John Williams vs Hans Zimmer MPO

Last night I watched the MPO perform this concert. Initially they were only performing this programme on one night and I bought my tickets for this last year. But it was so popular that they are now doing this on 6 nights for which all tickets are sold out.

The performance started with a rousing performance of Negara Ku. And as always, the orchestra played well. The first half featured pieces by JW. They played Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jurassic Park, ET, Harry Potter, Star Wars and Superman. For HZ, they performed Interstellar, Dune, the Crown, Dark Knight, Gladiator, Man of Steel and Lion King.

Both of them have very different styles. JW pieces are majestic and brassy. HZ pieces are generally expansive, moodier with lots of strings. Both of them use a full orchestra to achieve the sound they want. I have to say that I am more familiar with JW pieces. How can one ever forget the opening music of Star Wars. I remember watching this on the big screen and being mesmerized by the opening theme. I listened to it so many times. Or the flying scene in ET where Elliott is on the bike with ET flying across the silhouette of the moon. Bring back wonderful memories.

I enjoyed this performance as they used lights in the hall to also create a effective and appropriate atmosphere to go well with the music.

Of course the notable omission was Schindler’s List by JW. Clearly they didn’t want to play one of his most well known pieces, for which he won an Oscar, because of the Jewish theme of the movie.