Presenting an evocative, transportive programme of the independent video game industry’s most characterful soundtracks, Orchestra Victoria took the audience of Hamer Hall on a three-hour journey of danger and wonder in 'Indie Symphony II'.
Hosted by ABC Classics presenter Meena Shamaly, who regularly highlights the best of video game music in his own radio slot, the concert was punctuated with his stage-setting addresses to the audience. Ahead of each piece of music, Shamaly gave an atmospheric – and charmingly alliterative – overview of the distinct virtual realms into which we were about to embark.
Clips of the video games in question were projected on a large screen as the orchestra performed. Combined with Shamaly’s guiding introductions, it made the experience thoroughly engaged and interactive.
The purpose of a concert such as this – following the success of Orchestra Victoria’s first foray into the world of game soundtracks, hence the 'II' of this event’s title – is to underline the vital role played by interactive music. Video games, more so than film, are required to build a world for the player to engage with and to be immersed within.
This heightened sense of immersion was the stand-out quality of the entire concert, offering a tremendous variety of musical textures and accents. In more traditional symphonic music, percussive elements such as harp and drums are often lost in the grander, overarching swathe of the orchestra.
Here, however – because the music of video games is required to so precisely illustrate the world which the player is navigating – these textural elements were given so much more prominence and clarity.
Laurence Mathieson gave a masterclass performance, shifting between piano, electric keyboard and celeste at numerous instances, and doing so with staggering speed and energy. In addition, Will Nichols on the harp gave so much vibrance and character to the worlds we visited, with many of the pieces presenting the harp as a leading voice atop the surrounding orchestra.
Exquisite stand-out performances from both players, worthy of singular applause here.
In an absolutely packed roster of exciting and frightening works, the stand-out moment of the evening came with the world premiere performance of Dan Golding’s 'Untitled Concerto For Orchestra And Honk'. A suite of themes from his mischievous, colourful score for Melbourne-developed smash hit 'Untitled Goose Game', the applause for Golding was the rapturous glee of a home crowd.
Add to that the genuinely gorgeous, shimmering fabric of textures and breaths composed within the work itself, adapted from a suite of Debussy piano etudes, Golding’s knockout performance as honk-horn soloist made the piece a hilarious triumph.
A brilliant assortment of works, 'Indie Symphony II' proved the appetite for video game concerts is only continuing to enter traditional orchestral repertoire. The evening stood as a fantastic example of their capacity to enthral and delight.
Words: Liam Heitmann-Ryce-LeMercier
