The Overture Center united Potterheads across Madison Jan. 31 with a production of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 in concert. The showing featured the film series’ epic finale accompanied by the Madison Symphony Orchestra performing the entire score live.
As a die-hard Harry Potter fan, I walked into the Overture ready to embrace my nerdiest self. Attendees sipped butterbeer and donned their Hogwarts house scarves as they filtered into their seats and the orchestra tuned their instruments — suddenly, I was in fifth grade again.
Before the movie started, the orchestra’s conductor graced the stage with a smile, inviting audience members to react out loud to character appearances and movie moments. He also encouraged house pride by asking the audience to cheer out for their self-designated Hogwarts house, kicking things off with “Are there any Gryffindors here today?”
As many Harry Potter fans know, the last installment is one of, if not the most action-packed, climactic films in the series — with a score to match. The first scene opens with one of the most haunting tunes in any film: ‘Lily’s Theme.’ The eerie song accompanies a desolate Hogwarts, crawling with dementors, Death Eaters and new headmaster Severus Snape. When I heard the Madison Symphony Orchestra deliver those low strings and melancholy vocals in a way that was almost identical to the original score, I knew they would flawlessly meet the soundtrack’s demands.
The film’s score, composed by Alexandre Desplat, was always clearly intentional and moving, with a few stand out pieces that many fans would recognize. But, being able to see each musician play live throughout the entire movie demonstrated an even more pronounced deliberation when it comes to Desplat’s musical choices during even the smallest moments.
Every tense moment, every dramatic reveal and every heart-pounding sequence was accompanied by strings, drums, woodwinds and even vocals that perfectly encapsulated the feeling of the scene. Though the artists often blended into the film so immaculately that I forgot they were playing live below the screen, I couldn’t help but admire their ability to replicate the film’s original score in real time with only one brief intermission.
Though the final film closed out this chapter of the Harry Potter films in concert, it is an absolute must-see for any Harry Potter fan whenever the performances return and start once again from the beginning.
