by FIlmInk Staff
Celebrate 25 years since The Lord of the Rings first burst onto screens with the Australian premiere of The Music of the Lord of the Rings, presented across four performances from 16-18 July at the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall. The concert features the combined forces of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra alongside the Sydney Children’s Choir and Sydney Philharmonia Choirs, expanding the scale, colour and emotional depth of Howard Shore’s Academy Award-winning score.
Under the direction of renowned conductor Nicholas Buc and joined on stage by acclaimed podcasters Andrew Pogson and Dan Golding from popular podcast Art of the Score, this performance explores Shore’s music from Peter Jackson’s landmark film trilogy as never before. Bouncing between live orchestral demonstrations and commentary, audiences are guided through the themes that shaped Tolkien’s vast world, from the warmth of Concerning Hobbits to the drama of The Bridge of Khazad-dûm and the uneasy embrace of Lothlórien.
“Film is an art form that creates a gateway to falling in love with orchestral music. With Lord of the Rings, I can turn to any passage in the score and know instantly that it’s from the films — which I think is a very rare thing for a film composer to achieve. And that’s one of the greatest things about it: you can hear it and be sonically transported back to the world of these films.
This concert is a real trip down memory lane for fans and a wonderful musical experience. It really is something else to hear live.” — Conductor, Nicholas Buc.
Presented without film footage, The Music of The Lord of the Rings places the focus entirely on the power and verve of the music itself. This unique concert experience reveals how Shore’s score became one of the most defining achievements in contemporary film music; a sweeping operatic tapestry of cultures, histories, languages and peoples that still resonates, 25 years later.
