Royal Albert Hall, November 3, 2017

The prolific soundtrack composer delivers a selection of his most popular movie themes with Royal Academy of Music Orchestra and Crouch End Festival Chorus, joined by violin soloist James Ehnes.

For the first date of his European tour, which is taking in a number of capital cities through to December 1st, James Newton Howard performed at one of the world’s most prestigious venues, the Royal Albert Hall – no pressure there! But then this is the man who left college and joined Elton John on the road, so performing to big crowds at prestige venues is nothing new.

Those of us who attended the BAFTA Composers talk by the composer last month were given a preview of what we could likely expect in the set list. I asked him if, with so many movies to choose from, it was difficult to make the selection, but he said he had a pretty good idea of what the audience wanted to hear, and certainly had enough wise people around him to keep him on track. Another teaser was the frequent updates on his Facebook page, directing followers to certain tracks from The Hunger Games, The Dark Knight and Blood Diamond.

Newton Howard has 65 credited movie scores in the 2000s alone, and that doesn’t include TV series, TV movies or shorts. Add to that another 60 plus from the late 80s and 90s and inevitably everyone’s favourites can’t be included, but this is a very close approximation. The short, punchy Main Titles from Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them woke the crowd up before making a segue into tracks from Snow White and the Huntsman. And what a score it is, showcased with chanting choir, thrashing percussion and glorious string work. I’d never noticed the score before and suddenly in isolation it’s one to go out and buy afterwards.

A medley from The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Mockingjay Part 2 and the first The Hunger Games reconfirmed the vast range of themes he wrote for the series, footage with dialogue was played for Katniss and Peta’s chariot arrival to the Capitol. It was the first of many ‘goosebump’ moments, the young orchestra allaying any fear that a lack of experience would be a challenge for such complex work.

The jaunty, twinkly Peter Pan was followed by a medley from the work of M Night Shyamalan – three very different approaches in Signs, The Sixth Sense and The Last Airbender. With the former, Newton Howard demo’d at the piano the three note motif that was developed into the cascading main theme. The first half finished with the opening titles and wedding theme from Lawrence Kasdan’s Wyatt Earp before a beautiful rendition of The Hanging Tree from The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 by the composer’s daughter Anouk Ackerman.

More fantasy content followed with the opening sequence from Disney’s animated Dinosaur, the Pteranodon soaring across the prehistoric valley, before a sequence from Peter Jackson’s King Kong. Newton Howard shared how he couldn’t turn down the offer as a last-minute replacement (to Howard Shore) with mere weeks to write and record. One scene proved very problematic – where Kong meets Naomi Watts’ Anne in downtown New York. The scene was played first to us with no music and then with the final score, proving, like there was any doubt, just how music can add such pathos to a scene.

A romcom medley of Dave, Pretty Woman and My Best Friend’s Wedding, was followed by the atmospheric Snow Falling on Cedars – wonderful percussion – and then Shyamalan’s The Village. The artists were joined by virtuoso James Ehnes, who stunned the room with his exquisite performance of The Gravel Road, one Newton Howard’s multiple Oscar nominations.

The quirky The Limitless Possibilities of Life is an animated story of the composer’s life so far,  followed by Blood Diamond, with some haunting vocals by Velile Mchunu. James talked about his collaboration with fellow composer Hans Zimmer in Batman Begins and The Dark Knight – apparently he was somewhere in the audience. With the latter film, Zimmer wrote the Joker while Newton Howard had Two-Face duties – showcased by the frantic strings and low rumbles of the Harvey Dent Suite

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them finished the regular programme with the thrilling “Newt Releases the Thunderbird”, though we were treated to encores of Maleficent and the unashamedly old school The Prince of Tides. Defiant was also on the music stands, but as it was already 10:40, more than three hours from when it had started, we’d had plenty already.

This year’s Festival of Film at the Royal Albert Hall has topped an already impressive series of previous seasons. Attracting big names like Michael Giacchino and James Newton Howard to conduct concerts of their work, alongside movie screenings with full orchestral accompaniment, has provided a varied and tantalising programme.

Verdict: James Newton Howard’s career retrospective is a reminder of why you love film music and the endless possibilities it presents. With excellent performers to do his soundtracks full justice, I don’t think I’ve ever felt so overcome by the beauty of live movie scores. By the end of the evening you’ve learned a lot about the man, his music, the industry and the power of an orchestra and choir. 10/10