"I was there to indulge my inner child, while most people were there to indulge their actual children." Emma McAlpine heads to the Royal Albert Hall for a special screening of Disney's Fantasia.
A few of the Royal Albert Hall's film events have caught my eye recently, not least the Lord Of the Rings trilogy, with Howard Shore's Academy award-winning score performed live on stage by the original soundtrack orchestra and a choir. One can only imagine how much more emotive the sweeping landscape shots of New Zealand would have been to a live orchestra backing. The Lighting of the Beacons of Minas Tirith for example, with a full horn section blasting 'ba ba baaa, ba ba ba, ba ba ba'! Hope is kindled indeed, Gandalf.
Sadly, I never got round to attending a performance, but I wasn't going to make the same mistake with Fantasia Live in Concert, a special screening of the Disney classic, with music from the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Comprising of sections from both the original 1940s edition and the 2000 sequel, this was a chance to see the best bits of both films, on a huge HD screen, accompanied by some of the most famous classical music pieces ever composed, in one of the most beautiful concert halls in the world. It didn't disappoint.
I was there to indulge my inner child, while most people were there to indulge their actual children. In fact, we all had the same purpose, and the kids were dragged along for the ride. It was intriguing to see their response. Would these old hand-drawn animations, with a classical score, rather than a dialogue, entertain them? Remarkably, it did – from the minute the screen lit up with a kaleidoscope of butterflies and the orchestra hammering out the opening movement of Beethoven's 5th symphony, they sat quietly enraptured. Even with more recent developments in 3D and computer animation, it's remarkable how these old films are still as visually impressive today as they were seventy years ago.
Highlights included the changing seasons depicted in Tchaikovsky's 'Nutcracker Suite', with a cluster of Chinese mushrooms shaking off the dew and fairies etching frost over the autumn leaves; Beethoven's 'Pastoral Symphony' with Disney's Art Deco interpretation of mythological Greece, complete with centaurs, cupids, fauns, one very drunk Bacchus and his donkey; Stravinsky's 'Firebird Suite', where the malevolent fire monster made all the kids jump (ok, me too); and Gershwin's jazzy 'Rhapsody in Blue', set in 1920s New York, guest-starring young prodigy Louis Schwizgebel on piano. The Philharmonic were admirably led by conductor Keith Lockheart; with impeccably-timed flute notes corresponding with jumps and cymbals clashing to lightning bolts.
In the end, the only negative for me, was that there wasn't more of it. Where were the yo-yo-ing flamingos? The eerie 'Night on Bald Mountain'? The ballet where the hippo lands on the croc? I could have sat there all day. The London Philharmonic might have had some objections.
All in all, a magical treat for the ears and eyes – Walt Disney would have loved it.
The next film screening at the Royal Albert Hall is Singin' in the Rain - Live in Concert, with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, from Friday 8th-Saturday 9th March 2013.
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