The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra performs music from the Star Wars saga, including the “Battle of the Heroes” World Concert Premiere…
Leicester Square, London, UK
Monday, May 16, 2005
The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by David Arnold
‘Episode III Celebration Day’
PROGRAMME 1
– Main Title from Star Wars.
– The Flag Parade from The Phantom Menace
– Anakin’s Theme from The Phantom Menace
– Across the Stars from Attack of the Clones
– The Little People from Star Wars
– Princess Leia’s Theme from Star Wars
– Yoda’s Theme from The Empire Strikes Back
– Parade of the Ewoks from Return of the Jedi
– Luke and Leia from Return of the Jedi
– Leia’s News/Light of the Force from Return of the Jedi
– The Battle from Star Wars
– The Throne Room and End Titles from Star Wars
PROGRAMME 2
– Main Title from Star Wars.
– Duel of the Fates from The Phantom Menace
– Anakin’s Theme from The Phantom Menace
– Across the Stars from Attack of the Clones
– Battle of the Heroes from Revenge of the Sith
– The Imperial March from The Empire Strikes Back
– The Little People from Star Wars
– Princess Leia’s Theme from Star Wars
– The Battle from Star Wars
– Yoda’s Theme from The Empire Strikes Back
– The Asteroid Field from The Empire Strikes Back
– Luke and Leia from Return of the Jedi
– The Forest Battle from Return of the Jedi
– The Throne Room and End Titles from Star Wars
Concert Review by ‘Greg1138’
1pm – Maestro David Arnold (no – not THAT David Arnold) kicks off proceedings with the Main Title/End Titlemedley from Star Wars. Non-stop Star Wars music followed, with the might of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra pumping out “The Flag Parade”, “Anakin’s Theme”, “Across the Stars”, “The Little People”, “Princess Leia’s Theme”, “Yoda’s Theme”, “Parade of the Ewoks”, “Luke and Leia”, “Leia’s News/Light of the Force”, “The Battle” and the Throne Room/End Credit Suite from Star Wars. The performances were solid – no wrong notes in sight and all well-rehearsed, but I had a real problem with some of the speeds. Pieces such as Anakin’s Theme and Across the Stars rely partly on their momentum for the emotional power that they provide – so play them far to slowly and you lose all the momentum and consequently some of the power, which is sadly what happened to many of the pieces here. Having said that, the atmosphere was such that most people would hardly have noticed.
The large screen behind the orchestra had projections from the movies on them – and where a particular piece was from the “Musical Journey” DVD, the corresponding video was played with the dialogue……which would have been great except that – with some of the music being so slowly played – all the videos ran out well before the music did, leaving us with a Windows 98-style “Star Field” to accompany the rest.
After 75 minutes worth of music, the orchestra took a break whilst a disgraced British TV presenter (Richard Bacon) interviewed Jeremy Bulloch, Christopher Lee (who sadly was unable to hang around to sign autographs – the guy walked within 2 feet of me – he’s huge!!!!) and Anthony Daniels. Lee’s anecdotes are a joy to hear and everyone was slightly humbled by the guy! Daniels was hysterical – played the audience well and took no notice whatsoever of the intended format of the interview – he just had fun – and so therefore did the audience.
6.30pm So – to concert number 2 – yep, a second concert with a different programme. Main Title for Star Wars kicked off again, quickly segueing into a blistering rendition of “Duel of the Fates” – someone must have had a word with Mr Arnold about his tempi!! “Anakin’s Theme” and “Across the Stars” followed – a little on the quicker side this time – the power was back……Following that, a real treat as we became (I think) the first in the world to hear a live performance of “Battle of the Heroes” – searing is not the word – the audience went wild long before the last note had finished. An encore was called for but didn’t happen – instead the orchestra struck up the Imperial March – audience went wild once more….”The Little People” and“Princess Leia’s Theme” followed, then “The Battle”, “Yoda’s Theme” and “The Asteroid Field”. By now the stars were arriving for the premier, so the Orchestra played them in with “Luke and Leia” (not a dry eye around..), a stunning performance of “The Forest Battle” and finally the Throne Room and End Titlesrounded the day off with a bang. After a short break the stage filled with smoke and – well you can probably guess who turned up then, but the encore of the Imperial March was very welcome….the cheers and boos as the stars arrivals were projected on to the screen bordered on the maniacal – especially for Lucas himself!
The hours standing around were well worth it – a good day had all round……