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ASO conjures a fusion of film, magic and music

The Adelaide Symphony Orchestra will re-create the magic of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone next year in a concert it hopes will lead to an ongoing relationship with the franchise.

Sep 29, 2016, updated Sep 29, 2016
A scene from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

A scene from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

The first film in JK Rowling’s Harry Potter series will be shown on a screen at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre Arena for the three-hour concert, in which the full orchestra will play composer John Williams’ Oscar-nominated score under the baton of a guest American conductor.

“It’s one of the best film scores in the last 20 years, and we will bring that to life with a live orchestra just the way that we did with Lord of the Rings,” ASO principal conductor Nicholas Carter told InDaily.

“We hope this will be an ongoing relationship with the orchestra and the franchise.”

The concert, announced today as part of the ASO’s 2017 season, is the result of negotiations between a number of Australian orchestras and Warner Bros which will see Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone in Concert presented in several cities.

It is likely to have broad appeal, although Carter acknowledges that it is a big undertaking for the orchestra members: “They would otherwise never play for three hours straight. It’s challenging.”

Carter describes the 2017 program – a diverse collection of works ranging from the Masters and Classics series to Movie Masterpieces and Gigs at Grainger – as a celebration of “some of the greatest stories ever told and re-told through music”.

“We’ve created a rich and varied program that plays on music’s magical storytelling qualities.”

Works include Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet, which will be presented as “a fantasy of words and music” in a collaboration with the State Theatre Company.

“We’re not simply doing one composer’s take on Romeo & Juliet,” Carter says.

“We wanted to do a bit of a mix and match in many different styles, so there will be slabs of Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky, Nino Rota [who created the score for the 1968 film] … it will be great fun. Obviously it’s not the whole play, but key moments and scenes.”

The ASO’s flagship Master Series in 2017 comprises nine concerts featuring international conductors and soloists including artist-in-association Pinchas Zukerman, principal guest conductor Jeffrey Tate, Japanese violinist Akiko Suwanai, Palestinian pianist Saleem Ashkar and Canadian cellist Amanda Forsyth.

Carter says his Great Classics program, which will move to the Adelaide Town Hall while the Festival Theatre is closed due to redevelopment work on the Festival Centre Plaza, is also inspired by stories. It begins in February with Rhapsody in Blue, featuring pianist Simon Tedeschi, then continues with Puppets & Pranksters (including Stravinsky’s Pulcinella suite and Strauss’s Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks) and Of Knights & Legends (with Bruckner’s Fourth Symphony and Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto).

The ASO's Movie Masterpieces.

The ASO’s Movie Masterpieces.

Mid-year will see a sequel to the popular Movie Masterpieces concert, conducted by Guy Noble and hosted by movie critic Margaret Pomeranz, this time featuring the scores of films including Babe, Doctor Zhivago, Star Wars and Gladiator.

Noble will also present two Classics Unwrapped shows comprising “bite-size bits” of classical music in an informal setting, with special guests such as former Crows footballer Nigel Smart and Lord Mayor Martin Haese on stage to talk about their connection to the music.

Other previously announced season highlights include a tribute to the late David Bowie, and Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf, featuring actress Miriam Margolyes as narrator.

The full season program will be available on the ASO website.

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