fast tempo and the bright timbre of the brass instruments in the opening was delightful to listen to because of its jubilant character and galloping energy. The piece then transitioned to focusing on the strings, as their sweet melodies painted a cinematic, vast landscape reminiscent of the American frontier. The overture was memorable for its rich texture of joyous sounds, from the glockenspiel’s tinkly notes to the horn’s brassy melody.
Although the concert had a few pieces for the orchestra alone, most had an accompanying circus performance, which was the highlight of the concert. The first circus performance featured Vitalii Lykov on the pole with the accom\anying piece “Por una Cabeza,” a famous tango piece by Carlos Gardel. Lykov’s rendition paired well with the music; it was dizzying and intoxicating to watch him spin around the pole with great elegance and intimacy, just as one would find in tango.
Besides Lykov’s pole dance, the circus artists overall did an excellent job of using the music to complement their performance, finely incorporating the two elements together. This characteristic shone in Brandon Grimm and Aubrey Lawrence’s aerial acrobatic duet for “Across the Stars,” a film soundtrack piece from Star Wars. The duo’s mid-air performance was graceful and seamless, eliciting images of the galaxy’s vastness and wonders. The music also captured this quality, especially the string’s moving melody and the harp’s glissandos.
In general, the synergy between the music and performance was well-maintained throughout the concert. For a few pieces, however, it was not clear how the music connected with the performance and vice versa. This made the music take more of a background role, while the limelight was on the circus performance.
One example of this was Vladimir Tsarkov’s juggling of rings while the orchestra played “Devil’s Dance” from The Witches of Eastwick. While Tsarkov’s performance was impressive for its flawless coordination and high tosses, the music’s ominous and tense nature didn’t quite match the performance. Despite this, the circus performances were mesmerizing in their unique ways and never failed to lose the audience’s interest.
The concert closed off strongly with Gabor Czivisz and Iouri Safronov performing an incredibly difficult hand to hand acrobatic act, which stunned the entire audience. The Pops performed Ravel’s iconic Boléro, a well-chosen piece as the snare drum’s consistent beat and the slow crescendo contributed to the buildup of anticipation over time, eventually reaching a climax with a raucous melody and palpable energy. The duo’s rendition paralleled Boléro, as their acrobatic performance became more challenging over time, giving rise to the heightened excitement among the audience.
After the concert ended, the audience gave many rounds of applause for the amazing performance of Cirque de la Symphonie and the Boston Pops. Although balancing the music with circus performance was tricky at times, the concert was a wonderful experience nevertheless. As someone used to attending BSO concerts that follow the conventional style of playing classical repertoire, I was refreshed watching the Pops perform with a circus group.