Stuart Weber | The Fifth Row – An Acoustic Tour of Historic Theaters

Published: February 24, 2009

Recording alone, at 3 a.m. in a darkened theater sounds like something a burned-out rocker would do, not a day owl like Stuart Weber. But the classical guitarist, who hails from Bozeman, could only complete this unusual undertaking by avoiding the intrusions posed by everyday hustle-and-bustle.

Having toured nationally in many old theaters across the U.S., Weber appreciated the sound he got in these crown jewels of architecture, and so set out to record himself in 11 of them in the Northern Rockies. Built mostly in the early 20th century, these sonic palaces were constructed for plays and concerts, thus providing that very perfect spot from which to hear everything – “the fifth row.”

Driving many hundreds of miles, setting up equipment and working with gracious theater managers and helpful fire marshals, Weber managed to insure privacy and quietude, letting his guitar mastery and the buildings’ outstanding acoustic spaces do the rest.

Five of his own compositions dot the album, interspersed with classical instrumentals from George Philipp Telemann to Béla Bartók; there’s even a Randy Newman song, for goodness’ sake (“Texas Girl at the Funeral of Her Father,” recorded in Colorado).

Montana theaters are well-represented. Antonín Dvorák’s “Humoreske,” which Weber translated from the original piano score, was recorded at the Wilma Theatre in Missoula; his own “Sacagawea,” with its full bass notes and wispy, harp-like chords, was done at the Fort Peck Theatre; and the Washoe Theatre in Anaconda was the backdrop for my favorite, his “Tango on Spanish Creek.” It’s gorgeous and rollicking, with tumbling low notes and feather-light highs, played in the venue that the Smithsonian Institution has named “the fifth most remarkable theater of its kind in the nation.”

Weber’s “Jefferson Waltz,” commissioned in 2004 for the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial, was recorded in Montana’s oldest continuously operating theater, the Philipsburg Opera House (opened in 1891); and the album’s finale, Samuel Ward’s “America the Beautiful,” was recorded, perhaps fittingly, at the recently refurbished Ellen Theatre in Bozeman.

Weber gives kudos to the many community members in these states who saved the stunning performing arts houses from demolition, and – in a prescient note, given the theatre’s recent reopening – says he hopes, one day soon, the Ellen will be restored to its “former grandeur and serve the local community who anxiously awaits her revival.”

This is a relaxing and thoughtful compilation, with Weber’s musicianship and the theaters’ ambience combining for that “fifth-row” auditory treat.

The CD was recorded and produced in 2008 by Weber and edited by Gil Stober at Peak Recording and Sound, Bozeman. Visit the guitarist at www.bridgerartists.com, or hear him perform March 6 in Glendive and May 2 in Bozeman.

– Mariss McTucker