RSNO At The Movies Gladiator In Concert Usher Hall Edinburgh 13 March 2026 Review
RSNO: Gladiator In Concert, at the Usher Hall Edinburgh tonight was another sold out performance in this very popular "At The Movies" series of concerts. With a performance time (not including a 20 minute interval), of 156 minutes, this was the longest film soundtrack performance that I have reviewed in this series and it held this audience’s attention until the very last note was played tonight.
It seems (well for me anyhow) hard to believe that this now iconic film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Russell Crowe in the lead role of the former Roman General who became a slave and Gladiator in the arenas, was originally released in 2000. By any scale used to measure cinema productions, Gladiator is an epic film, and the soundtrack, composed and arranged by Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard is on an equal scale.
Having the task of bringing this music to the stage tonight with the RSNO was conductor Timothy Henty, and his world-wide reputation for his ability to recreate that cinematic soundtrack experience live was impressive. His attention to detail, along with perfect synchronisation with the RSNO to the film being screened, brought out many musical details here that I had overlooked before in this film.
The epic opening battle scene between the Roman army and Germanic hordes is perhaps one of the most visually powerful moments in cinema history, but the music for this is equally powerful and dynamic, and there is really nothing that can compare to how a large orchestra like the RSNO can perform that live on stage.
Gladiator the film is famous now for so many classic scenes, but the soundtrack was also something special and a big part of that magic was always down to the ethereal vocals of Lisa Gerrard who is notable for often singing in a style known as glossolalia or "speaking in tongues". "This is a phenomenon or practice in which people utter words or speech-like sounds, often thought by believers to be languages unknown to the speaker "(thanks Wikipedia). Probably the most recognisable example of this from the film is the closing song "Now We Are Free", in which the language is entirely invented.
Taking on the task of these demanding vocals tonight was Clara Sanabras, a Catalan multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter, and her powerful and at times haunting vocal performance added so much to tonight's music. The large RSNO chorus directed by Stephen Doughty was the final piece in this musical ensemble of talents (along with the RSNO orchestra and conductor Timothy Henty) that brought a classic film soundtrack to life in a classic on-stage live performance.
Review by Tom King (c) 2026
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com
It seems (well for me anyhow) hard to believe that this now iconic film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Russell Crowe in the lead role of the former Roman General who became a slave and Gladiator in the arenas, was originally released in 2000. By any scale used to measure cinema productions, Gladiator is an epic film, and the soundtrack, composed and arranged by Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard is on an equal scale.
Having the task of bringing this music to the stage tonight with the RSNO was conductor Timothy Henty, and his world-wide reputation for his ability to recreate that cinematic soundtrack experience live was impressive. His attention to detail, along with perfect synchronisation with the RSNO to the film being screened, brought out many musical details here that I had overlooked before in this film.
The epic opening battle scene between the Roman army and Germanic hordes is perhaps one of the most visually powerful moments in cinema history, but the music for this is equally powerful and dynamic, and there is really nothing that can compare to how a large orchestra like the RSNO can perform that live on stage.
Gladiator the film is famous now for so many classic scenes, but the soundtrack was also something special and a big part of that magic was always down to the ethereal vocals of Lisa Gerrard who is notable for often singing in a style known as glossolalia or "speaking in tongues". "This is a phenomenon or practice in which people utter words or speech-like sounds, often thought by believers to be languages unknown to the speaker "(thanks Wikipedia). Probably the most recognisable example of this from the film is the closing song "Now We Are Free", in which the language is entirely invented.
Taking on the task of these demanding vocals tonight was Clara Sanabras, a Catalan multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter, and her powerful and at times haunting vocal performance added so much to tonight's music. The large RSNO chorus directed by Stephen Doughty was the final piece in this musical ensemble of talents (along with the RSNO orchestra and conductor Timothy Henty) that brought a classic film soundtrack to life in a classic on-stage live performance.
Review by Tom King (c) 2026
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com
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