Possibly the most notable aspect of this concert is the centerpiece which in a way derives from the title of the whole tour, Symphony of the Goddesses. This would be the multi-movement work that is put together, which tells the audience the story of the goddesses, how they have impacted the land of Hyrule, and our lovely hero Link. But this whole work, which has four main movements, is a tribute to the mythology which is presented throughout the series, of the goddesses Din, Nayru, and Farore whom also make up the iconic triforce.
The typical program of the concerts in the tour is the following, which can also be found on the official Zelda Symphony website;
This is the basic template for the tour, however each city is gong to get a different encore. Each orchestra however is going to be different, as they are composed of local musicians from that city. Which to me really makes this performance all the more special and meaningful, and gives me hope as a musician if they continue these sorts of tours to one day be a part of playing the music to my favorite game series.~ACT I~
Overture
~INTERLUDES~
Dungeons of Hyrule
Kakariko Village ~ Hope and Calm
Songs of the Hero
~THE SYMPHONY~
Prelude ~ The Creation of Hyrule
Movement I ~ Ocarina of Time
Movement II ~ The Wind Waker
~ACT II~
Intermezzo ~ Great Fairy's Fountain
Movement III ~ Twilight Princess
Movement IV ~ A Link To The Past
Finale
The conductor remains the same, and she was the fantastic Eímear Noone, who has done numerous conduction for video game orchestrations in both concert and the studio including notable works such as World of Wardcraft, Starcraft II, and Diablo III. She has also worked outside of the video game realm into the "classical" world where in 2007 she conducted the Los Angeles Ballet's production of Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker.
In case you can't tell, I find all of this fascinating and love getting to look into the details of the performers, conductor, and all of that information especially as the focus of the show is Zelda. The performance of video game music in an orchestral concert setting seems to be becoming more common with this tour, as well as the popular concert series Video Games Live (plus the upcoming Distant Worlds concert to feature music from Final Fantasy). I love every aspect of these shows, and really hope that this is the sort of thing that grows to being more common.
My only complaint I could have with this is not with the concert and performers, but the audience. From Symphony of the Goddesses and when I saw Video Game Live, I noticed the audience members are not really familiar with the proper concert educate in regards to orchestras. I know that yes these shows are predominantly catering towards the gaming crowd, but still some things like not clapping between movements or making comments during a piece should be common knowledge. But anyway, aside from that little detour the whole performance is just fantastic.
The concert of this tour that I saw was the performance in the Theater at Madison Square Garden, on November 28, 2012. For this performance, the performers were the Orchestra of St. Luke's and the Dessoff Choirs.
Before the orchestra began the second movement of the main Symphony, Eímear Noone went to take out a very special baton. Specifically one that was a replica of what Link uses in The Wind Waker, fitting for how the second movement is for that game. Just the details like that really add to the whole experience.
One thing particularly special about the show I saw at the Garden was that they did three encores. The first two, were "Ballad of the Windfish" and "Gerudo Valley". Now before the third and final piece, Jeron Moore the producer of Symphony of the Goddesses began with “The number three resonates a lot in the Zelda series.” Saying that basically made everyone completely cheer with joy knowing that we would be getting to hear more of such lovely music, and the show closed with a medley for "Majora's Mask" (which the video above is for).
The whole performance was just amazing, from the performers musicianship, the fantastic arrangements of the music from the series, and the videos which accompanied the pieces. Like one part I just loved was when the brass came in during the section for the "Dawn of the Final Day" of the Majora's Mask medley changing the whole tone of the piece. But anyway.. if you love Zelda, or just have an appreciation for music, go out and see this concert as it is just a great experience.
