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From the darkened hall, somewhere in the middle of the orchestra section, a man shouted out, 鈥淗umphrey Bogart.鈥� A woman closer to the stage chimed in, 鈥淎udrey Hepburn.鈥�

OK, Perlman responded.

Next question: Who starred in the 1995 redux of 鈥淪abrina鈥�?

He scanned the darkened Linda Ronstadt Music Hall. No answer.

TSO Music Director Jos茅 Luis Gomez raised his hand: 鈥淗arrison Ford and Julia Ormond,鈥� he blurted out.

Perlman gave him a quizzical look.

鈥淚 Wikipediaed it,鈥� the conductor confessed with a shrug, and the 79-year-old Perlman, sitting in his motorized scooter a few feet from Gomez鈥檚 podium, burst out laughing.

Yes, the world鈥檚 greatest living violinist was laughing and telling jokes in the improbable setting of an orchestra concert.

Which is what made the TSO鈥檚 feel more like 鈥淎n Evening at Home with Itzhak Perlman.鈥�

In between impeccably performing music from more than a half-dozen great films with the orchestra 鈥� from his signature 鈥淪chindler鈥檚 List,鈥� the ubiquitous 鈥淎s Time Goes By鈥� from 鈥淐asablanca鈥� and the Love Theme from 鈥淐inema Paradiso,鈥� to the wonderful 鈥淧or una cabeza鈥� tango from 鈥淪cent of A Woman,鈥� John Williams鈥檚 dramatically virtuosic theme from 鈥淔ar and Away鈥� and John Barry鈥檚 sweeping main title from 鈥淥ut of Africa鈥� that so vividly painted the picture of Kenya 鈥� Perlman interacted with the audience in a way we鈥檇 never experienced before.

He cracked jokes, asked us questions and made us feel like Music Hall was his living room and we were spending 45 minutes with an old friend.

It was even more special for Gomez, who idolized Perlman when he was a teen playing violin in Venezuela鈥檚 renowned El Sistema music program. In his two-plus decades conducting, Thursday was the first time he worked with Perlman.

Gomez鈥檚 excitement was evident from his ear-to-ear smile that never waned and the time he blushed when Perlman asked him who starred in 鈥淐inema Paradiso鈥� and Gomez answered, incorrectly, 鈥淎 bunch of Italians?鈥�

鈥淔or me, it鈥檚 like seeing a little bit of a piece of the heaven up close,鈥� he said earlier this week. 鈥淚 grew up seeing this man. I鈥檓 like, 鈥極h my God, he鈥檚 gonna be sitting there in front of me. Wow鈥�.鈥�

Gomez and the orchestra opened the first half of Thursday鈥檚 concert with classical works used in films, including Verdi鈥檚 Overture to his opera 鈥淟a Forza del Destino鈥� used in the 1986 French film 鈥淛ean de Florette鈥�; Tchaikovsky鈥檚 鈥淲altz of the Flowers鈥� from 鈥淭he Nutcracker鈥� featured in Disney鈥檚 鈥淔antasia鈥�; Gounod鈥檚 鈥淔uneral March of a Marionette鈥� that served as the opening theme of the 1950s-60s TV series 鈥淎lfred Hitchcock Presents鈥�; and piano great Liszt鈥檚 Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 performed by that Rascally Rabbit Bugs Bunny in Looney Tunes classic 鈥淩hapsody Rabbit.鈥�