This performance of the Fellowship of the Ring was part of the Royal Albert Halls “Film’s In Concert” series and if this instalment is anything to go by, the rest of the series will be absolutely amazing and a must see. Conducted by Ludwig Wicki with the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, joined by the Crouch End Festival Chorus, this performance is something that I will remember for a very long time.
Orchestra performances are not something that I would normally see, nor were they really something that I was particularly aware of.
My opinion of orchestra performances was that they were black tie affairs strictly for the upper echelons of society and were quite frankly, pretty boring affairs. That opinion has now been entirely turned on its head.
The score of the Lord of the Rings, to those in the know, is already very famous and well regarded. In fact, it won the Oscar for Best Original Score in 2002, so I perhaps shouldn’t have been surprised by how impressive it was. I’ve never really paid attention to film scores before, but when it is being performed live in front of you, its impossible not to have it grab you. This performance was an excellent introduction into both appreciating the scores of wildly popular and successful films, as well as experiencing the wonder of live orchestral performances. I assume the aim of these kind of events is to introduce new audiences to orchestral music, and if the standing ovation at the end of the night from the entire crowd is any indication, it was very successful.
A particular highlight of the night for me, was bizarrely the credits. The credits rolling is usually the most boring part of a film, but as there was nothing visually to keep you entertained, you really focused on the beautiful performance of “May It Be”. Originally written and performed by Enya, the vocalist on the night gave an absolutely faultless rendition which was captivating and quite possibly one of the best vocal performances I have ever seen live.
Special mention also has to be given to the children’s choir, who showed far more discipline and talent than I had at that age, or any age for that matter. The lead child vocalist also gave a very impressive performance both for his age and regardless of it.
The only slight negatives for the evening were some of the sound mixing being slightly off on the actual dialogue in the film, with some sections being too quiet to be heard clearly over the music. There was also some excessive echo at moments, presumably because of the venue, but this was only momentarily distracting.
This was a brilliant introduction to orchestral music performances for me, and I am now very keen to see future performances, both with and without a film playing at the same time. Upcoming performances in this series include Titanic, Harry Potter, and Star Wars, all of which I think would be well worth seeing, especially if you are already a fan of the films and want to take your enjoyment of them to the next level.
I can’t finish this review without mentioning the joy I felt during a certain meme-famous moment. As Boromir uttered the famous line “One does not simply walk into Mordor” at the council of Elrond, the entire audience started to laugh. Watching well loved and well meme’d films with an audience, is definitely a different and very much an enjoyable experience.
If you are a fan of any of the films still to be shown in the series, a fan of film scores, or a fan of orchestral performances, I cannot recommend seeing one of these performances enough.