This grand old world

‘BBC Planet Earth Live” promises an evening of perfect family entertainment with stunning cinematography and the music of composer George Fenton performed by an orchestra, for Bangkok’s 14th International Festival of Dance & Music on October 5. The performance brings together three major composers in Bangkok.
 The cosmic collision that gave the earth its moon and its axial tilt is the starting point of this dramatic tale, which is enhanced and further dramatised by the power of Fenton’s music. It soars the heights of the mountains, plummets to the depths of the oceans, announces the march of menacing dark clouds and heralds the impact of a sandstorm.
Never has a nature documentary astounded the senses so much or moved so dramatically into the performance space.
Prior to its premiere in November 2011, in London, the show toured the US for initial performances what were extremely well received. The first natural-history series to be filmed entirely in high definition, “BBC Planet Earth Live” was five years in production. This ultimate portrait of our world involved over 2,000 days in the field, using 40 cameramen filming across 200 locations, from the towering peaks of Nepal, to the lushness of the Amazon, from the drama of African deserts to the starkness on the polar icecaps.
Moving the story along is Fenton’s score for which he was awarded an Emmy and a Classical Brit. A five-time Oscar nominee and an acknowledged name in Hollywood, Fenton is best known for his spectacular scores in films like “Gandhi” and “Dangerous Liaisons”. His other works include “A Jewel in the Crown”, “Cry Freedom”, “The Madness of King George”, “You’ve Got Mail” and “Sweet Home Alabama”.
In Bangkok, the orchestra will be conducted by Richard Harvey, who’s well-known to Thais for his work on director ML Chatrichalerm Yukol’s historical epics “Suriyothai” and the “King Naresuan”. He’s also scored “The Da Vinci Code” as well as the Harry Potter series and Disney’s “The Lion King”.
Harvey, a long-time collaborator with John Williams, has also played as a session man on recordings with Paul McCartney, Kate Bush, Gerry Rafferty and many others.
The story of “Planet Earth Live” unfolds in chapters beginning with an overture that sketches the grand cosmic beginning – the “big bang” theory of accepted wisdom.
Chapter One, “First Steps”, centres on polar bear cubs, penguin chicks and mandarin ducklings taking their tentative first steps. The music underlining their hesitancy is full of hope, of life, of what the future holds, not only for these animals but for the earth at large.
“Gone Fishing” is dedicated to the fact that 70 per cent of the planet’s surface is covered by water, using the dolphins as the protagonist who start off near the shores and then head off into the open water. The music taking on the majesty of the surf, the playfulness of the dolphin.
Episodic in nature, “Planet Earth Live” moves along its compelling narrative of the great migrations – elephants crossing the Kalahari Desert, of the hunters and the hunted and of snow leopards nuzzling to a sorrowful solo cello. Prior to this series, no one had managed to film more than a few extremely distant images of a snow leopard in the wild.
You see eagles snatching cranes from the air – demoiselle cranes atop the “roof of the world” on Mount Everest.
Adding to the sense of occasion are the great vistas, one-of-a-kind shots and spectacular time-lapse photography showing the seasonal changes and the sequential essence of nature in the unfolding of a bud, a passing of a season, a dry riverbed rejuvenated.
The emotional scoring is enhanced by the haunting talent of mezzo-soprano soloist Haley Glennie-Smith, who has recorded a number of film scores. Here she gives voice to loss as a baby elephant heads off in the wrong direction, to triumph as the herd eventually reaches its destination, the struggle and the eventual victory that doesn’t come without a loss and the joy of just getting there!
Keyboardist Nicholas Glennie-Smith, composer on “Man in the Iron Mask”, “Lion King II”, “Pirates of the Caribbean” and musical director of the 2012 Oscar awards, pianist Anastasia Goldberg, winner of gold medals in international competitions, and many other award-winning musicians will add to the drama of the evening. It will be an inspiring blend of live symphonic music, storytelling and stunning nature documentaries.
As Alastair Fothergill, the series producer, succinctly put it in the programme notes, “So often, the scale and power of those experiences working on ‘Planet Earth’ never completely transferred to the small screen. But to sit before a massive screen and hear the orchestra strike up with George’s [Fenton’s] wonderful score, you are transported right back into the heart of the wilderness.”

The festival is sponsored by Bangkok Bank, Beiersdorf, B Grimm, Dusit Thani Bangkok, SCG, Singha, Thai Airways International, Tourism Authority of Thailand and Toyota Motor Thailand.
  

OFF WE GO
- See “BBC Planet Earth” on October 5 at 7.30pm at the Thailand Cultural Centre.
- Seats cost Bt700 to Bt3,500 at ThaiTicketMajor. Call (02) 262 3191.