Film Music at the Film Festival of Ghent 2009

Thomas thought Girl with a pearl earring was boring?

Girl who likes pearl necklace was more appetising prospect is my guess

Oh-oh

They played The Angel from that score!

you said they played 3 notes from that theme and that they deleted the best part of it, so don't start defending it



I was immensely surprised about the quality of The Girl with a Pearl Earing, but I hated that it was all dramatic (save one sublime cue), considering his diverse filmograpy, I wanted more diverse material, a bit more thriller, a bit more action

That's what I hated about it the most

No no. I like Angel, especially the moment in which the Wong Chi Chai (?) theme makes a glorious but short appearance. I'd preferred the whole main theme, from track 24.

Franz, I would have offered my ticket in a flash

They don't have to. I mean, Bates IS a wanker anyway!

Yes, the atmosphere from the earlier editions was back! Next year is the 10th edition, and that might be massive. I encourage everyone from around Belgium to take notice, and join the festival next year. This year's edition was much smoother (it was also aired live, so it had to be) than usual, the awards ceremony kept to a minimum, and focusing on the concert.

Hamlish's short concert displayed his music for Sophie's Choice, The Way we Were and the very upbeat A Chorus Line. Marvin performed on piano, but during the latter, he went to Dirk Brossé (the conductor) and they did some short of handshake, and then Marvin took the conducting role for the piece. Clearly a show element that fitted the music of that movie. Lots of fun seeing him conducting and pointing at the instrument that had a solo or short role.

Marc Streitenfeld's little concert only contained music from American Gangster and Body of Lies. I like both scores, though I prefer the latter. Surprisingly, it was American Gangster that did receive a suite of 7 or 8 minutes, and I have to say, it was really good! It centred around the quirky theme, with performances on three guitars and muted trumpet. For Body of Lies he himself performed on the electric guitar but the suite was a bit a of let down. Next year's Discovery of the Year, Nico Muhly, will be present for a concert.

Obviously, the Desplat part was the highlight of the evening. A glorious selection from Girl with a Pearl Earring (holy!), The Painted Veil, Birth (olalalala!), Lust, Caution (The Angel!), The Golden Compass (Sky Ferry), Chéri, Un Héros très Discret (his first score for an Audiard film), The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (beautiful, but for me, unbelievably overrated) and Coco Avant Chanel. Together somewhat an hour of Desplat goodness.

He conducted the orchestra himself, a magnificent performance btw, especially for Un Héros, which was just spectacular (and much more large scale than the score release) and Birth. For Cheri, I saw the light for the score, since you could see the score switching between solo's, from violin to cello, nice to see and hear! Like I mentioned before, seeing his music played by the orchestra adds so much more to his attention for details. t's like every musician had an other partiture. Crazy! His style of conducting is also very very passionate. He started jumping when reaching the finale of Un Héros.

For all of you who were not here, there will probably a cd release next year of the concert (not necessarily live recordings though, but I'd love to have the Un Héros suite). Also, shame on you!

I bought the three cd's from the festival (Armstrong, Danna and Badalamenti). I'll comment on those later.

Pictures coming soon! I have some, a producer I met at the seminary took some of the seminary and the interview, and we're expecting one from Andrew Lockington too. I'll post a media page later this month when everything is gathered.

Yes, that must be one of the reasons. It wasn't bad, but they didn't select the best moments (which probably are the hardest then). But American Gangster was really cool to see though.

Aww, don't be so hard on it. I love Frank Lucas' theme, and, eh... well... alright, just that theme. But it was indeed very cool to see it live!

It is, it was a very good performance - yet I sometimes have doubts about the consistency of the brass section; they didn't seem able to handle the more difficult Williams sections last year for instance. Still, who am I to criticise - and this year especially was really very good, and I was impressed with how they handled that Desplat sound - very delicate and precise.