WASHINGTON — The Kennedy Center is becoming Hogwarts over Thanksgiving weekend.
The NSO Pops will perform John Williams’ iconic score to “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” in a screening with live orchestral accompaniment on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
“It feels like the right time of year,” conductor Steven Reineke said. “We’ve been doing family-friendly movies around Thanksgiving. Heading into Christmastime, ‘Harry Potter’ just feels right. We’ve already done the first movie at Wolf Trap last summer; now here we are on book two, ‘The Chamber of Secrets.’ I’m looking forward to seeing families and kids come out.”
Based on the second book in J.K. Rowling’s saga, the film follows Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) as he returns to Hogwarts, joining Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) and Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) to investigate a series of strange attacks and a voice haunting Harry.
How does Williams’ music for the second movie compare to his score from the 2001 original?
“A lot of different things happen in the second book, which means a lot of different music,” Reineke said. “You get a couple of the same main themes that you know and recognize, but there’s a lot of new themes introduced in this second movie. It’s not just repeating everything from the first one; There’s a ton of music in this one. We play constantly! There’s hardly any time where the orchestra is just sitting around. It’s really chock-full of John Williams music.”
Which musical selections stand out the most?
“One of my favorite parts of the movie to conduct — just because I love the music so much — is in the first half of the movie, there’s a fantastic quidditch match,” Reineke said. “It’s a lot of really exciting music for the orchestra to play and there’s not that much dialogue, so the orchestra gets to shine for about seven minutes during this very heroic quidditch match.”
After a fantastical first half — and a brief intermission — the tone takes a haunting shift.
“The second half of the movie gets quite dark and sinister with some of the creatures that we’re introduced to,” Reineke said. “Of course, this is the movie that has Tom Riddle in it — and we find out a little bit more about who Tom Riddle really is. Things really cut loose about halfway through the second half of the movie. It’s pretty much chaos from there to the end.”
Don’t worry, parents; it’s still a family-friendly event, recommended for ages five and up.
“It’s Harry Potter, which is totally kid friendly,” Reineke said. “But everybody knows there’s a Lord Voldemort in this. It’s a wonderfully classic story of good versus evil. J.K. Rowling really hit on something when she created these stories, characters and books. … Kids love it, all the way up through adults. That’s what’s amazing: J.K. Rowling was able to create something that would capture the imagination of such a broad demographic and a wide range of ages.”
Waving his wand like a wizard, Reineke is tempted to shout, “Wingardium Leviosa!”
“It really does feel like a magic wand when I’m holding my conductor’s baton; that’s exactly what it looks like,” Reineke said. “Sometimes I wish I could cast a few spells here and there, just to make sure everything stays exactly on track. I’m certainly hoping to make some magic.”
Keeping everything on track is a major challenge, having to hit all the cues precisely on time.
“It’s the hardest thing I ever do,” Reineke said. “To make it musical and stay right with the movie and hit all the moments you’re supposed to hit. The synchronization takes a lot of concentration. You know that video game ‘Guitar Hero?’ I call it ‘Conductor Hero.’ … I’m watching a separate monitor [so] I see exactly how many I can hit right on the money.”
While it’s a challenge for the orchestra, the end result is worth it for the audience.
“You end up hearing all of the music in a different way than you do in a movie theater, where it might be buried a lot underneath certain dialogue or special effects,” Reineke said. “Here, you get to watch the musicians if you want! I think you should put your eyes on the players every once in a while and see what they have to do to make all of this magic happen.”
Tickets cost $29-$99. Click here for more. Listen to our full chat with Steven Reineke below:
