From: Meg
Last night some friends and I attended the world premiere of the playing of the Fellowship of the Ring movie score at the Hollywood Bowl, performed by the LA Phil Harmonic in a show called Musical Mythology. The conductor (whose name I cannot remember at the moment) discussed briefly on the historical significance of ring mythology, which had its start in the iron age and is found in every nation that developed smelting and metal-working. The first act of the show consisted of a small selection of classical music, such as Ride of the Valkyrie by Wagner and the movement Jupiter from The Planets, as well as four movements from the Harry Potter score by John Williams.
After intermission, the real fun started.
The score was not played to the letter; certain tracks were shortened or removed entirely, while others were extended slightly to make the entire performance flow better. Naturally, Enya’s songs were skipped. They had the Pacific Chorale performing the chants found in such tracks as The Prophecy, The Black Rider, and The Bridge of Khazad Dum. Lothlorien was one that was particularly excellent. But I must admit I felt bad for the young boy who was performing the solo in In Dreams, since you could tell he was nervous. I mean, I would be too, singing in front of thousands of people!
But the best part of the evening was the fact that Howard Shore himself attended the premiere! He got a standing ovation when he appeared onstage; my friends and I even think we saw Enya’smo parked in the lot…
