Last March I attended The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses concert organized by Nintendo and Jason Michael Paul
productions. Based on the Zelda 25th
Anniversary concert last year, the Symphony of Goddesses concert features a revised
and expanded set list.
As a fan of the Zelda games, I had booked my tickets the
first day they went on sale for the Vancouver event. I was so eager I missed Nintendo’s late (by
several hours) release of the discount code for the tickets, but no matter, I
was going to see a world class orchestra play Zelda music in one of the most
beautiful concert halls in North America from one of my favourite game
franchises.
As the weeks drew closer I fretted over the event
itself. Would it be weird to walk into
city’s storied Orpheum theatre in casual business attire? Would my 3DS and smartphone be out of place? Were the costume players going to outnumber
everyone else?
All my worrying ending up being mostly about nothing. The 2,800 seat theatre was packed to capacity
with 20-somethings, lots of families, husband and wives, and couples and a core
of high quality costume players with really top notch costumes. I was particularly struck by a mother and son
pair who sat a row infront of me, the son was no older than twelve. After the symphony, I wondered what the mom
thought about the music and felt a little bit jealous my parents weren’t as
involved in my hobby when I was his age.
After the medley, the night’s programme continued with a dungeon theme medley and
Kakariko Village theme medley (to much applause and laughter at the visuals of
the chickens attacking Link) before moving into the night’s first movement, The
Ocarina of Time. Opening in media res, child Link is thrown to the ground as
Ganondorf hurries away after Impa set to blaring horns announcing impending
danger. Then a moment of pure poetry. Nothing really prepares you for the feelings
of nostalgia tinged with awe when the screen fades from black to a familiar
landscape framed by moon-set with Link riding into frame as the symphony plays the
opening notes to Ocarina of Time. The
air was eclectic throughout the first movement and the well behaved audience only
broke the silence in cheers as the twelve-minute long tour through the Ocarina
of Time ended with a few notes teasing Majora’s Mask.
The second movement
was The Wind Waker. The piece is the
same as the one in the 25th Anniversary CD. It has been years since I last played the
game and yet the final battle with Ganon splashed accross on the giant screen still looks like a painting in motion. The character faces full of emotions –
sadness, fear, anger, delight. It
reminded me how the Wind Waker is still the most emotive Zelda game and it
still looks great all these years later.
At this point it became clear that each movement would essentially be a
summary of each game’s plot arc split into three disctinct phases. Introduction, Zelda and Link, Ganon and the
final battle.
The end of the Wind Waker set was followed by a short
intermission and the 2nd half of the symphony opened with Great
Fairy’s Fountain to ease the audience back in.
This is followed by the 3rd movement, Twilight Princess. Similar to The Wind Waker, the composition
follows the track found in 25th Anniversary CD. The
Twilight Princess movement was by far the most choral intensive pieces, and
visually, it stands in stark relief from The Wind Waker and Ocarina of
Time. It also differed in that it
included an edited version of the game’s
epic ending sequence. The scene where
the twilight princess goes back to her realm and the mirror shatters was the
highpoint for me as the chorus and music soared. Twilight Princes was the darkest movement in
the symphony, the darkness to Wind Waker's light.
By this point I was at the edge of my seat as I knew the 4th
moment would be the last. How could then
end this symphony? What will it be? I
didn’t have to wait long. Storm clouds
appeared on the screen. Rain. lighting.
The audience gasped. A Link to
the Past.
The movement followed the narrative of the game with original
renditions of its many themes and leitmotifs. By the time the orchestra paused on cue
before the horns blared out the Dark World theme, I was on an emotional
high. What followed next would take me
back to the past, to that twelve your old kid playing on my Super Nintendo. The piece of music known to many simply as
‘Credits Roll’ was re-imagined in true symphonic form as the ending theme to
the symphony. Of all the ending themes,
this was the perfect one, aurally, thematically and emotionally. A sad melodic score that had often been
overshadowed by the pomposity and grandiosity of other Zelda scores, I have always felt it was the best ending
theme to any Zelda game, Koji Kondo at
his best. Like many in the 90s, I did
what gamers did if they wanted to save something for posterity. Plugged in the VCR and taped the ending. I must have reran credits roll tens of times
back then, just to hear the soothing melodic score. It was something I only occasionally revisited
in the intervening years, but its reappearance that night was a fitting reminder
of a game that I love so much.
After the 4th movement, conductor
Eímear Noone rushed off stage to a standing ovation, only to re-appear a few moments
later. She motioned to the symphony to
play one more song and with that, the audience got twenty more minutes of
music. Gerudo Valley, similar to the
anniversary CD track, was the first encore piece played, followed by a very
special fan request, Majora’s Mask. The
audience erupted into applause with this piece. The encore was capped with a surprising entry, Ballad of the Windfish from Link's Awakening, the only portable Zelda to be featured. A soft contemplative piece, it was a piece Ms.
Noone noted was ‘philosophical’ and reflective.
With that, my most awesome night at a symphony came to a
close. The crowd slowly thinned out of
the auditorium. Many remained in the
lobby chatting, streetpassing, buying Symphony of the Goddesses T-shirts and
posters. I checked my 3DS one last time to clear room in my streetpass plaza
for my final round of streetpasses (I
got over 70 hits without trying) and walked towards the train station,
poster and t-shirt in tow.
The Legend of Zelda Symphony of the Goddesses:
With the
Vancouver Film Orchestra and Vancouver
Chamber Choir
Conductor: Eímear Noone
Composed by: Koji Kondo
Arranged by: Chad Seiter
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