The Masterpiece: Film Soundtracks and More Epic Music in the Concert Hall

Great pieces of contemporary epic music in a show complete with lights, ballet, and some amazing soloists (voice, electric cello, electric guitar).

I went to a concert called The Masterpiece last night at Sala Palatului here in Bucharest. It was a show of (film) music, lights, and ballet imagined by conductor and producer Ciprian Costin.

I had heard about the show on Radio Romania Cultural, where I learned that Ciprian Costin has a background not only in music (he studied at the Conservatory in Iasi and graduated with a degree in film music from Berklee College of Music), but also IT.

Ciprian Costin has won many international prizes as a composer and pianist. Last night he conducted the Bucharest Symphony Orchestra and Choir.

What he proposed for The Masterpiece was an epic journey through history and cultures, starting with the beginning of time with Tree of Life, taking us to the Roman Empire with the Gladiator, far away to Japan with Memoirs of a Geisha, and to various dreamlands made possible by the nature of film soundtracks chosen -- expansive, mood-enhancing and uplifting. I loved the varied selection and the way the pieces mixed electronic music with traditional symphonic music.

Soloists and Guest Conductor

My favorite surprise was the presence of composer Gerard Marino, who came onstage to conduct music from God of War, which I learn is a video game, rather than a film. The music was an amazingly nuanced journey that culminated as full-blown rock. Everyone was cheering at the end. It was such an inspired piece of contemporary music, I’ll always treasure it – it’s firmly lodged in my memory. Gerard Marino was a-ma-zing, despite two very funny false starts!

Extraordinary, too, was the presence of Uyanga Boldbaatar, who I see studied at Berklee, like Ciprian Costin. She was born in Moscow, lived in Switzerland, but is of Mongolian ethnicity. This is important, because it informs her music. Her melismatic pitch transitions, her modulated screams were truly enchanting. Marvelous, too, was cellist Tina Guo, who played acoustic and electric cello. Tina Guo has performed as a soloist for various film and video game soundtracks, plays with the band Off the Deep End, and is touring with Cirque du Soleil's production Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour until 2014. They were joined by soprano Irina Baiant, who was also a powerful presence, and Calin Grigoriu on electric guitar. Robert Enache and Marina Minoiu graced us with a few moments of ballet.

From what I read in PR materials on various Web sites, the concert premiered live many of the works presented. A hundred and forty professionals, as well as Lufthansa, a few other large sponsors, and a good number of media partners contributed to the success of the night.

Film Music Presented

Throughout the 140 minutes of the concert were presented pieces from the following movie soundtracks:

The Tree of Life – Piece by Zbigniew Preisner

Out of Africa – Music by John Barry

The Gladiator – Music by Hans Zimmer

Modigliani – Music by Guy Farley

Memoirs of a Geisha – John Williams

Dracula – Wojciech Kilar

The Da Vinci Code – Hans Zimmer

Inception – Hanz Zimmer

Sherlock Holmes – Hans Zimmer

God of War (video game) – Gerard Marino

Illusions (standalone album) – Thomas Bergersen

Human Legacy (standalone piece, I think) – Ivan Torrent

The Dark Knight Trilogy – Music by Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard

I could not always tell which was what.

Reflections

The show was peppered with thoughts and reflections. Two of my favorites, besides the fragment from Mihai Eminescu’s poem "First Epistle" ("Scrisoarea I," in Romanian), aptly chosen to start the show together with The Tree of Life, were: “Energy follows thought. He is able who thinks he is able,” and Oscar Wilde’s “To live is the rarest thing in the world.” Indeed.

The Masterpiece concert in Bucharest: Loved it

My drawing

Inspired by title, concert, concept

The Best of Hans Zimmer (2011)

The Best Of Hans Zimmer

Only $18.98

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John Williams, Memoirs of a Geisha (Remastered)

Memoirs Of A Geisha (Remastered)

Only $10.99

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Zbigniew Preisner, Trois couleurs: Bleu, Blanc, Rouge

Trois couleurs: Bleu, Blanc, Rouge (Bande originale du film)

Only $14.49

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Tina Guo, The Journey

The Journey

Only $8.99

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Updated: 03/31/2013, Mira

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Mira on 06/24/2018

Hi Derdriu, I have much work ahead of me in terms of getting updated with literary and musical productions in Romania. I have started with the visual arts for now :)

DerdriuMarriner on 06/21/2018

Mira, Very nice the observation that "Energy follows thought. He is able who thinks he is able." In another, but somewhat related direction, it interests me about musical journeys through cultures and histories from ancient through modern times.Is there anyone who has done a Romanian artistic, literary or musical equivalent for Romania of Ismail Kadare's writing the history of Albanians through his series of novels from Egypt's pyramid-builders through Kosovo's conflict-torn populations?

Mira on 10/01/2013

Thank you, Johnny. It really was :).

JohnnyKnox on 09/30/2013

Sounds as a great concert. Nice to read about it.

Mira on 04/01/2013

I agree. Some film soundtracks are truly masterpieces :)

katiem2 on 04/01/2013

What a genius in film music the tone of the music behind each scene elevates the energy making the experience magical. Great article. :)K

Mira on 03/26/2013

Hi Sam, thank you for stopping by and commenting. I now see John Williams did the soundtrack to the recent movie Lincoln as well. I did notice it was wonderful. He also scored the first Harry Potter films!