Reviews

Heroes & Aliens: Epic Galactic Soundtracks - Music Review

Posted on: 2016-03-18

Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra is one of the most illustrious orchestras in the UK, equally up there with the likes of the London Symphony Orchestra and National Philharmonic, and made up of some of the country's most talented musicians.

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Film music fans were treated to an evening of classic scores from the silver screen when Heroes & Aliens: Epic Galactic Soundtracks blockbusted its way into Bristol's Colston Hall on Thursday 17 March 2016.

Under the assured direction of conductor Pete Harrison, the superb symphonic talents of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra were put through their cinematic paces with a stellar selection of music from some of the most successful sci-fi and alien films and TV programmes ever made.

Unsurprisingly, John Williams took a sizable chunk out of the evening's repertoire with the maestro's classic compositions for Star Wars, Close Encounters of the Third Kind and ET getting the rousing, full-blooded treatment they deserved. Equally welcome too was the addition of a few lesser-known - or at least lesser-performed - works such as the funky, jazzy title theme to the TV series Lost in Space and the brutal, propulsive chills of War of the Worlds.

Being one of the most successful film and TV franchises in history, Star Trek was also well represented with a few selections from Michael Giacchino's stirring, noble theme from JJ Abrams' recent reboot, and the penultimate score legendary composer Jerry Goldsmith wrote for Star Trek: Nemesis complete with bellicose horn blasts, a lyrically tender love theme and the unmistakable Star Trek march that was used in the films and The Next Generation.

Goldsmith's Alien end title conjured a beauty and majesty you'd initially think was incongruous for the terrifying space horror classic. Trevor Rabin's Hans Zimmer-esque themes for Armageddon were rousing and spirited, and Stu Phillips main theme for the 70s TV series Battlestar Galactica was an enjoyable few minutes of kitschy musical hokum.

James Horner - who tragically died in a plane crash last year - was represented with his poignant, trumpet-led theme for the Tom Hanks masterpiece Apollo 13, while 'War' from Avatar allowed the orchestra to pull out all the stops with a brilliantly inventive orchestral cacophony of blaring trumpets, thundering snare drums and crashing percussion. 

Refreshingly, a fair section of the audience comprised of kids on school trips and young offspring with their parents, enthused no doubt by the theme of the concert but also, I'd like to think, on their way to becoming future Caddick-style film music nerds always out to champion this often under-appreciated and occasionally maligned art form. 

Conductor Pete Harrison was a gregarious, energetic host introducing each piece with a few pertinent anecdotes about the films themselves, and a brief, not entirely successful orchestral version of Ron Grainer's Dr Who theme led to the audience bringing the house down and demanding an encore. Which they duly gave - in the form of John William's sensational, toe-tapping march from Superman. 

Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra is one of the most illustrious orchestras in the UK, equally up there with the likes of the London Symphony Orchestra and National Philharmonic, and made up of some of the country's most talented musicians. It's an orchestra that always delivers and its first-class, pretty much spot-on interpretations of scores from the sci-fi canon proved once again why they're one of the UK's most outstanding ensembles.

The Force is definitely with them.

5/5

Reviewed by Jamie Caddick for 365Bristol.com - The leading events and entertainment website in Bristol

For further info on the excellent Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra visit www.bsolive.com or follow them on Facebook.

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