Cinema at the Concert Hall
Ever since moving images conquered the silver screen at the beginning of the 20th century, they have been accompanied by music in one form or another. Amateurs and professional musicians, pianists and theatre organists, violinists, piano trios and ballroom orchestras – even theatre orchestras of symphonic dimensions con- tributed to successful film screenings. The Philharmonie Luxembourg has been presenting films with live music since its opening in 2005. From new discoveries to Oscar-winning Hollywood blockbusters, the films screened at the concert hall during the 2024/25 season will also be accompanied live by very different musical formations.
The Portuguese silent film Os Faroleiros (The Lighthouse Keepers), created more than one hundred years ago, is the first of this season’s «Ciné-Concerts» and also part of the festival atlântico. This milestone of European film history will be accompanied by the Arditti Quartet, playing music by Daniel Moreira. It is followed by two silent- film classics: Asphalt (1929) and Fritz Lang’s Frau im Mond (1928/29). The
former will be accompanied by Francesco Tristano and Cateen at the piano and keyboard, while the latter boasts the ministrations of the Luxembourg Philharmonic under the baton of Timothy Brock.
During advent, the orchestra offers an entertaining extravaganza for all the family: the animated film Ratatouille (2007). The adventures of the rat Rémy, one of the true connoisseurs of the Paris gourmet scene, are sure to delight young and adult audiences alike. The new year, then, brings massive orchestral sounds. After the triumph of pop music in the 1960s, symphonic soundtracks performed by orchestras were considered outdated. They were revived, however, by none less than John Williams, whose melodies and movie scores earned him more than 50 Oscar nominations. In March, Part 1 of the successful Indiana Jones series (1981) will be screened and performed by the orchestra, including the famous Raiders March. Grand cinema comes to the Grand Auditorium: it’s showtime!
Daniela Zora Marxen
