Royal Albert Hall, London, 17 March 2024

The third of Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy is projected to screen with live orchestral accompaniment.

As you’ll have gathered from my reviews of The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers at the Royal Albert Hall, this is a special event and the ultimate way of experiencing the movies.

Back in 2003 I was fortunate enough to attend one of the scoring sessions for Return of the King in Watford Town Hall, conducted by composer Howard Shore (it was the Shelob’s Lair sequence) and I thought at the time that this was as good as it would get, but now I stand corrected – these live performances are unrivalled.

Multiple performances over the 14th to 17th March meant that the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, under the baton of Ludwig Wicki, would have a very busy weekend. Not only is it the movie over three hours long, but Shore’s score is constant across the running time. As expected, the performance was flawless, the orchestra giving the Oscar-winning music the gusto required for the climax of the story.

The orchestra didn’t act alone, joined here by the Philharmonia Chorus and Trinity Boys’ Choir, chanting Tolkien’s languages and frequently raising the hairs on my arms. Special mention also goes to the soloists – Kaitlyn Lusk performed beautiful Elvish vocals on The Grace of Undomiel, as well as adding to the grandeur of Mount Doom and the Eagles, before singing the vocals to Oscar-winning song Into the West over the end credits. Soprano Oliver Barrow was also pitch perfect, most notably in the sequence where Osgiliath has been invaded and Gandalf uses his staff to blast the enemy with light.

By the time we’ve reached this final chapter, Shore has amassed a whole chest of character themes and leitmotifs, and it’s bewildering just how he manages to integrate them, while also finding time for new themes like Shelob and Mordor. Take your pick from the majestic Rohan and Gondor anthems to the sinister strains of Gollum and different iterations of The One Ring, or just the sheer joy of the Hobbits and the Shire. Cinema score nirvana.

Verdict: They’ve saved the best till last, but then the first two were also excellent. If you missed the Rings trilogy live this time round, don’t make the same mistake when they inevitably return for another victory lap. 10/10

Nick Joy