LOTR Concert at Royal Albert Hall Announcement
Xoanon @ 10:11 am EST

The Lord of the Rings Returns!

AGAIN!!

22 September 2004 Royal Albert Hall selling out (very limited number of seats still available; Gallery standing now on sale @ £12)

DUE TO OVERWHELMING DEMAND

Columbia Artists Management ANNOUNCES A SECOND DATE AT THE ROYAL ALBERT HALL 23 SEPTEMBER at 7.30pm in six movements for soloists, chorus and orchestra London Philharmonic Orchestra & London Voices Sissel, vocals. Howard Shore, composer & conductor

BOOKING OPEN MONDAY 2 AUGUST at 9am!

Tickets: £15; £25; £35; £40; £45 (plus booking fee)
Box Office: 020 7589 8212 Website: www.royalalberthall.com

Howard Shore’s evocative music for Peter Jackson’s multi-award winning film, already greeted with a unanimous standing ovation by a sell-out Royal Festival Hall audience in May, returns to London, not once - but now twice - to meet public demand. Columbia Artists Management announces today a second Royal Albert Hall concert to join 22 September (Bilbo and Frodo’s joint birthdays). The party is now set to continue the very next day, Thursday 23 September.

The Royal Albert Hall will resound with the folk-inspired music of the Shire, the nostalgically melancholic music of the elves, Arwen and Galadriel, the rousing music of the Helm’s Deep, Gondor and Minis Tirith, and the demonic music of the Balrog, Nazgul, Mordor and the Dark Lord, with the London Philharmonic Orchestra once again joined by composer/conductor Howard Shore to recreate the epic story of the battle for the heart and soul of Middle Earth.

One of the most eagerly-awaited, stupendously-acclaimed and, now, richly-awarded cinematic events of all time (both in middle-earth and this earth), The Lord of the Rings lives on in the powerful score composed by Howard Shore. Among the extraordinary 33 Oscars, Baftas and Golden Globes, Shore has five to his name - Academy Awards for Best Score for Fellowship of the Ring and both Academy Awards and Golden Globes for not only Best Score but also Best Song for The Return of the King. In addition Shore won two Grammy Awards (Best Original Soundtrack for The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers).

Having composed twelve hours of music for the trilogy (in both its theatrical release and extended DVD versions), Howard Shore returns to London to conduct the London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Voices and Norwegian vocalist Sissel in The Lord of the Rings Symphony. The performance will be held in the recently refurbished Victorian majesty of the Royal Albert Hall. Shore’s Symphony was premièred in Wellington, New Zealand as part of the celebrations for the opening of The Return of the King in December 2003. Subsequently performed in United States, Canada, Europe, Taiwan, and Australia, its Royal Festival Hall performance on Sunday 23 May sold out immediately and now the Royal Albert Hall concerts will be its only UK performances next season. 22 September, serendipitously, coincides with Bilbo’s and Frodo’s birthdays.

Follow, once again, the intrepid fellowship of nine as they collectively, and individually, battle against the evil of Sauron and try to protect the ring-bearer, the hobbit Frodo, as he carries the burden of “the one ring to rule them all” to Mordor’s Mount Doom. Shore’s score was an integral part of Peter Jackson’s overall design, and the beauty of Rivendell and the elves is as evocatively caught in sound as it is in images; the battle scenes are as memorable for their pounding ferocity as the sight of thousands of orcs, oliphants or the Nazgul.

The performance will be accompanied by projected images from artists Alan Lee and John Howe, whose drawings inspired Peter Jackson and his team. Together with Shore’s soaring music, they bring a touch of Middle Earth to the Royal Albert Hall, from the mystery of the mines of Moria to the grandeur of Minis Tirith; from the beauty of Rivendell to the horror of Helm’s Deep; and the two towers themselves, Saruman’s Isengard and Sauron’s Barad-dûr in Mordor. Remind yourselves of the host of wonderful characters evoked by the stunning score - Gollum, Treebeard, Merry, Pippin, Arwen, Eowyn, Gandalf, Legolas, Gimli, Aragorn, Boromir and Faramir.

The promoters regret that there are no concessions for hobbits, elves, orcs, goblins, dwarves, ring wraiths or, indeed, any wannabe Lords of the Ring!