orchestration

“That’s why I chose that orchestration that is very what I call ‘aerial,’ and Wagnerian, and kind of also Hollywood — which I never knew that I could do.”

The orchestra, discreetly visible on the set’s upper level, brings out the vibrancy of Tom Kitt’s arrangements and orchestrations.

On Sunday night the Friedman sisters’ production won a Tony Award for best musical revival, as well as acting prizes for two of its stars, Daniel Radcliffe and Jonathan Groff, and another for its orchestrations.

Set to a triumphal score by Amelia Warner, there’s a hint of Bruckheimer’s “Pirates of the Caribbean”-style jauntiness to the powerful orchestration that adds to the sense of melodrama at play.

The orchestration calls for many instruments not typically heard in opera, including two guitars, high cowbells, chimes, maracas, gongs known as temple bowls and a synthesizer that plays back a wide variety of recorded sound.