onStage Pittsburgh: The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra takes the stage this weekend to perform the score to the fourth installment of the Harry Potter film series: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire™. The film is the sequel to Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, which the symphony performed in concert last year. Hufflepuffs, Gryffindors, Slytherins, and Ravenclaws packed Heinz Hall Friday evening for the first of two performances of the beloved film.
8 comments:
I wish I had known this was happening this weekend, as I would have loved to go. I have seen these concert versions of Harry Potter on TikTok, and people absolutely loved them. I think its wide success is due to a few reasons. The first is the work being showcased, Harry Potter. Harry Potter is very nostalgic for a large group of people. It is, no pun intended, magical. The feeling many people get from delving into the wizarding world is unmatched. The second reason I believe it's so successful is because of the music. Music has a way of bonding with people who experience it. Especially classical music in a concert setting. A third reason I think these events have been so popular is because a lot of people missed out on watching the Harry Potter movies in the cinema. I know I personally would love to watch these movies with other people on a large screen.
I’m so saddened that I did not get a chance to hear about this before it happened so that I could get tickets to go. While I am not a big Harry Potter fan– I actually don’t think I’ve ever seen the Goblet of Fire– the music in the first few films are so magical. I have seen all over the internet movie symphony events with Harry Potter, Star Wars, How to Train Your Dragon, etc. and I have been desperately wanting to go and see one of these events myself. I looked at the rest of their calendar for the school year and I think what completely broke my heart is that they are doing the same thing with The Princess Bride (one of my all time favorite movies) the DAY after I leave for break. I am actually really upset by this but maybe I can find the event another time, I will definitely be subscribing to the Symphony’s mailing list in hopes that I don’t miss more events.
Reading this article made me realize how much I do not like remakes or when movies are made into musicals/ concert ‘experiences.’ To me, when a piece of entertainment or art is so iconic and great to begin with it doesn’t need to be re made or revived. Harry Potter is one of those things that was so authentic and good as a book, the movies were pretty good in my opinion as well, but when I heard about the musical I was not happy. When a creative makes a world like Harry Potter, it is more than a book it is an outlet, and when I read the books it was that for me. But at a certain point, when a book is exploited like this, it takes away the menaing of what books are. They are for building creativity, empathy, and imagination. But then I must ask myself is it just for sales and tickets and money? Is it greed? Such a success, but it doesn’t need all of this press and nuance added to it.
I am a huge Harry Potter fan, and while my opinion has changed as I have grown up and matured, The Goblet of Fire used to be my favorite Harry Potter film when I was younger. I think having a symphony orchestra play the music of a Harry Potter film live is an ingenious idea, and it would be even better with the fourth film. As the article says, this film has something for everyone and I think that it would be interesting and impressive to hear the full performance range of the symphony orchestra displayed by the wide range of techniques and styles used throughout this film. My only complaint about this type of event is that I would love to go to it and a lot of people would as well, but the tickets are always way too expensive for essentially a really fancy movie theater experience.
During winter break, I watched a similar show, where the performers performed a variety of songs from various childhood movies, from Harry Potter, to Moana, to Frozen. I really loved the experience, as it was such a unique experience for me, because I usually go watch the productions rather than listening to the music. I wished I knew about this and went to watch this, as Harry Potter is one of my favorite series, and the story within the music is truly amazing. As someone who used to play the cello, I really miss orchestrated pieces, and just the thrill of performing through music, so if there is an opportunity for me to watch orchestras, I would usually go. While the experience is largely based on the skill levels of the performers, another element is the audience. There are some shows that I’ve been to, where the performers were amazing, but the audience was extremely disrespectful, constantly talking and recording the entire show. I wish there are more opportunities here that I can go to.
As someone who does not support JK Rowling it breaks my heart a little bit that she is still making money off of this franchise. The idea of live orchestrated movies has been around for decades and I personally love this style of performance. Although I have never seen a live orchestrated movie I think the concept is a beautiful way to blend live repertoire and archive. I love that the article discusses balancing a live orchestra with the sound design of the pre existing film. My concern with movies with live orchestration is the orchestration overpowering the film. I also loved the PSO incorporated effects such as the percussion of Krum’s staff into the film. I look forward to seeing how this long standing tradition of accompanying films evolves over the upcoming years. I am also curious if TV shows will receive the same treatment as streaming becomes more popular. I know personally I would pay a lot of money to see the Percy Jackson show or Dr. Who with live orchestration.
I am so very disappointed that I am only finding out about this event now, had I known this was happening I absolutely would have tried to get tickets. Growing up I loved Harry Potter, and I still do as an “adult”. It is such a well written intricate series. The Goblet of Fire is one of my favorite Harry Potters, because I love watching the trials the competitors compete in. To have had the opportunity to see this film in concert in Heinz hall would have been a privilege. I have always loved the symphony, and go every chance which is not as often as I would like but it is what it is. This sounds like it was an incredible immersive experience. I would have loved to have heard how they accented the film through music and if that brought new realizations to me while watching. In the end, I am very disappointed that I missed this event.
I’ve always wanted to go to a live movie concert. They seem so fun. I love Harry Potter and I love John Williams so I will seriously consider going to this. I will definitely want to check if any of the money I give to buy the ticket will go to JK Rowling because if so I probably won’t go. I also might not go because I don’t love the Goblet of Fire movie. It’s great because it’s a harry potter movie but on my scale of best to worst Harry Potter movies it’s on the worse end. That being said I think it actually does have some of the most iconic songs in the whole harry potter franchise so it would be a good orchestra piece. I wonder how they’ll do the Weird Sisters rock band scene during the yule ball. I can’t imagine they’ll suddenly pull out electric guitars. Also, for performances like this do they get special versions of the movie with no backing tracks?
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