ROCCO PRIOLETTI
Staff Writer
Before Tony DeSare picked up piano and dove into the world of jazz, classical and the Great American Songbook, the music of Billy Joel permeated throughout his musical upbringing. Joel was everywhere — his parents listened to him, and his songs became radio mainstays.
The first album DeSare remembered buying with his own money was Joel’s 1989 release, Storm Front. He cherished the cassette tape; it was the first album that was truly his. From then, he learned “And So It Goes” by listening to the recording.
“I couldn’t even reach the lowest note, which was the middle C,” DeSare said, detailing the first song he ever attempted to sing. “My voice was still changing. That’s how deep it goes.”
When DeSare was in college, Joel gave a lecture that made the pianist pursue music. Now, at 8 p.m. Saturday night in the Amphitheater, DeSare and the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra will breathe new life into familiar favorites from Billy Joel.
“I have a really strong connection to him, and he’s so beloved. It’s been very obvious, by doing these shows, just how much the music means to people,” DeSare said. “So, it’s really a privilege I get to be on stage with a world-class orchestra and present this music to people.”
DeSare, as the show’s singer, pianist and arranger, wanted to encapsulate Joel’s musical spirit throughout his career in the ’70s and ’80s. With an orchestra at the helm, he avoided treating these renditions as a rock-oriented cover band typically would. Despite being originally arranged for a rock band, Joel’s songs seemed already well-orchestrated when tailored for a symphony.
“You can just tell there was such time put into the craft of making these songs,” DeSare said. “So, when it came to orchestrating them — especially songs like ‘Scenes From an Italian Restaurant,’ ‘Ballad of Billy the Kid,’ ‘Angry Young Man / Prelude’ — it’s like it’s already orchestrated. It was actually just a question of assigning the instruments. There wasn’t a lot of reinvention of the wheel.”
DeSare kept beloved Joel tunes like “Scenes From an Italian Restaurant” faithful to the iconic original recordings because “there’s kind of no other way to do it.” However, in the case of “Piano Man,” DeSare’s long history spent performing the classic around New York City piano bars informed his decision to differentiate the well-known arrangement.
“The original ‘Piano Man’ is all in one key. It’s all in the key of C. And I have [added] key changes and a lot more textures, any orchestration just to give it kind of more of an arc,” DeSare said, noting how this change gives the “orchestration kind of some meat … and something for the orchestra to bite into.”
DeSare will be joined under the baton of Principal Pops Conductor Stuart Chafetz.
“Stu is one of my best friends. I mean, we talk all the time.
We’ve worked together all over the country,” DeSare said. “So, whenever we get to work together, we’re just so excited because not only is he fantastic at what he does, [but] he’s always so well prepared.”
He described Chafetz’s fantastic conducting abilities, noting his comedic sensibilities onstage, which provides DeSare with a sense of comfort.
“It’s like we’re two kids getting to play on the playground, you know?” DeSare said.
For two decades, Joel remained one of the biggest artists in the world. However, DeSare noted a period where it became uncool to like his music. Now, he is the “new chairman of the board” and a “legend” among all generations, even Generation Z. This tells DeSare that Joel’s music is here to stay.
“Even if somebody doesn’t think they like Billy Joel, this show will convince them that they actually do,” DeSare said. “… Everybody loves Billy Joel.”
