The Lord of the Rings phenomenon

Here's who's coming to the "Lord of the Rings Symphony" (so far), a special concert at the CSO next weekend:

People from Portugal and Wales, as well as from 15 states other than Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana -- California, Arkansas, Florida, Maryland, Texas, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Tennessee, Wisconsin and South Dakota.

The musical panorama -- a two-hour symphony distilled from 12 hours of Howard Shore's award-winning film score from Lord of the Rings Trilogy -- is apparently a huge hit in Norway. (Hmm, they've got trolls and elves...) Last summer, the Oslo Philharmonic played for a crowd of 70,000 in Oslo, and a Bergen concert drew 30,000.

So, even if you haven't noticed the CSO's media blitz -- Q102 radio ads, free bookmarks at Borders, Barnes & Noble, Joseph-Beth, the universities in town, and all 41 branches of the Public Library, ads on Fountain Square's LED board, in movie theaters (Esquire and Mariemont) and through MySpace and Facebook -- someone in Wales has.

For info, click here.