Friday, 20 October: Film music at the Royal Albert Hall

We sleep in a little bit today. It’s what we needed after yesterday’s long journey. We later drive to Oxford Street and browse through the stores. The Disney Store is already all about the upcoming Star Wars film and promoting the penguin-like Porg quite a lot. They will wait under a lot of Christmas trees for sure.

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Christmas is a big theme at Selfridges too, with even more electric cars for the kids and many unicorns… riding unicorns.

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We have lunch at the self-service restaurant in Selfridges: Gabi opts for Indian Samosa while I prefer an Italian Lasagne.

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Our main event today, though, is a concert at the Royal Albert Hall: Michael Giacchino at 50. The composer has written the score of many films and TV series such as Alias, Lost, Up, Rogue One, Jurassic World, Zootopia, Doctor Strange, or all three of the new Star Trek films. On the occasion of his 50th birthday, the Royal Albert Hall presents a birthday gala celebration in honour of his work.

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Adam Savage (‘Mythbusters’) hosts the celebration in different costumes and welcomes many star guests like director JJ Abrams or Benedict Wong who played along Benedict Cumberbatch in Doctor Strange. We know the Swiss conductor Ludwig Wicki from his work at the KKL Lucerne – his 21st Century Orchestra regularly plays film scores while the films are shown on a big screen. Suddenly, a lot of stormtroopers arrive and lead him off the stage… Michael Giacchino wants to conduct his favourite scores himself.

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I dressed for the occasion of course: I’m wearing my Star Trek gala uniform which I already wore three years ago when we came to the Royal Albert Hall for a Star Trek Into Darkness performance with live orchestra (again Ludwig Wicki with the Swiss 21st Century Orchestra).

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