The Lord of the Rings epic trilogy on the book of J.R.R. Tolkien will be presented in this country as a show, unseen before. The music will be perfectly synchronized with the image on a huge 25-meter-high screen in HD. There will be a total of 250 musicians onstage at the Arena Armeets Hall – the Symphonic Orchestra of the BNR, the Mixed and Children’s choirs of the BNR and the Sofia Boys Choir. Thanks to one of the organizers, Petar Dimitrov, we managed to take a look behind the scenes of the glorious show:

“Lord of the Rings in Concert combines two of the most convertible arts – cinema and music. On December 5 we will see something that has never happened before. The music of Howard Shore for the Lord of the Rings has been composed with a very interesting approach. He has used different and most peculiar instruments – a huge anvil, played on with a sledge hammer, cymbals, sliced into a spiral with the idea of a certain sound. The distressed piano, as Shore himself calls it, is the piano’s lyre, played on by chains. The composer has implemented these modifications, in order to receive the sound wanted. We imported Japanese taiko drums for the concert. The synchronization between sound and image is achieved with the usage of special technology from Germany. The conductor will have not only the score in front, but also a video screen with light indications, in order to make his work easier. The movie will have its Bulgarian subtitles. The screen is above the orchestra. Our engineers have taken care of the extremely good visibility from any angle.”

The choice of the BNR orchestra is not a coincidence, due to its high class and professional approach. The hall’s capacity is 7,000 seats. The BNR orchestra will be headed by concertmaster of Munich Symphony Orchestra Marian Kraev, who is a German Bulgarian origin.

About 60 speakers and over 30 subwoofers are included in the appliance prepared, in order for the audience to be able to enjoy a truly realistic experience.

The fans of the epic saga will have the chance to see concert renditions of the other two parts of the trilogy over the next couple of years. Petar Dimitrov tells us more on the project’s history:

“Some 12 years ago Howard Shore started to perform a piece, named Lord of the Rings Symphony. That was the movie’s soundtrack, turned into a symphony of 6 parts. He played it around the globe with different orchestras, as photos from the film were displayed on the screen simultaneously. When Howard saw another similar project, he went to New Line Cinema and purchased the copyright of the movie. Thus Lord of the Rings in Concert was created. Now we expect a highly professional international team, headed by conductor David Reitz, as well as production supervisor Jeff Markowitz. The latter has been responsible for the execution of other hit projects, such as Pirates of the Caribbean and the Matrix. There will be technical teams from England and Germany. All experts involved will join their efforts, in order for the premiere of this magnificent show to happen in Bulgaria.”

English version: Zhivko Stanchev