UTAH SYMPHONY, TENOR TONIO DI PAOLO, GUEST CONDUCTOR JEFF TYZIK, Deer Valley, Saturday.
DEER VALLEY — The Utah Symphony indulged in a celebration of Italy during its Deer Valley concert on Saturday evening.
Guest conductor Jeff Tyzik led the orchestra during an enjoyable two-hour concert that mixed popular Italian music with familiar movie and television themes, along with light banter with the audience.
There were a couple of more serious moments during the concert, though, when tenor Tonio di Paolo, a longtime Utah favorite, ventured into the realm of opera.
He offered beautifully sung renditions of Puccini's "Nessun Dorma," from "Turandot," and "E Lucevan le Stelle," from "Tosca."
Other than these two, however, the concert remained on the light side vocally.
Setting the tone for the evening, Tyzik and the orchestra opened with a medley of Rossini overtures.
He finished the medley predictably enough with the closing section from "William Tell."
Other orchestral selections Saturday were the Intermezzo from Mascagni's opera "Cavalleria Rusticana" and the overture to Verdi's "La Forza del Destino."
On the popular side, the orchestra played:
— A medley of Italian songs
— Tyzik's arrangement of "Napoli" for solo trumpet and orchestra, spotlighting the virtuosity of the symphony's principal trumpet, Nick Norton
— "Notte a Roma," co-written by Tyzik and Doc Severinsen, with Tyzik on cornet
— And three pieces by Henry Mancini: "The Pink Panther," "Moon River" and the theme from the 1960s TV show "Peter Gunn."
Di Paolo began his contribution to the concert with a tribute to Mario Lanza.
Sounding very much like the famed movie-star tenor, di Paolo put feeling and just the right amount of sentiment into a trio of Lanza favorites — "Be My Love," "Because" and "With a Song in My Heart."
Di Paolo closed out the evening with "Torna a Sorriento" and "O Sole Mio."
He gave the latter a mischievous trill, ala Pavarotti.
The tenor also treated the audience to a well-prepared encore of "Arrivederci Roma."
He received the desired reaction as the second stanza was altered to "Arrivederci Salt Lake City."
E-MAIL: ereichel@desnews.com