Maybe it's a sign of me being fundamentally wrong as a human being, but I got considerably more emotional at this glorious celebration of Nobuo Uematsu's music than at Sufjan Stevens the previous week. The first Final Symphony was an excellent, if at times uneven night of music, but this was an absolute triumph from start to finish. The highlights in bullet point form:
- Virtuoso Ukrainian pianist Slava Sidorenko's utterly magnificent performance during the FFIX Piano Concerto. From the off-kilter plinky-plonkiness of "Vivi's Theme" to the manic, key-hammering finale of "The Final Battle", he perfectly captured the magic of one of Uematsu's most underrated soundtracks.
- When the London Symphony Orchestra's string section broke into FFVIII's "Ami" with the richest vibrato imaginable and I was almost paralysed with goosebumps.
- The FFV Symphony. Little did I know when I was downloading shoddily-translated ROMs on a dial-up connection in1999 that I would I one day hear the FFV Battle Theme performed by one of the greatest orchestras in the world. Like many, I thought the reliance on Lenna's Theme (not Uematsu's strongest leitmotif) was a very rare misstep by the arrangers, but the constant teases of "Ahead On Our Way" ultimately culminating in a full run-through made me so happy.
- Clash de Chocobo. A truly inspired mash-up of two of the series' most beloved melodies, performed with gusto and humour by the LSO.
In summary: a magnificent night of music by any measure, and one that proves once and for all, that the much-derided medium of video game music can stand its own against the very best of them.
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