Have you ever taken the time to listen to the score of your favourite movie? At Brisbane Entertainment Centre, legendary composer Hans Zimmer dedicated a whole evening to the power of music in film.
Backed by a full band of drums, strings, brass, wind and a local choir, Hans burned through his repertoire like the true professional he is.
The show began with a bang, with a medley of music from 'Driving Miss Daisy', 'Sherlock Holmes' and 'Madagascar'. It was a triumphant, powerful opening. and at the height of one particular musical build up in the medley, a curtain rose to reveal the string section and choir, which sent the audience in a rapturous applause.
The night was split into sections according to which film Hans would play music from. Before each section began, he'd step to the front of the stage to introduce it, sometimes complementing it with a little story to set the mood.
He revealed some of his secrets, one being that he based the composition of 'The Da Vinci Code' off the juxtaposition of the contemporary pyramid of the Louvre next to the classic architecture of the museum itself. It was incredibly insightful to hear the process of such a celebrated musician.
Many composers have a certain sound and feel to all of their work but thanks to the breadth of Hans Zimmer's work, (from 'The Lion King' all the way to 'Inception') a lot of his scores have their own flavour.
This made the evening, as a whole, captivating from beginning to end. One moment the room was filled with the colourful joy and happiness of 'Madagascar', and the next it was blanketed in the shadows of 'The Dark Knight' trilogy.
Perhaps the highlight of the evening was when, out of no where, the iconic 'nants ingonyama bagithi baba' from the opening of 'The Lion King''s 'The Circle Of Life' echoed through the Entertainment Centre, sung live by none other than the original vocalist Lebo M.
To say you've seen the original singer chant those opening lines joined by the original composer is pretty extraordinary. It was an incredible moment, and the audience was overwhelmed with excitement.
The icing on the Hans Zimmer cake was the encore, and the performance of 'Time' from 'Inception'.
It began with Hans playing eight notes on a piano, and the same eight notes were played for the entirety of the song as more and more elements of the orchestra were added. Eventually it built to an overwhelmingly loud and powerful climax, before dropping back off to just the piano to finish. The stage was dark, with just one spotlight on Hans.
It was extremely moving, and a brilliant and simple way to end a triumphantly successful display of music.
In his performance, Hans Zimmer showed Brisbane not only his immense talent, but also his humility. He celebrated most of the musicians that joined him on stage, asking the audience to give them a round of applause and telling us stories of where he met most of them individually.
It was clear that he loved everyone he was surrounded by, which made the dynamic of the show even greater than the mood that the music created.
★★★★★
