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  • Writer's pictureFrances

Pixar in Concert Review | Bridgewater Hall | Manchester

The light bulb moment that sparked Pixar’s creation in 1979 continues to radiate joy in young and old audiences alike. Teaming sixteen of the studio’s iconic films, the Novella orchestra alongside conductor/presenter David Mahoney are taking over the Bridgewater Hall to form a concert that showcases the companies finest work. Underscoring the heart-breaking animation of Up (2009), Finding Nemo (2003) and Wall-E (2008) on a cinema-sized screen projected above the stage, the Novella orchestra plays through the distinctive tracks and music cues, together with highlights of the film.

Revealing the intense relationship music plays within the movies, the show displays slimline walkthroughs of each film for audiences to relive as the orchestras atmospheric music plays over the animation. Emphasising the power in Pixar’s distinctive scores to improve the filmic experience, set the tone and pulls at the heartstrings, the catalogue of hits including composer Michael Giacchino’s 2007 soundtrack to Ratatouille, the song The Glory Days from The Incredibles (2004) and Mike and Sully’s theme tune from Monsters Inc (2001) are lovingly performed.

The team execute tracks from the world’s first computer-animated film, (1995) and its sequel, in conjunction with the popular follow-ups, Finding Dory (2016) and Cars 2 (2011), with a pleather of tracks to choose from.

Pixar With fifteen Academy Awards, nine Golden Globes and eleven Grammys under their belt, brings to light the magical combination of fantastical storytelling and memorable music that the studios twenty feature films have developed in their short history. As the Novella orchestra surrounds the films musical elements with a powerful production that do far more than compliment the animation, the orchestra conveys the momentum behind the moving images. From the subtle Remember Me lullaby in Coco (2017) to the distinctive You’ve Got a Friend In Me, from Toy Story, Pixar in Concert combines the movies identifying moments with their essence front and centre on stage.

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