Lord of the Rings Live in Rotterdam

The 4th of June I went to see Lord of the Rings live in Rotterdam (The Netherlands)

Words fall short to describe this wonderfull experience I had there, but I shall try anyway.

We arrived early at the Rotterdam concert hall called ''De Doelen'' where the show would be performed.

When we entered the great concert hall, we took our seats and waited for the other 1700 people to enter the hall. There were no empty seats.

Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring Live was no mere cinema visit.

They played the movie on an enormous screen, accompanied by a live orchestra and 2 choirs (over 200 people in all!!!).

The legendary music composed by Howard Shore was brilliantly and perfectly brought to life by the magnificent Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra.

The choirs, often singing in foreign, non-existing, languages also performed their task brilliantly. I have seen the movies often enough, and listened to the soundtracks on CD, to judge that they repeated the original recording, that was used in the movies, perfectly. The man in charge of conducting this brilliant group of musicians was Ludwig Wicki, who has guided orchestras to play this music for many years now.

The orchestra and choirs performed so well, that I sometimes even forgot that there was a live orchestra playing the music accompanying the film, which also goes to show that Peter Jackson is a magnificent movie director. (I cannot wait for the Hobbit, by the way).

The two things I remember most vividly about the entire evening were the Goosebumps I got when you first heard the ‘’Fellowship’’ theme, and the fact that all 1700 visiters remaind seated until the last of the end-credits had rolled over the screen. Now that is something you NEVER and I mean NEVER see in cinemas anymore. The applause we gave the orchestra and its conductor lasted for at least 5 minutes in a standing ovation.

After the brilliant show, a lot of the people present immediately went to the exclusive ticket sale for the next show: The Two Towers which is scheduled to play 9-11 June 2012. I of course, was no exception. The tickets did rise in price, but that was to be expected as the two shows of Fellowship were sold out almost immediately. I won’t be surprised to hear if the tickets for next year are sold out already, for a live performance of this caliber, is something you MUST NOT MISS! (unless, you know, you don’t live in or near the Netherlands)

As I am writing this, the music of the Fellowship of the Ring is playing in the background over my stereo (yes, I bought the CD’s years ago). Hearing the music again, so close after the concert, still gives me Goosebumps!

Finally, I think I will speak for everybody that already bought tickets for next year:
I cannot wait that long for the Two Tower Live!

Here’s hoping other movies will follow after Return of the King is done, like The Pirates of the Caribbean or Inception.

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(Frodo and Ludwig Wicki)

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Gabelafastoe