Until Monday October 8 2013 I never would have thought that
I’d ever celebrate a first at the same time as Danny Elfman, but there you are
– that night was the first time I’d ever attended a world premiere concert, and
that night marked the first time he’d had a concert devoted to his music for
film rather than as a member of the Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo. Danny Elfman’s Music From The Films Of Tim
Burton (surprisingly not sponsored by Ronseal, despite it being exactly
what it says on the tin) premiered that night to a packed audience at the Royal
Albert Hall before going to Leeds (on Tuesday), Glasgow (Wednesday) and
Birmingham (Thursday), and hopefully the punters had as glorious a time as most
of those attending did.
Truth be told, I was a little bit apprehensive about this –
in spite of having been a fan of his from the Sledge Hammer! days, devoting a whole night (or two hours plus) to
his work for one director almost implies Elfman’s non-Burton work doesn’t rate
concert treatment (John Williams concerts aren’t 100% Spielberg, after all).
Yeah, a night of music from the films of Sam Raimi wouldn’t be as commercial,
but he has done sterling work for other directors (Sommersby, Mission:
Impossible, Gus Van Sant etc). Still, you have to start somewhere, and one
of the most successful composer/director collaborations in film history is as
good a place as any.
Featuring the BBC Concert Orchestra and the Maida Vale
Singers under the baton of film music patron John Mauceri – Elfman, Family Guy to the contrary, doesn’t
conduct – the event also had visual support with film clips and Burton artwork
for everything from Pee Wee’s Big
Adventure onwards (except Charlie And
The Chocolate Factory for some reason, with the film’s main title being
performed under a montage of scenes from that and other Burton movies rather
than have the choir regale us with “Willy Wonka, Willy Wonka, the amazing
chocolatier”). The players rose to the energetic challenge provided by Mr.
Herman’s exploits, but Beetlejuice
was a bit more problematic thanks to the choral accompaniment somewhat
overwhelming the main theme instead of complementing the orchestra. Sleepy Hollow was effectively pounding
and mysterious, while Mars Attacks!
continued its fine tradition of disappointing me in some fashion other than
musically by marking the evening’s first drawback of having a restricted view,
since I couldn’t see the theremin player earning her pay.
One of the biggest complaints some have made about Elfman,
along with how his orchestrators are the ones who really do the work (which
doesn’t explain how Elfman’s own voice shows through all the different
orchestrators over the years) is how all his scores sound the same – the
lengthy suite from Big Fish (still
his only Oscar-nominated work for Tim Burton to date) is a poetic and gentle
riposte to this. “Gentle” is not a word anyone would ever use for the next
selection, which was also the first to be greeted with applause before a note
was played; there are those who’d argue with the claim at this year’s Oscars
that Chicago*was a game-changer, but
the term fits comic book scores for years after Batman. The suite presented combined that and Batman Returns, and while Batters was front and centre with the
music from the former, the latter used none of his material in favour of the
more mournful, mysterious material for the Penguin and Catwoman. What that
choice lacked in energy it made up for in underlining Batman Returns having some of the saddest music ever written for a
superhero movie, showing that these villains are more misunderstood than evil
(though there’s that as well). That said, ending the suite with the first film’s
exuberant “Finale” was the right move and a super way to herald the interval.
Part 2 launched with Planet
Of The Apes and another reason to curse the view; the players performing
the clong-clong-clong in the main
title were invisible from where I was. Tim
Burton’s Corpse Bride (pleasant, but not a patch on the Chocolate Factory –
and while the emphasis on the romantic element was understandable, a bit of
“Remains Of The Day” wouldn’t have gone amiss) , Dark Shadows (which made the least impression on me, probably
because it’s the only film represented that I haven’t seen yet) and the moving Frankenweenie followed before the
evening’s highlight for many – as the overture for Tim
Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas
kicked in, the third reason to hate restricted views walked onto stage
to thunderous applause out of my line of vision… ladies and gentlemen, Mr.
Daniel Robert Elfman.
A virtual concert-within-a-concert, we were treated to all
of JACK! The PUMP-KIN KING’s songs as performed by Elfman, with “What’s This?”
in particular being matched up perfectly to Henry Selick’s visuals – although
for once they were upstaged by the man himself giving it all he had. As an
extra bonus, the RAH audience had a little exclusive in the not-so-little form
of Mrs. Burton herself, Helena Bonham Carter, losing her own stage virginity**
to deliver “Sally’s Song” (and quite well). She may have gotten a louder
response than Elfman, but I’m not sure…
thank goodness Johnny Depp never showed up.
Edward Scissorhands,
one of Elfman’s finest – and most, um, “tributed” - scores and for my money
still Burton’s best film along with Ed
Wood (not represented tonight due to it being one of only two Burton
features to date that Elfman sat out***), represented the point where the audio
and visual elements met perfectly. As if the choral work and the first chair’s
spirited violin for Edward’s tonsorial showing off weren’t enough, there was
“Ice Dance”; the sounds of Elfman’s soothing, romantic notes under the sight of
the ice-shaving-created storm Winona Ryder moved under… if ever a moment
justified the presence of that screen, this was it. Stunning in 1990, stunning
now.
An equally impressive piece from a considerably less
impressive film was the last official piece of the night, as the choir took
centre stage with “Alice’s Theme” from Alice
In Wonderland; that in itself would have been a fine way to finish, but the
rock star in Danny Elfman meant we still had to have the encore – and it was
back to Christmas in October for “Oogie Boogie’s Song,” with Elfman as Oogie
Boogie (throwing in some dance moves to the enthusiasm of the crowd) and
conductor Mauceri as poor old Sandy Claws. “You ain’t going nowhere….” and
neither were we, especially since the evening finished with Tim Burton himself
speaking for us all by telling Elfman that this was his night. And he’d earned
all the cheers he received; the US audiences getting this in weeks to come are
in for a treat.
You gotta admit, Elfman played this stinkin’ city like a
harp from hell.
*Also scored by Elfman (in a Dixieland style; still think he
only has one sound?).
**Her word, not mine.
***The other being Sweeney
Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street. But you already knew that, right?
