Pixar in Concert

This was not a concert for grown men. This was not a concert for grown anything, actually. Because, as the reader would no doubt be aware, most Pixar films have a horrible tendency to make one weep with melancholy (especially the Toy Story series) if one’s tear ducts are not kept strongly in check. Take, for instance, the five-minute montage in the movie Up, where the main character’s happy, but trouble-prone, life with his wife is flashed through – is this not the saddest five minutes to hit our cinema screens for the past ten or 20 years? And yet the audience in the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall were subjected to it right before the interval, the Sydney Symphony playing the heart-wrenching music that accompanied it. The clip ends, the entire room is devastated, and then the lights come up, as we struggle to hide our welling eyes and try to convince others that our sniffles are cold-related, and in no way are a reaction to what we’ve just seen on screen. (‘I’ve just…just got something in my eye.’ ‘No, I only need one tissue, it’s just – I think it’s an eyelash or something.’ ‘This damn cold!’ And so on.)

There were two surprises. First, all the instruments for the evening were microphoned and amplified (one doesn’t know why it was necessary, but apparently it was). The other somewhat discombobulating fact was that we weren’t to be shown scenes from the films, but rather montages sans any dialogue. (My imagination thought that the most dramatic or touching scenes in the films would be played in full, rather than such selections.)

Once one’s mind processed all of this, however, much fun was to be had. Nicholas Buc, conductor for the evening, was an affable enough host, providing a running commentary every few pieces, along with the obligatory calls for applause for the various creatives involved (not that the composers, presumably, could hear anyone clapping all the way in America). (It’s a bit like, one imagines, people clapping at the end of a movie. Who are they clapping? The projectionist?)

The way it all worked was that, as the music was played and the montages shown, one remembered all the emotions and happy memories of the various films. In a word (well, two), it was a kind of experiential shorthand. All the Pixar films were represented, from the Toy Story series to Cars, and classics such as Finding Nemo, WALL-E and Ratatouille. Even the latest release, Brave, got a look in, though it suffered in comparison to the other films, as this critic has yet to see it, and as such had no shorthand to rely on. (It also spoiled the final battle in the film for me, but I’m not complaining.) Highlights included Michael Giacchino’s music from Up; WALL-E, by Thomas and Randy Newman (cousins); and The Incredibles, once again by Michael Giacchino (and also Buc’s favourite score). The concert began with a fanfare blended into a Toy Story montage, and ended with an encore of ‘You’ve Got a Friend in Me’, complete with slow-zooming photos of the four conductors who make up Pixar’s repertoire. Thoroughly enjoyable.

Rating: 4 stars out of 5