Close to the tip of Stephen Sondheim’s musical “A Little Night time Music,” the orchestra swells to what he is said to have called his Max Steiner moment, one thing out of “Casablanca” or “Gone With the Wind.”

Désirée and Fredrik, former lovers who reconnect however practically miss out on happiness once more, come collectively and kiss. The devices reply with a grand, emotive reprise of the present’s 11 o’clock quantity, “Ship within the Clowns.”

At a concert performance of “A Little Night Music” at David Geffen Corridor on Thursday, the premiere of a brand new orchestration by Sondheim’s longtime collaborator Jonathan Tunick, the 53-piece Orchestra of St. Luke’s set free a fortissimo tutti. Strings and winds soared with the melody, however there was extra: resonant, staggered chords to help it within the low voices, and florid counterpoint. It was a second match not just for the flicks however for the opera home, which, maybe, is the place this new orchestration belongs.

Not all musicals are match for levels past Broadway, however some are. And there was a resurgence, since Sondheim’s demise in 2021, of large-scale revivals of his work. (This, after years of skillfully stripped-down productions by John Doyle.) “Sweeney Todd” returned to Broadway with Tunick’s unique orchestration for practically 30 gamers, crackling with element and musical drama. Final week, “Follies” was offered at Carnegie Corridor with a equally sized ensemble and a starry forged in live performance.

The model of “A Little Night time Music” on Thursday had practically double these forces. If anybody could be trusted with that process, it’s Tunick. He and Sondheim first collaborated on “Firm,” in 1970, and Tunick orchestrated the composer’s closing, unfinished present, “Here We Are,” final yr.

The 2 had a miraculously easy manner of working collectively. Sondheim would play by and sing his scores at a piano, and, based mostly on his contact and vocal shading, Tunick would have sufficient to attract on for the orchestration, teasing out the sound world of every piece. Sondheim was happy, and so have been the leisure academies: Tunick belongs within the elite class of EGOT artists who’ve gained an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony. This month, he gained one other Tony, for orchestrating the hit revival of Sondheim’s “Merrily We Roll Along.”

Because the unique runs of Sondheim’s reveals, Tunick has tailored the scores for quite a lot of ensembles. He can scale in both course; the “Merrily” revival has a pit band of simply 13 musicians. “Merrily” can stand up to that type of discount, partially due to Tunick’s brilliance, but in addition due to the present’s structure. Some works, although, thrive in grandeur, like “Sweeney” and “Follies” and, sure, “A Little Night time Music.”

I’ve heard of “A Little Night time Music” known as Sondheim’s “Rosenkavalier,” and that’s not too beneficiant. Sondheim’s rating, one among his most interesting, shares with Strauss a fin-de-siècle, dreamily waltzing sensibility, and themes concerning the foolishness of affection and the passage of time. In each, there’s knowledge behind the comedy.

Sondheim described his rating as a theme and variations. Numbers, interludes and underscoring are set in waltzy time signatures of three beats: 3/4, 3/2, 6/8 and so forth, with dancing types just like the mazurka and polonaise. The primary act’s finale resembles an opéra bouffe, with eight vocal strains layered in Mozartean neatness and inevitability.

The brand new orchestration by Tunick is, on the entire, recognizably the identical present, however subtly richer, its complexity rendered with recent readability. (One novelty is the restoration of “Foolish Folks,” a tune lower early within the present’s out-of-town tryout.) The construction of Sondheim’s rating comes out higher for it: With Tunick’s contribution, it has much less the oom-pah-pah help of fundamental songwriting, and extra the sense of an built-in entire wherein vocal and instrumental strains are equally important.

There may be subtle counterpoint in “Now,” and Ravelian fragrance surrounding “Liaisons.” Waltzes have the sumptuousness of a Vienna Philharmonic New 12 months’s live performance, with touches like a love-drunk harp and fluttering flute. The large tutti within the “Ship within the Clowns” reprise was so highly effective on Thursday, it was simply heard even over the viewers’s applause.

This was a presentation with plenty of luxurious in scale and casting, although not, seemingly, in rehearsal time. The singers concerned, just like the opera star Susan Graham as Désirée and Cynthia Erivo as Petra, would recommend that the Geffen Corridor run will enhance over its three extra performances. Nevertheless it wasn’t prepared for an opening-night viewers on Thursday.

It moved shortly, in a live performance adaptation of Hugh Wheeler’s ebook by Doyle, and with a light-weight contact by the director Marc Bruni, who saved issues easy, emphasizing small gestures over elaborate theater. However perhaps not shortly sufficient; Tunick carried out with sluggish tempos that usually restrained the teeming rating. It was like watching somebody maintain again a canine that pulls on its leash. The music desires to run. (Tunick might know this present inside and outside, however even Stravinsky wasn’t the very best interpreter of his personal music.)

The Orchestra of St. Luke’s performed with the type of blended confidence heard all through the forged. Graham sang with ease and charisma, however throughout “You Should Meet My Spouse” needed to feed strains to Ron Raines as Fredrik; generally, you possibly can fudge lyrics, however not ones with the precision and wit of Sondheim’s. Kerstin Anderson’s brightly clear Anne was a excessive level, pairing nicely with Jason Gotay’s impassioned Henrik; and Erivo was appropriately cheered for her scene-stealing flip in “The Miller’s Son.” Ruthie Ann Miles, the Beggar Girl within the current “Sweeney” revival, was an amusingly acidic Countess Charlotte, however with barely repressed heartbreak, like one other well-known countess of opera, in “Le Nozze di Figaro.”

In its clumsiness and lack of steadiness, with amplification and orchestration typically working towards one another, this efficiency appeared to signify the issue of the place “A Little Night time Music” would possibly discover a correct residence. It’s too troublesome to unexpectedly throw onstage. Prior to now, it was programmed at New York Metropolis Opera, which is now roughly useless. A run at Encores!, the place Tunick’s immense orchestration of “Titanic” was simply heard, can be too temporary.

What this present deserves is a spot within the repertoire, with the sources it must thrive. Tunick has performed his half. Who will take it from right here?