Review: The Magical Music of Harry Potter #RSNO #glasgowroyalconcerthall
Given my current Harry Potter theme in life, I felt compelled to give this event a go. I don’t really ever go to hear music played – I would rather be in the concert than at the concert.
But, during the opening piece, “Hedwig’s Theme” I was put in my place: there was no way I could have played the violin part! When the piece opened, I couldn’t physically see where the high and tinkly notes were coming from. As the concert progressed, I traced it to a piano-esque machine – that turned out to be a “celeste”. News to me! The next piece “Quidditch” was also instantly recognisable with some good blasting trumpet bits. Very good.
One weird feature of this event was the role of “presenter”. Instead of the orchestra firing through the programme, an actor, Jerome Dowling, was dispatched to explain and contextualise the pieces as we went. When he first opened his mouth, my heart sank as I thought it was going to be an unnecessary time-wasting element, dragging the evening down. However, even although he was being himself to some extent perhaps, he was presenting in the style and character of Gilderoy Lockhart – and so any irritation with there being a presenter at all was kind of absorbed into the irritation one already associates with the character of Lockhart. So, it was sort of entertaining – and definitely informative and it did work as a continuity device. (But it wasn’t Kenneth Branagh.) The other odd thing was that the guy had to kind of blend in and face the orchestra when they were playing, as if he was watching them from right in beside the first violins. I am not one for patter. But the audience seemed to like his patter. So fair enough – and the evening did not drag.
The audience was really multi-generational. The people in the row in front of us were three generations together, coming to see a sister/daughter/grandchild in the RSNO Youth Chorus. A real highlight of the concert was the rendition of “Double Trouble” which is from “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban”. It is a mash up of Macbeth’s witches’ spell – “fire burn and cauldron bubble” etc. The case was made that this was a foreshadowing of Voldemort’s return at the end of The Goblet of Fire. Interesting – but my point should really be – the choir was brilliant. It was excellent – not some crappy kids’ choir – truly excellent – they were clearly all amazing singers who had rehearsed obsessively for months. Great work.
In the second half I very much enjoyed “The Knight Bus” which gave me echoes of “The Symphonic Dances” from West Side Story – with Officer Krupke’s whistle and lots of reed-based sounds – it all sounded very New York, somehow.
While music is something you listen to, in the Concert Hall, you also watch. An orchestra is an odd thing – a very visible embodiment of teamwork – with the many small violins balanced against a few loud trumpets – with everyone with their part to play, literally. I enjoyed watching the surprisingly many double basses, and I enjoyed watching the percussion people swapping around, jumping between instruments – including a swanee whistle (I think) and some clapper board things. The Conductor, Stephen Bell, was also good to watch – managing to convey a lot of character through his stance, as well as through his baton.
The second half seemed to accelerate somehow through the remaining movies. “Hedwig’s Theme” is the most instantly recognisable melody – but there was a huge range of styles – and when I watch the rest of the movies (I have just finished “The Goblet of Fire), I will have much more appreciation of the score, that’s for sure.
I found myself overthinking the cultural and historical moment that the concert was. There were hundreds of people – audience, orchestra and chorus – and that combination of people will never be together again. And we all listened and saw, from our own perspectives, with hundreds of internal monologues in response, depending on who we were and why we were there.
I don’t know if it was mentioning Kenneth Branagh, but I keep on thinking of the quote from “Much Ado About Nothing”; the character Branagh plays says, in response to music – “Is it not strange that sheep’s guts should hale souls out of men’s bodies?” I have always been interested in the fact that the production of music is all physics. Columns of air vibrating, strings being stopped to change the pitch, banging a drum, chiming a bell, forcing air up through your vocal chords… Music is just making noises, technically. But in that kind of full-on orchestral context, with a large youth choir, and the audience with their responses, both silent and audible – all the noises are managed – order is made out of chaos – order streaming out of the tip of the conductor’s wand. I mean baton.
Despite being clearly unqualified to be in the RSNO, I would definitely have enjoyed the concert more if I had been in it. Those young people in that choir would have enjoyed their moment hugely, I have no doubt. It was oddly heartening to see a form of entertainment invented hundreds of years ago still thriving, boosted by the requirement for movie soundtracks.
So, congratulations to everyone involved. Excellent music. Fascinating to watch it live.
Wee Scoops 