The Queensland Symphony Orchestra and Cineconcerts present Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two
Concert Hall, Brisbane Convention Centre
Saturday 5th April, 2025
Dr Gemma Regan
A fantastical end to the Magical Cineconcerts series had the audience spellbound and wanting more
Witches, wizards and muggles were spellbound on Saturday when the Queensland Symphony Orchestra delivered the final film in the Harry Potter series of eight at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, with two mystical presentations of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two.
The final chapter closed on the extremely popular annual Cineconcerts series featuring the QSO playing the full soundtrack live to the films of J.K. Rowling’s phenomenal Harry Potter series. The QSO had a jam-packed weekend with James Bond as their newest addition to the Cinceoncerts, presenting Skyfall the evening before.
The innovative QSO often blur the boundaries between musical performances and multi-dimensional experiences with their hugely popular screenings of the James Bond, Jurassic Park and Star Wars films with live accompaniment of the soundtracks. The unique Cineconcerts at the Brisbane Convention Centre enable the audience to experience a live symphonic orchestra playing the soundtrack below a high-definition 12-metre screen for a 4D, five-star immersive experience.
The full orchestra, including a large percussion section, piano, and harp, was on the stage to suffuse the film dialogue with the live ominous musical score. They even played some of the sound effects while the film was playing on the screen, accompanied by subtitles.
Sadly, the iconic soundtrack of John Williams has not been featured in the Harry Potter films since The Goblet of Fire, opening up the opportunity for other composers such as Patrick Doyle and Nicholas Hooper to have a crack with great success. French composer Alexandre Desplat drew on his previous fantasy film score experience with The Golden Compass and Twilight, New Moon to inject the darkness required for the last two Harry Potter films, where good battles against the ever more evil power of Lord Voldemort and the Deatheaters.
The darkness of the film did not quell the audience's excitement for the last in the series, with many robed in one of the four house colours. Conductor Vanessa Scammell, who conducted Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1, encouraged the audience to shout for their respective houses, with the biggest cheer for Gryffindor and hisses for Slytherin.
The story continues from halfway through Rowling’s last book when Harry Potter seeks out and destroys Horcruxes, magical items in which Voldemort has secreted parts of his soul, to finally vanquish his evil from the wizarding world. The film opens still and dark as Voldemort steals the powerful Elder Wand from Albus Dumbledore's tomb. As he carves the dark mark into the air with the stolen wand, the double bass and timpani rumbled and the violins screeched, setting the film's theme of tension and darkness.
None of John Williams’ creative and light-hearted motifs for each character are featured; the magical Hedwig’s Theme only plays when the credits roll. Instead, Desplat uses whirling violins to evoke tension and a dramatic choir score to emulate the anguish of the Hogwarts school as they battle against the dark side. The Brisbane Voices of Birralee choir was spectacular, chanting and wailing evocatively as Dobby the elf is laid in a grave, often without musical accompaniment.
In large parts of the film, Desplat uses silence to further develop tension with moments of release when the music crashes in, as in the Gringott’s bank scene where Harry, Ron and Hermione escape on a dragon from Bellatrix Lestrange's vault with Helga Hufflepuff's cup. The soaring choir and gorgeous strings fly them away on the back of the Dragon to drop safely into a Scottish loch.
Spiccato bowing, where the bow is bounced off the strings, was creatively used to invoke spookiness and further ramp up the tension as Voldemort confronts Professor Snape in the boat house. Alison Mitchell’s flute was delicate and tender when Harry viewed Snape’s tortured memories in the pensive, with many an eye welling up as Harry realised he had always been wrong about his adversarial potions master.
As the terrible war between Hogwarts and the dark side took place, the orchestra was fabulous, whipping up the anguish and tension as wizards fell and the spells flew. Scammell flicked her baton, or wand, with aplomb as the full might of the orchestra finally defeated Voldemort's evil, and the audience cheered in relief.
It was a bewitching performance, with Alexandre Desplat's minimal themes and soundtrack enhancing the percussion and vocal sections. The voices and marimba resonated around the auditorium, creating an otherworldly aura, delighting every witch and wizard!
Although the magical world of the Harry Potter Cineconcerts has finished, the QSO have many more concerts for movie lovers this year, with David Lean’s romantic Brief Encounter featuring Konstantin Shamray playing Rachmaninov’s iconic Piano Concerto No.2 in July. The soundtracks of movie legend Hans Zimmer are celebrated in Art of the Score in May, and their Cinematic concert features The Oscars in October.
At Christmas, the family can gather for two Christmas movies with Home Alone accompanied by the delightfully quirky and heartwarming soundtrack by John Williams and the magical animation of Raymond Briggs in The Snowman with the original iconic score of Howard Blake to end a truly magical year of movies in 2025 with the QSO.