Symphonic Game Music Concert 2010: Official Thread of Joy and Faintings
 

Still enthused by Symphonic Fantasies? Pull yourself together: Seems the concert was successful enough for the WDR to almost immediately reveal their plans for a follow-up next year.

Date is a bit surprising as the holidays will be over by then. Saturday is perfect for the ones with a long journey ahead, but for Friday...I'll have to find a way to skip school. :p

Ah, you're the one who started the thread this time. :D

It's a Friday, you say? That's indeed a surprise but I was told Friday's concert of Symphonic Fantasies was filled with more people than I expected. So if they do only one concert this time there's a chance eventually to have a sold out Philharmonic Hall.

Noted, and I'll so be there! I'd prefer a Saturday, though, mainly because I think traffic on Friday afternoon will be murder!

I very much hope for a Saturday concert to be announced when the ticket sale starts. I never had any problem with Leipzig's events because they were within the holiday frame, but Saturday is just so much more convenient for Cologne. Who knows? Maybe the Philharmonie already has a concert on September 25th.

I just read that the 2010 concert will be called "Symphonic Legends".
Well, looks like that name gives no real clue about the theme of the next concert.
But I think it's safe to say Team GFF will be in attendance.

Man, I'll have to stay the whole September in western Europe then (between this and the GFF Euro meet).

Bumping this to make everyone go nuts: no new information at all. :p

Seriously, though. I overheard this conversation in the radio talk show Domian last night and thought I'd post it here. German Gamingforcists can follow the girl talk about her biggest dream that has to do with game music concerts...

It seems she was a little bit nervous, huh? Talking about game music concerts in Japan and then overwhelmed by the small opportunity to be a singer in a concert done by WDR. ;)

However, nice dream but did she really don't know that the WDR, the same radio station she have called at that moment, do the concerts? If yes then she should work on her way to get informations. :D

Well, now I'm curious if we see and hear her next year.

Don't know. She also said the Cologne concert took place last year. Maybe it was just her being nervous. Or she called from the future.

Anyway, I can't imagine her dream being that far off. If she is a talented singer and receives some kind of musical education, I can see her entering a choir that performs for game music concerts. It'd probably be harder to enter just one single concert, though, unless she has some good relations.

This thread needs to be updated with some information. First, the news:

Needless to say, I got some tickets today. Looking forward to the next announcements.

Sheesh, had to happen at a time I didn't check the official sites for two days... :( Turns out my seat was already taken, though I got a good substitute for it.

Tickets are selling like hotcakes, that's for sure: Blocks B and D are almost completely taken.

And tickets have been purchased. Even managed to convince my wife to come along. Now just to plan a trip to Germany.

they have the nerve to sell tickets without even saying what the concert is about?

In one word: yes! But whatever, it's game music.

Well, obviously they can afford. And I guess the title is a pretty good giveaway of what to expect. ;)

So there's not going to be a concert on Friday? Thursday is extremely inconvenient for me (and I'm sure for a lot of other people as well...) :-(

Yeah, that's basically the reason I never went to one either =/

According to the SEMO interview, it was described as "the best of both worlds" with reference to Symphonic Shades and Symphonic Fantasies. My guess is its probably an East meets West music affair. I don't know for sure though.

Well I don't mean to be a sourpuss. It's not like I could afford to go even if I knew what to expect. And I'm infinitely appreciative for the outright fantastic efforts the WDR has made to make recordings of their performances available around the world for those who cant attend (an example many other concerts should follow... I'm looking at you press start) of course there's always ten miles of lawyers who exist for the sole purpose of stamping out events such as these, so it's a miracle that they can even happen to begin with.

To my understanding that was said concerning the performance style. So in other words we won't see in SL 15 minutes "legends" as in SF but a mix of single tracks and suites.

Just ordered two tickets in block F, like last time.
Concerning the concert itself / the content: I have no doubt that it's going to be awesome - like it always does when Böcker is involved :)

Just a little news: Until today over 75% of all tickets have been sold so if you want to visit the concert you should go and order your ones soon. Furthermore it's scheduled that more details will be revealed in February.

I'm still hoping there'll be a second performance on Friday, either in Koeln or somewhere else in the area. Thursday just isn't a good day for me. :-(

If there is a Cologne Philharmonic Hall concert on Friday, I'll buy an additional ticket and give my Thursday one to the poorest GFF member. :D

That's great! I'm just hoping for early rather than late February, the tension is killing me. :p

No news as such, however... I kept thinking about the concert and how I really wanted to go, but the Thursday thing kept annoying me, and by the time I'd decided to heck with it, I'm gonna order two tickets after all, all but the very worst seats had been taken.

I just woke up from a nightmare (!) in which I could only get standing tickets (?! *LOL*), and decided to give it one more shot... and lo and behold, the ticket website now offers row center blocks row ten (!) (from the most expensive group of tickets!). I immediately booked two tickets, so will see you guys there, after all, and with even better seats than last year! :D Oddly enough, I just checked, and they still have row ten seats available. I'm not sure how/why, maybe they've held back a bunch of seats for later purchase, or maybe they're returns? Either way, I have to pinch myself to make sure I'm not still dreaming, haha.

There was a little news but to be honest I'm disappointed that it's still a secret who gets the focus this time. "We're going to send out a news instantly we have the permission of all participants." was the answer to my (ironic) question whether they wait for all tickets being sold.

However, the news I mentioned above says following:

* Niklas Willén, the new lead conductor of the WDR Radio Orchestra, will conduct Symphonic Legends
* Benyamin Nuss and Rony Barrak will be back
* From next year on there will be two game music concerts done by WDR

I have already posted it on CetraConnection (where people are also eagerly awaiting the announcement of details) but, well, relevant here as well:

The State Choir Latvija, which some of you may know from the marvelous soundtrack of Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, will be the choir for this year's main concert. I'm absolutely stoked to hear their live performance!

I kind of expected a second concert to be announced after the first event sold out, along with the musical focus as it is guaranteed ticket pusher. Judging from the original news at the official website and how it was changed from "Details" zu "Erste Details", I guess they were expecting to be able to announce it in February but couldn't make it for the reasons you mentioned above. The answer you received, of course, raises the question what "participants" refers to. If it is game publishers, then a company-centric concert is unlikely.

My only hope is that the program won't be held back as long as last year, it just seemed unreasonable. I still think Symphonic Shades was perfect in terms of information policy. All compositions to be performed were known by April 2008. It may not be possible for each concert that early (as seen above...), but I still prefer to know the titles as soon as possible. Also, the Fifth Symphonic Game Music Concert had one genuine surprise in that the performance by Michiru Yamane came totally out of the blue. Her performance was so enjoyable partly because nobody expected it at all: the only "surprise" announced was the one prepared by Takenobu Mitsuyoshi, his piano and vocal solo. Another great one was the encore in Symphonic Fantasies. Totally unexpected.

I would love to see both of these aspects, early announcements and genuine surprises (if there are any planned), combined for future events. Because one certainly can't deny there is a considerable amount of hype among fans of the series and...what better way to keep it going than fan service.

I picked up my tickets today at a friend who lives just across the border in Germany (saved on mailing costs). I still cannot believe it, and have to pinch myself. I thought for sure that either I wasn't going at all, or else I'd be stuck wtih the worst seats in the house, but to get such good seats after all... *happy sigh* Now I'm just gonna hope for some really great announcements. Last year's concert was Perfect, it'll be hard for them to top it, IMHO. Of course, if they were to get, say, Masashi Hamauzu, I might just have to kiss the ground on which TPTB walk. *grin*

SEMO has exclusively revealed that the concert will commemorate a variety of Nintendo franchises, including Mario and Zelda, in an interview with Winfried Fechner:

Square Enix Music Online :: Interview with WDR Radio Orchestra Manager Winfried Fechner Part 1 (March 2010)

More in a second interview shortly.

It's out! Finally! And it's Nintendo what so many supposed. :D And hell, I really can't wait to the second part! 2011 concert, arrangers, Symphonic Fantasies CD! That's something above awesome!

Thanks for the interview!
It doesn't really come off as a surprise but I'm still more excited than ever right now.
It's going to be interesting to see what titles they choose.

I'm a bit unfamiliar with Nintendo music even though I played so much DKC2 and Links Awakening back in the day, but there's still enough time to pick up a Nintendo CD or two.

The most interesting thing there will be the Metroid stuff. From Zelda and Mario the tunes chosen will most likely be the ones already played-out.

Too bad it turns out I can't really afford going there. Nashle!

Am happy with the Nintendo news, but not nearly as familiar with the music (except for Mario). Looks like I've got some catching up to do in that area the coming months!

Revelation of three arrangers, three performers, and discussion of the original fanfare here:

Square Enix Music Online :: Interview with WDR Radio Orchestra Manager Winfried Fechner Part 2 (March 2010)

Looking forward to seeing what Valtonen and Nuss have planned for the fanfare. Apparently lighter than last year's given the topic of the concert.

Mmm, string arrangement of Secret of Mana? Performed earlier this month? Anybody got a recording? :D

Sad to hear Mr. Fechner is retiring. He's a very likable and passionate man.

I have died and gone to VGM heaven, surely. Uematsu in concert, three days after my 30th birthday. A better present I cannot possibly imagine! I MUST must must get tickets for this!!!!
edited to add: oops, hadn't seen the new thread yet. Sowwy.

It's also great to hear that a Symphonic Fantasies CD is official in the works but I wonder whether the disc will be purchasable in Japan only so that everyone else have to import it... (like drammatica)

Shiro Hamaguchi and Hayato Matsuo co-arranging the concert, that's pretty big news (easily overlooked).
I just noticed that the tickets sold out on March 19, about time to release the huge announcements :P

Even after two successful concerts and the third and fourth announced I can't really believe this is all taking place in Cologne. Thanks, WDR!

Considering Hamaguchi's work on the piano arrangement for the FF series and the fact that Benyamin Nuss is again performing, we can hopefully expect some fine piano-arranged segments in the concert *dream*

And who could be the surprise arranger? Kondo himself?

Apparently the third arranger is Masashi Hamauzu! Now if only he'd actually come to the concert, too... that'd just make my year!

Sorry, no news, just wanted to say I 99.9 % certain won't be going to this concert, after all. We were supposed to go to Florida on a three-week vacation this weekend, but the Icelandic volcano ash cloud killed our vacation plans, as our flights were cancelled. We've now rescheduled for September. Am pretty disappointed, but am a LOT more disappointed about not being in Florida right now, and if I have the choice between Nintendo music and Florida... yeah. :-P
No matter, what, though, I will go to the Uematsu concert next year!!!

Now have two tickets for very good seats which won't be used. I wonder if they'll take them back, or if I can resell them? I think the concert is sold out, so surely someone would be interested...

Yeah, let Hamauzu-san be a special guest - that would really be awesome. Need to get this huge FF13 booklet signed :D

Anyway, are there already plans for the "usual" meeting before and after the concert?

Whoever decided on that policy should be sent a bouquet. A big one. Probably also some food.

That said, Symphonic Legends will see another live video and radio broadcast.

So you will send that to every German radio tax payer? :p

I'm guessing everybody here already has tickets / great seats, but I just put my two tickets up for auction on eBay Germany. Just hope I can break even. *snifs* It still hurts, not going, after I got so lucky getting hold of those two tickets at such a late time, but on the upside, my volcanic-ash-cloud-delayed holidays are now fast approaching, so that's some comfort.

Uuuuh, the forum is really dead besides the weekly music contest, huh? However, in less than 10 days Symphonic Legends will occur so we get more and more the most important news.

First, the concert program is out at SEMO and the official site. Two highlights are a piano arrangement of Donkey Kong Country's "Aquatic Ambience" and a 30 minutes nonstop arrangement for Zelda.

Second, the live broadcast will support 5.1 surround sound!

Awesome!

Unfortunately, I'll be abroad on September 23, would be really cool if someone saved the livestream and uploaded it somewhere.

Was this recorded? Sounds amazing!

Someone on NeoGAF recorded it (audio only).
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3580156/STE-016.mp3

I'm still hoping for an HD video stream capture though.

here's a torrent, though it seems like there are no seeders right now -.-
symphonic legends isoHunt Lite the BitTorrent & P2P search engine

at least it's already edited and named.

ah, ffshrine has a high quality rip:
Symphonic Legends I (new).7z
Symphonic Legends II.7z

i'll still buy the CD.. as i'll be ordering the symphonic fantasies CD soon =) i think i liked that one better, kingdom hearts and secret of mana were epic. but this one was still great.

Thanks again, Prime Blue!!! This concert was EPIC.

Sorceror88, looks like the torrent's going strong. The uploader's probably super-seeding. Thanks for the links!

I'm currently trying to accurately tag the rip by klnerfan@ffshrine. This one looks like the most perfect rip at this time.

I'm leaving out the intermission track and the MCing.

Performer in every track:
WDR Radio Orchestra Cologne

Orchestra and choir conducted by:
Niklas Willén

Concert master: Juraj Cizmarovic

01 Fanfare for the Common 8-Bit Hero
Arranged by Jonne Valtonen
Original composition by Jonne Valtonen
(no choir)

02 Starwing and Lylat Wars (Space Suite)
Arranged by Shiro Hamaguchi
Composed by Hajime Hirasawa and Koji Kondo
Chorus by State Choir Latvija

03 Super Mario Bros. (Retro Suite)
Arranged by Roger Wanamo
Composed by Koji Kondo
(no choir)

04 F-Zero (Race Suite)
Arranged by Shiro Hamaguchi
Composed by Yumiko Kanki and Naoto Ishida
Darbouka performed by Rony Barrak
(no choir)

05 Metroid (Galactic Warrior Suite)
Arranged by Torsten Rasch
Composed by Kenji Yamamoto and Minako Hamano
Chorus by State Choir Latvija

06 Donkey Kong Country (Aquatic Ambience)
Arranged by Masashi Hamauzu
Composed by David Wise (Music)
First/Solo Violin performed by Juraj Cizmarovic
Piano performed by Benyamin Nuss
(no choir)

07 Pikmin (Variation on a World Theme)
Arranged by Hayato Matsuo
Composed by Hajime Wakai
(no choir)

08 Super Mario Galaxy (Space Suite)
Arranged by Roger Wanamo
Composed by Mahito Yokota and Koji Kondo
Chorus by State Choir Latvija
Percussion performed by Rony Barrak

------------------------------------------------

09 The Legend of Zelda - Symphonic Poem
Arranged by Jonne Valtonen
Composed Koji Kondo and Toru Minegishi
Chorus by State Choir Latvija
Darbouka performed by Rony Barrak
Piano performed by uncredited/unknown woman
Vocal solo performed by uncredited/unknown woman (member of choir)

Segments:
I. Hyrulian Child
II. Dark Lord
III. Princess of Destiny
IV. Battlefield
V. Hero of Time

------------------------------------------------

09 Encore (Currendo. Saltando. Ludendo)
Arranged by Roger Wanamo
Composed by:
__Kenta Nagata, Hajime Wakai, Toru Minegishi, Koji Kondo
__Kenji Yamamoto, Minako Hamano, Masaru Tajima
__Mahito Yokota, Hajime Hirasawa, Yumiko Kanki ,Naoto Ishida

Darbouka performed by Rony Barrak
Piano performed by Benyamin Nuss
Chorus by State Choir Latvija


The encore is especially interesting, since we don't have any (official) information about it.

I also recall that we've kind of a vocal solo in one of the tracks (it was Zelda), would be nice to know who from the choir did this.

Anyway, if anything is missing from the credits or something is wrong - tell me! :)
And having sort of track breakdown for each suite would be kinda nice!

"Fanfare for the Common 8-bit Hero" should have had Nuss on the piano, as well, according to this interview. "The Legend of Zelda - Symphonic Poem" has a prominent piano played by an unidentified woman who does not seem to be part of the orchestra (at least she is not listed with the musicians).

You can find a detailed list of performers, composers (those are a bit inclusionist at times) and arrangers here.

So Nuss failed miserably like last time? I wonder what was the reason this year.

Huh, care to explain?

Honestly, huh? He made only one noticeable mistake last year in the Kingdom Hearts suite (which was corrected in the CD release, by the way ;)), and I did not recognize a single mistake from him this year. The only one that messed up a little is the trumpeter in "Super Mario Bros. (Retro Medley)", who was asynchronous during the "Aboveground BGM" from New Super Mario Bros. – and I don't even know if it was his fault.

Anyway, where do the credits from the encore come from? Especially the arranger credit. And looks like I totally blacked out when Erdenberger said 'Ludendo'. Did he really say that?!

Being young, ridiculously talented and full of potential qualifies as miserably failing these days? I didn't even hear any screw-ups and I was there.

Taking all composers from the source material into consideration because no single track credits exist. Could be that some didn't actually compose the music in there. All unreferenced people in the "Arrangers/Orchestrators" columns are based on creator comments.

And no, Erdenberger didn't read "Ludendo" (mirroring the "mit Zu...satz F as if S...FX...-Chip" moment which was pure comedy gold ;)), but it was displayed as the title in the video stream.

He was a little nervous during the interview, but that's it. *shrug*

I was curious about the mystery lady, nothing else. This year I didn't go (not feeling nostalgic enough about those games) so I didn't know Nuss was on stage based on that one message about it.

But next year!

Well naturally, the kid's a piano player, not a media personality. At any rate, show was fantastic and well worth the flight out. Will be going back for Odyssey.

Released my recording in the game rips thread, for anyone who's interested.



EDIT: For the Germans among us, a little picture puzzle, humbly provided by pronunciation expert Ralph Erdenberger. :D

http://i53.tinypic.com/1hxshl.jpghttp://i52.tinypic.com/ixfsdd.jpghttp://i55.tinypic.com/2m6a5p3.jpghttp://i53.tinypic.com/2mmtqgn.jpg


Tip:


Solution:

I'm (half)German, but I don't know that much of the German language.

Has there been any updates on a complete video recording?

@Prime Blue: Most amazing, since that's exactly how Erdenberger pronounced it (no joke) -- at least the second time when we were on air...

Anybody know what song the strings from that moment on play? It's so damn familiar but I just can't seem to nail it. I thought it might be "Battle" from Majora's Mask, but that's not exactly it...

Heh, I can think of quite a few scores where this bit would fit right in, so yeah, maybe it's from one of the games or just a somewhat generic, "heard it before" sounding transition. [Edit: I think it's the A Link to the Past boss theme. Hearing it right after the Dark World theme got me thinking again.]

I'm listening to the concert for the first time right now. Mixed feelings so far; some of the earlier tracks (Star Fox, Metroid) felt completely overarranged, but 40 minutes of orchestral Zelda are certainly appreciated.

Sounds like a Zelda boss battle theme. Can't place it though. Twilight Princess maybe?

It's Twilight Princess. In my rip, the thing is called "King Bulblin & Lord Bullbo". It's the theme from the battle on the Bridge of Eldin.

It's definitely not that one, but rather a song with a slow and menacing transition. Could be a battle theme, though I am not sure.
I just know that I've heard those string notes somewhere before, and it drives me crazy that I can't get myself to remember it. :/

Here's a MIDI with the section isolated from the rest of the orchestra.

The MIDI you posted is basically the ordinary battle theme of Twilight Princess. Plays when enemies are around. In the FLAC gamerip I downloaded from somewhere I don't remember anymore, it is Track 1-19 and titled "Battle Second Half".

Listen at the 2 minute 10 second mark.

YouTube Video
Error; are you sure that's a YouTube link?

Well, looks like embedded videos play from the start. Click here if you're lazy.

Ah, okay, sorry, I thought you were talking about the section in the video that starts right after that one.

Ding, ding, ding, right answer! :) Thank you so much for putting this to rest!



That is actually the last battle theme from Twilight Princess, "Ganondorf Battle Second Half". By the way, Toru Minegishi is a genius when it comes to battle music.


I've started compiling a composition breakdown some days ago, but this time it's a lot harder than last year. The arrangements are much more intertwined this year and I don't know every track's title or origin. This is what I've got so far:

Ah, you're right, this one plays longer.

If you listen carefully, as "Water Land" nears its end, you can also hear the underwater music from SMB1 used as accompaniment.

Big thanks to Prime Blue for the track breakdowns -- really great work! :)

Wow! Impressive work, Prime Blue. The last track of the Encore is "The Starship Travels" from Super Mario Galaxy 2:
YouTube - SUPER MARIO GALAXY 2 OST 1-14 - The Starship Travels

I don't think anyone has already mentioned it here:

In the Polyneux podcast (interview with Thomas Böcker) here Böcker has stated that the concert is going to become available in the WDR Mediathek at some time.

This essentially means that we're going to get a (remastered?) recording of the concert that does include the video stream.
I think especially Audi was interested in something like that :)

Schon GEZahlt? ;)

Is there a thread for the 2011 concert, Symphic Odysseys: a tribute to Nobuo Uematsu? Apparently it was sold out in 24 hours!

No thread yet, no. But yes, it apparantly sold out in 24hours. I was also surprised, but hey -- it's Uematsu ;)

I was in a ryokan in Nikko, Japan, with very wonky wifi. While the other were taking a dip in the onsen, I was sitting in front of the laptop at 6 pm local time, desperate to get tickets. :-) Worked out all right in the end, got two fine seats in block B, row 11. It's my 30th b-day present to myself (I'm not above admitting I'm a huge Uematsu fan), so am pretty happy it worked out!

For those interested, they're adding a second performance of the Uematsu tribute concert on the same Saturday, in the afternoon (so I guess the original evening performance is now the second one, *grin*). Tickets go on sale March 1st. I might just try and get one, can never have enough Uematsu music.

I also booked tickets for the Distant Worlds concert in November in London. Any excuse to spend a few days in London is always welcome, and this sounds like a really good one. ;-)

Great, there are still tickets available. Well, LiquidAcid, I'm still waiting for your response, don't tell me you already bought your tickets :D

Also good news about that second concert. Finally, those people living in other time zones get another chance to purchase their tickets and plan a trip to Cologne :D

Tickets for the afternoon performance of Symphonic odysseys: Tribute to Nobuo Uematsu (which will include music from FF, Blue Dragon, Lost Odyssey and even the new Last Story) are now on sale.
The seats in the category 1 block are all sold out already, though.
And Mr. Uematsu will be doing an autograph session before each concert.
I'm thinking about going to Cologne on Friday and stay until Sunday, make it a nice shopping and concerting birthday weekend. :-)

FYI, concert program and link to the live video/audio feed of the evening performance are now on-line at Symphonic Odysseys - video game music concert

Interesting pieces so we will hear a lot of new stuff.

Anyone else at the concerts today? I had a great time this afternoon, now taking a quick bite before the evening performance. Almost everything was new stuff, not normally played at VGM concerts. King's Knight, for one, *LOL* I thought Waterside was particularly pretty, played on strings instead of the piano. Surprising Final Fantasy themes from the older games popped up, and the encores were lovely (I had tears in my eyes, darnit).

They really upped the ante this year with the celebrity performers:

Gabriele Pauli

http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/7015/clipboard01lj.jpg

...and Hideki Kamiya!

http://img856.imageshack.us/img856/9...pboard02rd.jpg

Consider me amazed. I said wow.

Amazing concert, amazing people, amazing encounters. <3

http://www.raborak.com/galerie/album...ikiuematsu.jpg

I saw Mr. Uematsu and the man standing behind him on the photo (still don't know who he is!) in a music store (selling musical instruments and sheet music, I mean, not like Saturn) on Friday, almost bumped into him! *blush* Already had his autograph, though, and he was clearly on personal time, so I just let them be. ;-) Cologne is a great place for shopping!

I had a wonderful time at the concerts, both times. The only downside were the annoying lighting effects. I had block B seats twice (front of the stalls), and at times had to close my eyes against the lights shining directly into them. :-(

This is Hiroki Ogawa, producer at Nobuo Uematsu's label Dog Ear Records. ;)

Ah, okay, thanks for the info, would never have guessed that, *LOL*!


edited to add: next year, Symphonic Fantasies (FF, KH, Mana and Chrono) will be repeated on July 5 and 6. I'm a little bit disappointed they're repeats, but I loved that concert, and will probably try and get tickets for both performances again as another birthday pressie to myself, *LOL* (they should always do these concerts early July!). Tickets go on sale in December.

While I attended the concert I asked a friend to record from digital radio. Here is the edited file (contains two streams, MP2 and AC3):

Mirrors:
FileServe (Part 1)
FileServe (Part 2)
FileServe (Part 3)

Created chapters for my encode, the XML can be found here:
SendSpace

Just use mmg (from mkvtoolnix) to mux it to the MKA from my previous post.