THN Attend ‘Star Trek – Live In Concert’ At The Royal Albert Hall

Films would be nothing without their accompanying scores, lets face it, would we all love JURASSIC PARK as much without John Williams’ rousing theme? What would STAR WARS be without it’s catchy opening music? As part of a season celebrating the wonder of classical music and film, The Royal Albert Hall have been showing famous films with a live orchestra – the fantastic 21st Century Symphony Orchestra. We were lucky enough to attend one of the STAR TREK performances, and what an evening it was. 

The evening kicked-off with STAR TREK actor Simon Pegg taking to the stage to tease the audience with what lay ahead. He spoke briefly about what an honour it was to make the film and admitted that he didn’t really know much about scoring a film and so swiftly brought on Michael Giacchino, the film’s composer.

Giacchino told of growing-up in New Jersey, making films in his backyard. He touched upon his work scoring video games which, trivia fans, is where Abrams first heard his work. When Abrams first contacted Giacchino about working on television show Alias he thought it was prank from some of his friends. He went onto to share that working with Abrams was just like being back in his backyard.

There was then the treat of a rare appearance from director himself Mr J. J. Abrams who is of course here filming that little known film STAR WARS VII. He was visibly in awe of the building and how full the audience was, and admitted that in his opinion the score accounts for 51% of a good movie. It was then time for seasoned composer Ludwig Wicki to live score the film which was beamed onto a massive screen directly above the 21st Century Symphony Orchestra. After the intermission the composer walked out in a yellow Star Trek uniform which was greeted with many cheers from the attending Trekkies.

There’s something about seeing a film accompanied by a live score that is truly magical. I have been fortunate in the past to have spent a Halloween watching NOSFERATU in a church with a live score and also spent a Summer’s Eve in Hyde Park watching DONNIE DARKO accompanied by full orchestra. Compared to The Royal Albert Hall though these were extremely small events, watching Star Trek – Live In Concert in a location as majestic as The Royal Albert Hall makes the whole thing seem really prestigious.

Once the film was over Michael Giacchino retook to the stage to reminisce about his love of Star Trek as a child. In particular he recalled having a toy ‘Star Trek Enterprise with transporter’, something he still has to this day thanks to his hoarding mother. Another film he loved growing up was PLANET OF THE APES; Giacchino has worked on the up-and-coming DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES, fulfilling another childhood dream. He then took control of the 21st century orchestra to showcase a small piece from the new movie. If the sound and feel is anything to go by, Ceasar and his tribe are in for a dark and dramatic journey.

[usr=5] The season continues Friday 30th May and Saturday 31st May with STAR TREK: INTO DARKNESS and if you’re quick, tickets are still available. This is a must for those out there who love their film scores. For more information click here.

Photos: Kat Smith

Cover Photo: Paul Sanders