Rising soprano in WASO ring quest
Last year, the WA Symphony Orchestra performed the live music of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring as the film was screened to an enraptured audience.
With the full 100-strong orchestra playing Howard Shore's Celtic- infused score and the 100 voices of WASO Chorus and St George's Cathedral Choristers, it was a memorable night for Ring-nuts. Even a few technical glitches couldn't stop the triumphant march towards Mordor.
This year, WASO's popular series returns for part two, The Two Towers, with the WASO Chorus and the St George's Cathedral Choristers again joining forces to stop Sauron's army in its tracks. WASO is even flying in rising soprano star Grace Davidson from Britain to hit the more ethereal high notes for the aural and visual epic.
"I have sung on quite a few film soundtracks now but I would say this would have to be the most special for me," the English soloist said. "I was read all The Lord of the Rings books by my mother as a child, at about age nine or 10, so I have some special memories of that.
"And I've seen all the films, so it's amazing to be a part of it now in this small way. I'm really excited about it and I'm looking forward to coming to Australia."
WASO play Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.
Davidson, 36, feels doubly connected to performing The Two Towers exclusively in Perth because she began singing on her only other trip to Australia, at the tender age of three, chirping Christmas carols on a family friend's farm.
While it will mark her first live performance of a Rings' film, Davidson was picked for her rising fame soloing on film soundtracks such as The Great Gatsby, Pirates of the Caribbean 4, The Da Vinci Code and recently The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, which brought her to WASO's attention.
"They are such fun and so different from my usual repertoire of baroque, renaissance and classical music such as Handel and Bach," she said.
She is well versed in Shore's Celtic and Eastern-tinged score, which includes a full string, brass and percussion section as well as more eclectic instruments such as the harp, accordion, dulcimer, celeste piano and tubular bells.
"It's a challenging performance in some ways because I'm singing the very gentle bits which are quite low in my voice at times.
"I also build up to the song in the final credits which is called Gollum's Song and is quite dark and haunting and sung quite low indeed. Performing it live and in the moment will be something else."
