When I was in my early teens, my progress through the Legend of Zelda game on the original Nintendo (NES) came to an abrupt halt when I threw a screaming fit. I was struggling to defeat one of the dungeon bosses, and at that age my dexterity with the controller and ability to strategize weren’t quite up to par. Rather than calling the exorcist, my mom asked me to return the game to the rental store a day early. Since I realized the game was no longer fun for me, I agreed.
Despite this awful experience, and similarly having given up on Zelda II: The Adventure of Link also on the NES, I was still excited to try the latest game in the series for the Super Nintendo (SNES) when it was released, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. With much improved gameplay and my further developed gaming skills, this one didn’t end in such disaster. In fact it became one of my favorite games on the SNES, which I played through numerous times. I played it together with friends, and it became something of a common-ground mythology for us. Some might say it was "just a game", but in reality it had a significant influence on my childhood.
I didn’t have the luxury of jumping on board with Nintendo’s subsequent game systems such as the N64, Game Cube, and Wii, so I missed out on the newer installments of the Zelda series. However, in University I did a bit of "retro gaming" and returned, with the help of various emulators, to play Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. I also revisited the two old Zelda games on NES and finally put the buggers to rest.
When I heard that an orchestral performance dedicated to the Legend of Zelda game series was touring to Calgary, I was excited to say the least. Part of it was nostalgia; another part was curiosity, to see what some of the music I - to this day still know off by heart - would sound like when played by a full orchestra rather than the game console synthesizers of the time.
As a control, I brought my partner Steve to the show with me who has personally never played a Legend of Zelda game. Despite a slight hold-up at the box office, we made it into the packed Jubilee Auditorium just before the main performance started.
To whet the audience’s appetite, we were first treated to a compilation of similar themes spanning numerous Zelda games: music that any person who had played any one of the games would recognize instantly. This included "Dungeons" and "Kakariko Village", among others. Above the orchestra was a large projected screen that showed sample video clips of each game, in time with the music.
Following this, Executive Producer of the show Jason Michael Paul spoke a bit on the mic to welcome the audience and explain how the performance would proceed. It was broken up into four movements, each dedicated to a different game, with an intermission in the middle.
The first movement focused on what Jason touted as a Zelda fan favorite: Ocarina of Time. This was the very first Legend of Zelda game on the N64 console, and thus the first game of series to venture into 3D. The video took us through key elements of the story from start to finish (spoiler alert), as the orchestra provided the musical accompaniment of the most iconic themes from the game.
The next focused on The Wind Waker, which I personally haven’t played. Experiencing the sights and sounds from it, however, gave me the itch to get caught up! The crowd went wild when the conductor pulled out a matching baton to one used in the game.
Appropriately the intermission was accompanied by the mellow "Fairy Fountain" theme that has appeared in several Zelda games. It felt like a comic expo for the number of costumes that we saw while mingling out in the lobby. We even noticed a guy dressed in drag as princess Zelda!
Following that, we settled back in our seats for the 3rd movement from Twilight Princess, another game I’m not familiar with that I am now curious to try. Then, finally, the fourth movement focused on my childhood favorite, A Link to the Past. Jason had explained that this was the game that established many of the musical themes and recurring story elements that would appear in later games of the series. I’ll even admit I was moved to tears during Zelda’s theme, a warm and sentimental piece.
This appeared to be the end of the show, or so the audience was teased. But after much applause, the conductor returned to the stage for "Balad of the Wind Fish", "Gerudo Valley", and an entire suite from "Majora’s Mask" before the show came to a close.
For me it was a moving walk down memory lane, probably even more so for others. For Steve, it was still an entertaining and enjoyable performance. We both agreed that the classical-music genre of the presentation leant a certain level of sophistication that almost masked the wonderful scent of geek.
Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses continues to tour through the US and Canada. Check their website for upcoming tour dates.