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Symphonic Odysseys

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Symphonic Odysseys: Tribute to Nobuo Uematsu
OrchestraWDR Radio Orchestra Cologne
ChoirWDR Radio Choir Cologne
ConductorArnie Roth
ComposerNobuo Uematsu
ArrangerJonne Valtonen, Roger Wanamo, Masashi Hamauzu, Jani Laaksonen
VenueCologne (Germany), Cologne Philharmonic Hall
Associated albumSymphonic Odysseys
Date(s)July 9, 2011
GuestsNobuo Uematsu
Supporting act(s)Benyamin Nuss
ProducerThomas Böcker (Merregnon Studios)
concert chronology

Symphonic Odysseys: Tribute to Nobuo Uematsu was a symphonic tribute concert held twice in Cologne, Germany on the 9 July 2011 at the Philharmonic Hall in Cologne. The concert exclusively paid homage to the work of Japanese composer Nobuo Uematsu and featured music selected from his 20 year career as a video game music composer. Among the games featured were Lost Odyssey, Blue Dragon, Last Story, King's Knight, Chrono Trigger and selected works from the Final Fantasy series, arranged by Jonne Valtonen, Roger Wanamo, Masashi Hamauzu and Jani Laaksonen.

Symphonic Odysseys was broadcasted over radio on the WDR4 station in 5.1 digital surround sound, and streamed online via video. In terms of box office intake and ticket sales, it is to date the most successful symphonic video game concert in Europe. Due to the demand, a second concert was announced to be performed at 15:00 on the same day. A recording of the concert was published on an album on 28 December 2011 by Dog Ear Records, Uematsu's own record label.

Concert

Production

The concert was first announced by Winfried Fechner in March 2010.[1] The decision to a composer specific event again was made due to Uematsu's own desire to one day hear a concert based on his compositions[1] and also due to Symphonic Odysseys being said to be the last in a quadrilogy series of concert, as Böcker stated that the team would go on hiatus to recharge and conceive the next step in order to push forward the concept. A website was set up for news and updates on the concert, including video messages from Nobuo Uematsu himself. The honored composer was also announced to be in attendance for the event. Arnie Roth announced in a video message that Symphonic Odysseys would premiere the music of Last Story at a concert, while the game was yet to be released outside of Japan. Tickets went on sale 1 December 2010 and sold out within 12 hours. This resulted in a second concert being announced to be performed earlier on the same day.

Jonne Valtonen and Roger Wanamo were the lead arrangers for the concert. In addition, Jani Laaksonen and Masashi Hamauzu made contributions. The style of arrangements followed in tradition of the shows preceding Symphonic Odysseys, featuring a number of rich, sophisticated suites structured for melodic storytelling. The focus was put on presenting a balanced mix of fan favorites as well as lesser known material that was not commonly performed in orchestra concerts based on video game music. Nobuo Uematsu composed the original fanfare for Symphonic Odysseys.

Show

The concerts were held on 9 July 2011, at 15:00 and 20:00 local time respectively. Each showing was preceded by a Meet and Greet session with Nobuo Uematsu. Symphonic Odysseys was performed by WDR Radio Orchestra Cologne and WDR Radio Choir Cologne, conducted by Arnie Roth at the Cologne Philharmonic Hall. Juraj Cizmarovic was the concertmaster for the event. The concert was divided into two acts, with the first act focusing on Uematsu's earlier works and the second act made up of material composed in the later parts of his career. The concert was held on the same day as the 2011 Kölner Lichter.

The event was initiated by an original opening fanfare composition by Nobuo Uematsu followed by a near 19 minute long piano concerto, presented in 3 movements, "Grave-Allegro", "Adagio Cantabile" and "Allegro Molto" performed by Benyamin Nuss, based on the music from the first six titles in the Final Fantasy series. The arrangement was done by Roger Wanamo. The placement of the piece was a throwback to Nuss’s performance at Symphonic Fantasies, where he also performed a piano concerto at the beginning of the concert. King’s Knight was for the first time arranged and orchestrated for live performance. The arrangement made use of some humorous to enhance the lighthearted atmosphere, and was signaled in by the choir with a kazoo. The arrangement was done by Jonne Valtonen, with lyrics written by Mikko Laine. King’s Knight was the fourth video game soundtrack that Nobuo Uematsu composed.

An arrangement of "Silence of Light" by Jonne Valtonen was featured. The source material is based on one of the nine songs Uematsu composed for the Chrono Trigger soundtrack. It was performed by using the choir entirely, with lyrics written by Mikko Laine. Symphonic Odysseys marked the first time that the SaGa series, released in the West as Final Fantasy Legend, was officially performed by an orchestra outside of Japan. The arrangement included material from both Final Fantasy Legend 1 and 2, and was arranged by Jonne Valtonen. The first act was closed by an arrangement of A Fleeting Dream from Final Fantasy X, arranged by Roger Wanamo. The piece featured a male and female choir soloists harmonized with lyrics written by Mikko Laine.

After a brief intermission, the second act was set in motion by "Spreading Your Wings" from The Last Story. At the time of this performance, The Last Story was announced for release in Europe in the first quarter of 2012, and only available in Japan, making it a unique situation with a score from a video game being performed live in a territory it was not yet released. It was arranged by Jani Laaksonen. "On Windy Meadows" from Final Fantasy XIV followed and featured many unique percussion elements and atmospheric lighting effects.

Set List

  1. "Opening Fanfare"
  2. "Concerto for piano and orchestra Final Fantasy
    Grave - Allegro | Adagio Cantabile | Allegro Molto
  3. "King's Knight BGM ~Pretty day out~"
  4. "Light of Silence (from Chrono Trigger)"
  5. "The Final Fantasy Legend / Final Fantasy Legend 2"
  6. "A Fleeting Dream (from Final Fantasy X)"
  7. "Spreading Your Wings (from The Last Story)"
  8. "On Windy Meadows (from Final Fantasy XIV)"
  9. "Waterside (From Blue Dragon)"
  10. "Lost Odyssey Suite"

Encore

  1. "Ending Theme (from Final Fantasy X)"
  2. "Final Fantasy VII Battle Suite"

Reception

Symphonic Odysseys received critical acclaim. Audun Sorlie of Original Sound Version gave high praise and stated "On July 9th, I saw the greatest orchestra in the world, and I left a concert which was the greatest live music event I have ever attended." The concert was also awarded Best Live Concert of 2011 by the news outlet.

Benjamin Schmädig of 4Players echoed the praise, stating "No other musician can mold as artfully as Valtonen, absolutely fabulous!" and "Symphonic Odysseys holds a great piano concerto, the imaginative revival of an oldie, a splendid piece for strings and the terrific a capella taking the concept one step further, And although it cited some of the familiar melodies on quite ordinary way, the arrangements at an excellent level."

Album

Untitled

On October 26 of 2011, Dog Ear Records announced they were mixing the recordings and would be releasing the entire concert on a double disc set in Japan on December 28, 2011. The CD production was overseen by Uematsu and his team at Dog Ear Records, with consultation from Merregnon Studios. While never published by a Western publisher, the online music retailer MAZ-Sound signed an exclusive deal to provide the album in Europe, enabling fans to order it from either Japan or Europe based on their location.

The cover art was produced by German design house Schech, who earlier provided the artwork for the European release of Symphonic Fantasies. A premium bookled was enclosed, featuring a large variety of pictures of the live event on July 9. The album won several awards upon release.

# Track name Performer Arranger Length
1. "Opening Fanfare" WDR Symphony Orchestra Jonne Valtonen 3:07
2. "Final Fantasy Concerto ~ For Piano and Orchestra - I. Grave - Allegro" WDR Symphony Orchestra
Benyamin Nuss 		Roger Wanamo 7:36
3. "Final Fantasy Concerto ~ For Piano and Orchestra - II. Adagio cantabile" WDR Symphony Orchestra
Benyamin Nuss 		Roger Wanamo 6:53
4. "Final Fantasy Concerto ~ For Piano and Orchestra - III. Allegro molto" WDR Symphony Orchestra
Benyamin Nuss 		Roger Wanamo 4:28
5. "King's Knight BGM ~Pretty day out~ (from King's Knight)" WDR Symphony Orchestra
WDR Radio Choir 		Jonne Valtonen 5:49
6. "Light of Silence (from Chrono Trigger)" WDR Radio Choir Jonne Valtonen 5:38
7. "The Final Fantasy Legend / Final Fantasy Legend 2" WDR Symphony Orchestra Jonne Valtonen 6:02
8. "A Fleeting Dream (from Final Fantasy X)" WDR Symphony Orchestra
WDR Radio Choir 		Roger Wanamo 6:01
9. "Spreading Your Wings (from The Last Story)" WDR Symphony Orchestra Jani Laaksonen 6:07
10. "On Windy Meadows (from Final Fantasy XIV)" WDR Symphony Orchestra Jonne Valtonen 6:29
11. "Waterside (from Blue Dragon)" WDR Symphony Orchestra Jonne Valtonen 6:11
12. "Lost Odyssey Suite" WDR Symphony Orchestra Jonne Valtonen 20:34
13. "Ending Theme (from Final Fantasy X)" WDR Symphony Orchestra Masashi Hamauzu 4:46
14. "Final Fantasy VII Battle Suite" WDR Symphony Orchestra
WDR Radio Choir 		Roger Wanamo 5:15

References

  1. ^ a b "Interview with WDR Radio Orchestra Manager Winfried Fechner Part 1 (March 2010)". SEMO. March 2010. Retrieved 5 April 2012.

Template:Video game music concert series

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