A rich evening of high notes

"This is the beginning of the Simon and Fleming era!" proclaimed Paul Simon by way of introducing his first-ever duet with opera star Renee Fleming. The song was a natural, "The Sounds of Silence."

"You've kept your high notes!" said Fleming with a playful air of envy.

The occasion was the Academy of Music 154th Anniversary Concert, the Philadelphia Orchestra's single biggest fund-raiser of the year and reputed to be one of the most successful events of its kind among American orchestras. A well-heeled crowd of 2,100 (just short of sold out), with men in white ties and women in full-length gowns, was undaunted by ice and puddles to celebrate the orchestra's onetime home and city's Old World architectural jewel, now inhabited primarily by opera, ballet, and Broadway shows.

Often, such concerts feel like a variety show, with a succession of stars of all sorts doing a turn in the 90-minute intermissionless concert, after which the audience continues onto the Park Hyatt at the Bellevue for drinking, dining, and dancing at the Academy Ball. This year's concert, conducted by Jonathan Nott, was a bit more ambitious. Fleming sang the first Philadelphia performances of two arias from La Boheme - not the familiar Puccini opera, but one written about the same time by Ruggero Leoncavallo - followed by the popular Puccini aria "O mio babbino caro." Having recently recorded a rock album titled Dark Hope, Fleming sang for her encore Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah."

Though Simon in his various forays into world music has been known to perform with stages full of people, he arrived in Philadelphia with new, untried orchestrations to many of his best-known songs that included not only the 100-piece Philadelphia Orchestra but also the 150-voice Philadelphia All City Choir, for "Loves Me Like a Rock."

"The orchestra is proud to own this great building and to continue to play beautiful music in it," said orchestra president Allison Vulgamore. "Where else and with what other orchestra can Renee Fleming and Paul Simon be seen in collaboration?"

The theme of the concert was protecting Philadelphia's cultural treasures - an expensive proposition that explains why some concert and ball tickets rose to four figures, with the concert-only ticket priced at $185. In exchange, there was a great sense of occasion, with an unusually grand presentation of the orchestra under atmospheric colored lights and celebrities both onstage and in attendance.

Simon wasn't the only rock star in the house: Academy president Joanna McNeil Lewis arrived with R.E.M. bassist Mike Mills. NBC anchor Lester Holt was scheduled to be the host, but departed hours before curtain time to cover the crisis in Egypt. In his place, Tamron Hall, also of NBC, playfully confided to the audience that her slinky black gown was what Holt had planned to wear. Mayor Nutter and other city officials were in attendance.

If there was an artistic question at hand - and usually there isn't in such fund-raising concerts - it was this: Under gala circumstances, would Paul Simon be able to be Paul Simon? The answer: Mostly. Though the orchestrations were occasionally unwieldy, he was in animated form, even if, in a rare moment of intimidation, he respectfully took the vocal backseat during his duet with Fleming.

Elsewhere, he gave a strong vocal treatment to the intricate "Boy in the Bubble" and introduced a discursive new song, "Love and Hard Times," which began with religious imagery about when "God's only son paid a courtesy call on Earth." The song will be commercially released this spring.

For the gospel-tinged "Loves Me Like a Rock," the All City Choir couldn't resist clapping, and those in the less-expensive seats in the Family Circle joined in. The rest - as John Lennon once said when the queen of England was in the audience - just rattled their jewelry.