The Lehigh Valley classical music scene is about to get a 1970s disco takeover.<\/p>\n
Allentown Symphony Orchestra Pops presents \u201cDancing Queen: The Music of ABBA,\u201d 2 p.m., 7:30 p.m. July 18, Miller Symphony Hall, Allentown.<\/p>\n
\u201cABBA didn\u2019t just write great songs, they made great records and that was their secret,\u201d says Carl Magnus Palm, author of \u201cBright Lights Dark Shadows: The Definitive Biography of ABBA.\u201d<\/p>\n
Under the direction of guest conductor John Devlin, the Allentown Symphony Orchestra Pops, along with Jeans \u2018n Classics guest artists guitarist Adam Martin, bassist Mitch Tyler, pianist Steve Holowitz and drummer Jeff Christmas, and vocalists Katalin Kiss, Andrea Koziol, Callandra Dendias and Kathryn Rose, bring the sounds of ABBA to the stage.<\/p>\n
The concert opens with the 1975 hit \u201cMama Mia!,\u201d written by ABBA members Benny Andersson, Bj\u00f6rn Ulvaeus and ABBA manager Stig Anderson.<\/p>\n
The song was so popular it became the foundation for the hit musical \u201cMamma Mia!,\u201d which opened on Broadway at the Winter Garden Theatre in 2001.<\/p>\n
In 2003 Andersson and Ulvaeus won the Touring Broadway Award for Best Musical Score.<\/p>\n
ABBA\u2019s first major international hit was \u201cWaterloo\u201d (1974), when the group won the Eurovision Song Contest for Sweden. The song reached No. 1 in several countries and No. 6 on the \u201cU.S. Billboard Hot 100.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 1975, although \u201cMama Mia!\u201d was the major hit, two other notable works bolstered the groups presence in the global arena. \u201cI Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do\u201d topped the charts in Australia while reaching No. 15 in the U.S. and \u201cS.O.S.,\u201d with its sultry and melancholy vocals along with upbeat drive, secured their first major worldwide hit since \u201cWaterloo.\u201d<\/p>\n
The concert includes their prominent songs: \u201cFernando\u201d and \u201cMoney, Money, Money\u201d (1976), \u201cKnowing Me, Knowing You\u201d (1977), \u201cSummer Night City\u201d and \u201cTake a Chance on Me\u201d (1978), \u201cDoes Your Mother Know\u201d and \u201cVoulez-Vous\u201d (1979), \u201cSuper Trouper\u201d and \u201cThe Winner Takes It All\u201d (1980) and \u201cLay All Your Love on Me\u201d (1981).<\/p>\n
Two additional selections, \u201cChiquitita\u201d and \u201cI Have a Dream\u201d from their 1979 album \u201cVoulez-Vous\u201d speak to ABBA\u2019s warmth and generosity.<\/p>\n
The lyrics to \u201cChiquitita\u201d provide a comforting message to a youngster. ABBA premiered the song at a UNICEF benefit televised concert where ABBA donated song royalties to UNICEF in recognition of \u201cInternational Year of the Child.\u201d UNICEF has stated that $5 million in royalties and subsequent royalties that continue today have funded programs for at-risk girls and children.<\/p>\n
\u201cI Have a Dream\u201d is a song about hope, optimism and resilience when Europe was experiencing the late-1970s\u2019 energy crisis, massive inflation, widespread labor unrest and was divided by the Iron Curtain. The song has vocals by a children\u2019s choir of students from the Stockholm International School of Sweden.<\/p>\n
The concert closes with \u201cGimme! Gimme! Gimme!\u201d (1979).<\/p>\n
Devlin is Music Director of the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra, Wheeling, W.Va., and the Lancaster Festival Orchestra, Lancaster, Ohio. In 2023, he received the Georg Solti Foundation Career Assistance Award.<\/p>\n
He received master\u2019s and doctoral degrees in orchestral conducting from the University of Maryland School of Music, and an undergraduate degree from Emory University, Atlanta, Ga., graduating Summa Cum Laude with a double major in Clarinet Performance and Latin.<\/p>\n
\u201cDancing Queen: The Music of ABBA,\u201d Allentown Symphony Orchestra Pops, 2 p.m., 7:30 p.m. July 18, Miller Symphony Hall, 23 N. Sixth St., Allentown; Free tickets for those age 21 and under. Tickets: box office: 610-432-6715; https:\/\/www.millersymphonyhall.org<\/p>\n
\u201cClassical View\u201d is a column about classical music concerts, conductors and performers. To request coverage, email: Paul Willistein, Focus editor, pwillistein@tnonline.com<\/p>\n
CONTRIBUTED PHOTOGuest vocalists, \u201cDancing Queen: The Music of ABBA,\u201d Allentown Symphony Orchestra Pops, Miller Symphony Hall, Allentown.<\/p>\n
PHOTO BY DON MEWJohn Devlin<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Lehigh Valley classical music scene is about to get a 1970s disco takeover. Allentown Symphony Orchestra Pops…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":235311,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[153,155,154],"class_list":["post-235310","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem-headlines","tag-bethlehem-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235310","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=235310"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235310\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/235311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=235310"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=235310"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=235310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}