Not only film music.
Contrary to its name, the fourth edition of Film Music Festival in Krakow was not only about movies. The first day opening concert featured Joe Hisaishi, the creator of music for Hayao Miyazaki anime films (all right, so these technically qualify as movies, but still), while the second day concert featured Distant Worlds: Music from Final Fantasy and suite from Witcher 2. As you can surely understand, dear reader, I just had to be there!
Now, having participated in the grandiose event, I can safely say that it was absolutely brilliant. Joe Hisaishi was great - a small, smiling Japanese gentleman, whose music charmed the audience and smart remarks during interviews entertained everyone. We could hear scores from "Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind", "Laputa - Castle in the Sky", "Princess Mononoke", "Ponyo by the Sea", "My neighbour Totoro" as well as from Takeshi Kitano's films "Brother", "Hana-bi", "Kikujiro" and others. There was also silent movie (Buster Keaton's "The General") played that evening and a special musical thanks for help after tsunami and earthquake, something I found very touching. All in all, the music was beautiful and since there are so many emotions in it, I almost shed a tear. You can watch (and listen to!) an overview of the first day concert here:
The second day saw the presentation of suite from Witcher 2, appropriately epic, bombastic and heavy, as well as Distant Worlds concert, featuring music from almost all Final Fantasy parts. We've heard One Winged Angel, Bombing Mission and Main Theme from FF7, Vamo Alla Flamenco from FF9, Liberi Fatali, Love Grows, Fisherman's Horizon and Don't Be Afraid from FF8, as well as lots of other songs. A special treat for the audience was Opera Maria and Draco from FF6 performed with real opera singers, really classy addition to otherwise great music roster. Watch and hear the second day concert below:
Third day concert was also a little unusual: "Pirates of Caribbean: The Curse of Black Pearl" screening with live music rendition. It was extremely well pulled off (timings!) and sometimes one could forget that the music was being produced on the fly. The live version, however, was so much more powerful than the prerecorded one - even the main theme was richer and somehow more enticing than the regular version everyone heard in cinemas and from their TVs. Fourth day followed up with similar performance, this time including Polish series "Czas Honoru" ("Time of Honour"), but I skipped it, due to lack of time and energy.
All in all, the event was absolutely brilliant - the energy, the emotions, great music, it was all there. And as an additional bonus, I managed to get Hironobu Sakaguchi's autograph. Yes, the very same, father of all Final Fantasy games! As you can imagine, I am extremely happy that I could be there and I will surely join the fifth edition next year.
Contrary to its name, the fourth edition of Film Music Festival in Krakow was not only about movies. The first day opening concert featured Joe Hisaishi, the creator of music for Hayao Miyazaki anime films (all right, so these technically qualify as movies, but still), while the second day concert featured Distant Worlds: Music from Final Fantasy and suite from Witcher 2. As you can surely understand, dear reader, I just had to be there!
Now, having participated in the grandiose event, I can safely say that it was absolutely brilliant. Joe Hisaishi was great - a small, smiling Japanese gentleman, whose music charmed the audience and smart remarks during interviews entertained everyone. We could hear scores from "Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind", "Laputa - Castle in the Sky", "Princess Mononoke", "Ponyo by the Sea", "My neighbour Totoro" as well as from Takeshi Kitano's films "Brother", "Hana-bi", "Kikujiro" and others. There was also silent movie (Buster Keaton's "The General") played that evening and a special musical thanks for help after tsunami and earthquake, something I found very touching. All in all, the music was beautiful and since there are so many emotions in it, I almost shed a tear. You can watch (and listen to!) an overview of the first day concert here:
The second day saw the presentation of suite from Witcher 2, appropriately epic, bombastic and heavy, as well as Distant Worlds concert, featuring music from almost all Final Fantasy parts. We've heard One Winged Angel, Bombing Mission and Main Theme from FF7, Vamo Alla Flamenco from FF9, Liberi Fatali, Love Grows, Fisherman's Horizon and Don't Be Afraid from FF8, as well as lots of other songs. A special treat for the audience was Opera Maria and Draco from FF6 performed with real opera singers, really classy addition to otherwise great music roster. Watch and hear the second day concert below:
Third day concert was also a little unusual: "Pirates of Caribbean: The Curse of Black Pearl" screening with live music rendition. It was extremely well pulled off (timings!) and sometimes one could forget that the music was being produced on the fly. The live version, however, was so much more powerful than the prerecorded one - even the main theme was richer and somehow more enticing than the regular version everyone heard in cinemas and from their TVs. Fourth day followed up with similar performance, this time including Polish series "Czas Honoru" ("Time of Honour"), but I skipped it, due to lack of time and energy.
All in all, the event was absolutely brilliant - the energy, the emotions, great music, it was all there. And as an additional bonus, I managed to get Hironobu Sakaguchi's autograph. Yes, the very same, father of all Final Fantasy games! As you can imagine, I am extremely happy that I could be there and I will surely join the fifth edition next year.
