Rating: ★★★★★
Venue: Royal Festival Hall, London
Cast: London Concert Orchestra, Toby Purser (conductor) and Brighton Festival Chorus
Gather the fellowship to experience epic and inspirational music from The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit and Game of Thrones. Programme includes excerpts from: Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, The Witcher, Game of Thrones, Dragonheart, The Chronicles of Narnia, How to Train your Dragon, Pirates of the Caribbean, Star Wars & Avatar.
This was very much an event for my husband, as he's a huge Lord of the Rings fan. However, I love to see a live orchestra, so of course, I tagged along. Although you'd expect the majority of the music to Lord of The Rings, strangely, this isn't entirely the case. The composer, Toby Purser, tells us that the show is more of a celebration of swords and sorcery. As well as this, he says that the show is a, "Lord of the Rings sandwich, with Lord of the Rings being the bread, with fantasy film fillings"...and this was very much the case!
As well as music from Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, there were also favourites from many much-loved classics such as Star Wars, Pirates of the Caribbean, Game of Thrones and Avatar. There was also some more contemporary classics such as The Witcher, The Chronicles of Narnia and How to Train Your Dragon. However, the encore of Harry Potter completely stole my heart.
For me, besides Harry Potter, the highlights of the show were Concerning Hobbits from Lord of the Rings and the medley from Pirates of the Caribbean. All of the music was completely magical (excuse the pun!) and although there were a few songs within the performance I wasn't aware of, all of the music was thoroughly enjoyable.
The composer, Toby Purser, seemed a little apprehensive at first, but he soon warmed up and was the perfect blend of funny and factual. He introduced each piece before it began, along with some trivia from the movies, which I really enjoyed.
The choir and the soloists were absolutely fantastic; particularly the soloist who sang, "Toss a Coin to Your Witcher", from The Witcher. It goes without saying that the orchestra were simply sublime. From the very first few notes, I had goosebumps and tears welled; it's a very powerful show, in my opinion.
If you're a lover of fantasy and like me, want to live out your nerdy dream in the form of classical music, this is the show for you! The entire ensemble are overflowing with talent and it was the perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon.
You can book tickets to The Music of the Lord of the Rings and Beyond UK tour, here.
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