The Philadelphia Orchestra performed the world premiere of The Rhapsody of Steve Jobs last weekend under the baton of Eun Sun Kim.
“Verizon was near full Saturday, one of the rare times it has been since the orchestra’s return to regular live performances, and it was a welcome sight”
“Filled with pulsing energy, the new work for orchestra depicts, among other things, the moment Jobs unveiled the iPhone”
“The music represents, among other things, the moment Jobs presented the world with its first iPhone. Bates doesn’t depict the event as an act of Promethean significance, but, rather, one of driving optimism, and it is this spirit that infuses the whole work — upbeat with a slight pop-music flavor, highly rhythmic, and limned in a silvery wonder. Trumpets surge, violins race, and you have no doubt that the tech god is going places.”
“Excerpted from the composer’s 2017 opera about the late founder of Apple, the 15-minute suite pulses with a technological undercurrent despite featuring no electronica. Strings and woodwinds swirl through the opening motif in a manner that recalls a computer processing code. But the music turns almost immediately to an expansive, cinematic sweep – think Elmer Bernstein scoring Hud, or even Copland. It’s probably no accident that Bates, a native Philadelphian now based in Northern California, chose to evoke Western soundtracks in his depiction of the man who colonized Silicon Valley. The choice is a smart one that further banishes the concept of “movie music” as a pejorative. The programmatic piece ends with a sweet aria for Jobs’ widow, Laurene, that celebrates the natural beauty to be found just beyond the iPhone screen.”