Zimmer vs Williams

I often go to the Royal Albert Hall, it's one of my favourite places in London but I have never seen it like I did last weekend! I went to 'The Music of Hans Zimmer vs John Williams' - The very best scores from the two greatest film composers of all time. 

MUSIC LIGHTS LASERS FIREWORKS!

First of all, the lighting during this concert was absolutely AMAZING!

And then there was the music!

It wasn't the first time I have heard the music of the great John Williams live! But OMG there were EIGHT French Horns and TWO Tubas! It was EPIC!

I'm a tough cookie but put me in front of an orchestra and I am like jelly! Within 5 minutes of the first piece by Williams, I was almost in tears! Tears of pure joy and love of that magical sound. The sound of an orchestra! No one composes for an orchestra quite like John Williams! There's something very powerful, playful, almost child-like about his music. None of his scores sound the same. You can feel his excitement and energy through his music and it pulls at your heart in a particular way, words can not even describe!

In contrast, and I don't wish to offend anyone, but I found Hans Zimmer's scores fell flat for me. They just didn't pop. His use of the orchestra is quite basic, that's not an insult, just an observation, it's not on the level of Williams. Even his pieces with strong melodies like Pirates of The Caribbean (Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl was composed by Klaus Badelt, one of Zimmer's colleagues at Media Ventures) didn't come across compared to the likes of Star Wars, ET, Jurassic Park and Superman. Zimmer is known for integrating electronic music sounds with traditional orchestral arrangements which I love and while I appreciate his idea to "work more collaboratively", I do sometimes wonder which parts of which scores he actually writes! However, I have to say, my feelings changed once the orchestra began to play Inception!

WOW!!! What an emotional, pulsing, deeply powerful piece of music and yes... now I can hear his unique style! This piece completely won me over and was the most intense moment of the concert. I took a video but I can't seem to upload it which is a shame!

I must mention how awesome Anthony Inglis, the conductor was! Not only doing a terrific job conducting but also very entertaining and had the audience laughing on more than one occasion! Half way through the concert, there was an announcement! He was taken ill and Johnny Depp was now going to conduct! He came on dressed as Jack Sparrow! It was brilliant.

He did it again during Star Wars... This is what it would look like if Darth Vader were to conduct an orchestra with a lightsaber lol!

Music isn't a competition, we all have our own tastes and preferences and the world is big enough for every musician and composer out there. For me, John Williams is a musical genius... I would highly recommend this concert to everyone! It makes for an interesting study and amazing experience transporting you into another world with its incredible, atmospheric lighting/laser display and fireworks!

Feeling passionate...

♥ Anna-Christina 


Zimmer Vs Williams
Royal Albert Hall
Conductor Anthony Inglis
London Concert Orchestra

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN / THE DARK KNIGHT RISES / INCEPTION / THE DA VINCI CODE / GLADIATOR / MAN OF STEEL BATMAN BEGINS
VS
E.T / HARRY POTTER / JURASSIC PARK / CLOSE ENCOUNTERS / STAR WARS / SUPERMAN