The Legend of Zelda at the San Diego Symphony

I will admit that I missed the phenomenon that is The Legend of Zelda. The reason I missed it is clear. I’ve never had a Nintendo. In spite of my non-participation in the Nintendo world, Zelda is certainly a thing.

The San Diego Symphony reprised their performance of The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses on Friday night, July 22, at Symphony Hall. The symphony performed this concert version of the music from the video game a few years ago at Comic Con.

This week the San Diego Symphony has been busy with playing the motion picture score during the premiere of the latest Star Trek movie on Wednesday, followed by Final Symphony — music from the video game Final Fantasy — on Thursday, and then Zelda on Friday.

I was impressed with the attendance on Friday night. Symphony Hall was full to the rafters with all manner of people who really wanted to be there. The line to get in stretched through the lobby, out the door, and down B Street. Lines are synonymous with Comic Con even when it comes to symphonic concerts.

The performance of the music was clean. There were no obvious missteps from the orchestra or the chorus. I should go ahead and be just a tad elitist and confirm that the difficulty of the music in no way stretched the abilities of the orchestra.

The music, while no virtuosic tour de force, was enjoyable. The dynamic range was wide and the music had direction and a sense of accomplishment. In addition to the orchestra, three screens showed footage from the Zelda game.

The game is over 30-years-old and the music developed alongside the quality of the gameplay. Some of the older game clips reminded me of just how far technology has come in the past 30 years.

The concert was an epic success and demonstrated that the general public is not resistant to orchestral music.