Photo credit: Adam Miszewski
CineConcerts’ “Star Trek: The Ultimate Voyage” brought an emotionally rich experience to the packed house at the Riverside Theater Sunday night. Featured was music from all five television series and most of the films masterfully played by the Czech National Symphony Orchestra under conductor Justin Freer. Immersive visuals—including a 40-foot projection screen for footage from the shows and movies, an elaborate stage set resembling the bridge of the Enterprise, and sensitive lighting with theme colors for Klingons and Borg—finished the effect. The cherry on top? Recorded narration by actor Michael Dorn between movements.
Milwaukee is part of the concert’s 100-city North American tour celebrating Star Trek’s 50th anniversary and the musicians’ and conductor’s polish and showmanship were apparent. They delivered great technical mastery as well as emotional expressivity—from the soaring strings behind images of humanity’s history of aeronautics to the commanding brass under shots of the Enterprise leaving spacedock. On a practical note, sound mixing was also on point throughout the night. All sections of the orchestra were well balanced and whenever dialogue was included it was crisp and unmissable.
In an interview last week, Freer described the structure of the concert as including both scores set to their originally intended visuals and montages in which a single piece of music is accompanied by scenes from the franchise’s history united by a shared theme such as “Man’s Exploration” or “Life Forms.” In some cases this music has never been heard live before or released on a sound track album, making it all the more special to experience it now in such an epic framework. Looking back on the franchise’s history, the music holds as many cultural references as the stories themselves. In a scene to which Freer specifically drew my attention—Kirk and Spock’s fight on Vulcan from “Amok Time” in season two of “The Original Series”—we find liberal and surprisingly menacing use of tambourine to build suspense. It’s interesting to consider that in 1969 this cheery folk instrument was being put to such innovative use.
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The visuals include plenty of funny lines (thank you, Brent Spiner and every writer who ever gave Data a zinger) to keep the audience entertained, as well as serious moments plumbing Star Trek’s unprecedented ability to tug the heart strings with relatable scenarios of family, friends and colleagues supporting one another through unimaginable adversity. Is it a little strange to package cinematic music with the same pomp as one might Beethoven? Perhaps. But the deep satisfaction palpable in the air on Sunday suggests this is a move with broad appeal. By the end of the encore, I’d heard everything from audible laughter and line quoting to quiet weeping and heartfelt sighs.
