SEMO has exclusively revealed that Symphonic Legends (September 23, 2010) will commemorate a variety of Nintendo franchises, including Mario and Zelda, in an interview with Winfried Fechner:

http://squareenixmusic.com/features/int … hner.shtml

More in a second interview shortly.

Speaking of, any update on that potential Symphonic Fantasies album release?

I believe the second interview will address that.

SEMO just published the concert program for Symphonic Legends:

First Half

1. Fanfare for the Common 8-Bit Hero
    Composed by Jonne Valtonen

2. Star Fox :: Space Suite
    Composed by Koji Kondo & Hajime Hirasawa
    Arranged by Shiro Hamaguchi

3. Super Mario Bros. :: Retro Suite
    Composed by Koji Kondo
    Arranged by Roger Wanamo

4. F-Zero :: Race Suite
    Composed by Yumiko Kanki & Naoto Ishida
    Arranged by Shiro Hamaguchi

5. Metroid :: Samus Aran - Galactic Warrior Suite
    Composed by Kenji Yamamoto & Minako Hamano
    Arranged by Torsten Rasch

6. Donkey Kong Country :: Aquatic Ambience
    Composed by David Wise
    Arranged by Masashi Hamauzu

7. Pikmin :: Variation on a World Map Theme
    Composed by Hajime Wakai
    Arranged by Hayato Matsuo

8. Super Mario Galaxy :: Galactic Suite
    Composed by Koji Kondo & Mahito Yokota
    Arranged by Roger Wanamo

Second Half

9. The Legend of Zelda :: Symphonic Poem

    I. Hyrulian Child
    II. Dark Lord
    III. Princess of Destiny
    IV. Battlefield
    V. Hero of Time

    Composed by Koji Kondo & Toru Minegishi
    Arranged by Jonne Valtonen

The concert is going to be broadcast live on the Internet (video stream).

Source:

http://squareenixmusic.com/musicnews2.p … m=&ucat=8&

Love the title of the opening fanfare. And Hamauzu arranging Aquatic Ambience? That could be a good thing.

I wonder if they picked Aquatic Ambience since Dave Wise stated it's his favourite?

That concert program is all sorts of awesome.  I've been both impressed and disappointed by Boecker, Valtonen and the WDR's efforts to date - their attempts to "legitimize" VGM in the classical community are admirable and in some instances very successful ("X-Out" from Symphonic Shades, the Mana suite from Symphonic Fantasies), less so in others (some of the flatter arrangements from the former and the Final Fantasy suite from the latter).  From what I can tell though they've really tailored Symphonic Legends to their own strengths and weaknesses as I see them.

1) Shiro Hamaguchi is perfect for Star Fox.  I can't wait to hear his arrangements for that and F-Zero.

2) I have no idea about Torsten Rasch but if he doesn't mess with too much of a good thing the Metroid suite should be great.

3) Hamauzu sounds like a good match for "Aquatic Ambience" from Donkey Kong Country... I'm much more confident in his skills as an arranger than as a composer.

4) It's good to see they've devoted attention to both the major franchises as well as the lesser ones (Pikmin).

5) Lastly and most importantly - dedicating Valtonen solely to the Zelda symphonic poem is brilliant.  Like I said I have mixed feeling about his classical-oriented arrangements of VGM, but IMO that's exactly what Zelda music needs.  As iconic as some Zelda themes are, in the orchestral and mock-orchestral arrangements I've heard to date (the Orchestral Game Concerts, Zelda Sound & Drama) they've come across as simple and unsubstantial... Valtonen's classical, sometimes experimental arrangements could well be perfect for them.

I hope they offer a rebroadcast or two instead of just the live stream so I don't have to stay up till 3 in the morning again for this one.

a) Torsten Rasch is a contemporary composer from Germany. As Wikipedia says, "he is best known for his 2002 song cycle for baritone and orchestra, Mein Herz brennt, based upon the music of Rammstein".

"Thomas Boecker: It is a contemporary-styled arrangement, yes. It is very dark, scary, frightening. It perfectly fits into the Metroid universe in my opinion."

See: http://www.squareenixmusic.com/features … ker6.shtml

b) RE: broadcast, from the same interview:

"TB: However, having said this we are definitely planning with making the concert permanently available in high quality in one way or another. It is not going to be lost, and there will be options for fans to relive the concert experience as much as they want."

I remember hearing about that. I don't recall hearing good things though.

I wonder if a concert CD will ever be released like Symphonic Fantasies, since I've been hearing only bad things about Nintendo.

I think we're safe as there really isn't anything Nintendo can do to prevent a CD. The arrangements are new and thus the property of the arrangers and the performance rights will belong to the orchestra. All those details seem to have been worked out for the last concert and shouldn't be too different for this one. That only leaves the standard mechanical licensing fee. And once that's been paid up, Nintendo is out of the picture.

As for me, I'm actually looking forward to this concert. Symphonic Fantasies didn't impress me too much, but it was still a fun time. I guess the whole "let's legitimize game music as art" factors just doesn't sit well with me. I like the musical selections though and they seem to have made some good arrangement choices as well. If nothing else, this should provide some new orchestral material for me to digest and that's definitely not a bad thing.

And who knows, it could turn out really well too!

Read the interview: http://squareenixmusic.com/features/int … ker6.shtml

The music will be available permanently in some form, but it's not clear whether a CD or DVD will be released.

I think there would still be rights to pay given the project will feature Nintendo's IPs.

Oh, thanks, guys. Hope it will happen and Nintendo are indeed more generous with their musical assets than some people say

CD, I hope.  As fun as it is to attend live, gluing myself to the sofa for an hour or two to watch an orchestra perform isn't one of the best ways I can think of to spend my time.  Even if I were to glue myself to the sofa, I'd rather just close my eyes and enjoy the music on its own merit.

Why would you absolutely have to watch the DVD?

Why would I want a DVD if I wasn't going to watch it?

It's easier to play and to rip a CD for normal listening purposes.  And as far as audio quality goes, I don't need surround sound or anything like that.  (The sound is originating from in front of you in a concert hall so I don't see why listening at home should be any different.)

If they want to include a DVD as a bonus that's fine, but it's certainly not something I'd want to pay exclusively or extra for.

In more on-topic news, the concert is tonight!

Well, nowadays, ripping a DVD audio track has become as simple and streamlined as ripping a CD.  Viewed as such, one could see the added benefit of something you can watch AND conventionally listen to in one neat package.

Will iTunes rip a stereo audio track from a video DVD?  Will Windows Media Player?  Will any widely used free software do so?  (I'm not being completely rhetorical here, if they do feel free to educate me.)

And if they do, will they fill in the tags for the tracks from a DVD automatically and add them to your music library they way they will for a CD?

If the answers are no then I would say it's not as simple and streamlined.

Besides when people buy a DVD they are buying it to watch, not to listen to.  Most people are not going to rip the audio from a DVD concert release, and if they do decide they want to they're probably going to have to jump through a couple of hoops to do so.

starts in one hour, better get ready!

should've started 2 min ago...

I get nothing...

Edit: ok now

perfect streaming

It won't stream for me

Not even on Firefox or Chrome.

tried with vlc yet?

http://www.wdr.de/wdrlive/media/wdr-tv-event_web-m.asx

open this netstream with it

the mario suite opened with dire dire docks ;_;

Not even VLC will do it for me

At least the Radio Cast is awesome.

Video streaming doesn't work for me either.  The audio-only "radio" stream works fine though.

Having the same problem as well. Tried with VLC as well but no luck.

Thank god the audio streaming works.

BONUS LEVEL!!

Ach Ja!

That was intense. Especially the Zelda segment; very good and powerful moments in there.
Unfortunately, for me there were a few big letdowns ( F-Zero :\ ), but overall it's quite enjoyable even if it's not quite the style of orchestral arrangement I'm used to. I liked Aquatic ambience, and both Mario suits as well. The Starfox suite I couldn't get in time to lsiten it all, but it also sounded good.

Very nice work indeed.

SMB3's Athletic made me go:  ^_^

Gusty Garden with a choir made me go:  ^______^

I'm listening to it right now and greatly enjoying it. All the performances are of a very high quality.

I missed on this.

Did anyone else record the stream?

If not, then update on when CD or DVD available.

I cried when I heard the original Gusty Garden.
That choir one is awesomeness!! Very original!

I was right about the Zelda arrangement.

Valtonen's 36-minute monster of an arrangement gives Zelda music a seriousness and a dramatic weight (along with some Lord of the Rings inspiration) that it's never before had.

I remember seeing the trailers for previous Zelda titles with music by Basil Poledouris (was it only Ocarina of Time?) and thinking how epic, booming orchestral and choral music didn't really suit the Zelda series.  Well, Valtonen has made epic, booming orchestral and choral music perfectly suit the Zelda series.  Along with the Little Jack Orchestra FFVI ending theme and possibly Valtonen's own Secret of Mana suite (which I still need to devote more attention to) I haven't heard any orchestral performances from the game music realm with the drama and scope of this since Orchestral Game Concert 4's FFVI opera and Metroid suites.

Plenty of other great stuff from the concert as well; will probably post more later.

SEMO reports that Symphonic Legends will be re-performed June 1 by the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, featuring revised arrangements and a new Kirby suite.

I wonder if this will have any effect on the prospective forthcoming CD release?  I can see Boecker and co. wanting to continue their tradition of releasing albums from the original concerts by the WDR Symphony Orchestra, but it also must be enticing to go with the recording by the larger orchestra for this new performance (also probably more renowned among VGM fans for their Distant Worlds recordings).

Very much looking forward to the album release in any case.