Variety
Until fairly recently, it was difficult to find a symphony orchestra willing to play movie music in concert. Conductors generally dismissed the form as commercial and unworthy (that is, unless the composers were known classical figures such as Aaron Copland, William Walton or Sergei Prokofiev). Now, however, symphony orchestras are gradually accepting the idea that some film music is strong enough to stand on its own — and, more to the point, it lures audiences eager to hear material that is familiar and evocative of the movie going experience. In other words, say longtime classical observers, it puts patrons in the seats, and that means money at a time when orchestras everywhere are hurting. In the Emerald City, the Seattle Symphony will play Bernard Herrmann’s “Psycho” score live to the Hitchcock picture Oct. 29-31 in Benaroya Hall.