Post on 06-Feb-2018
Hans Zimmer Tribute at theAnnenberg Raises $1.2 Millionfor Israel Philharmonic
JULY 17, 2014 | 02:44PM PT
Steve Chagollan (http://variety.com/author/steve-chagollan/)Assistant Managing Editor, Features
@SteveChagollan (http://twitter.com/@SteveChagollan)
Two giants in their respective fields, Hans Zimmer (http://variety.com/t/hans
zimmer/) and Zubin Mehta (http://variety.com/t/zubinmehta/), held court
Wednesday night at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts
(http://variety.com/t/wallisannenbergcenterfortheperformingarts/), where
Zimmer was bestowed a lifetime achievement award by the American Friends
of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (http://variety.com/t/americanfriendsof
theisraelphilharmonicorchestra/), for which Mehta is cochairman and holds
the post of music director for life.
Joe Scarnici/Getty Images
But it was Zimmer — perhaps the closest thing to a mogul in the scoring realm
— who was clearly humbled by the honor. “I was a little nervous about a
worldclass orchestra playing Schubert (Symphonia N° 8, Unfinished) and
Zimmer, and Schubert is a real composer,” Zimmer told Variety. “And just
seeing how they really knew my stuff and they loved it. There was this bond.”
The lavish, blacktie affair — consisting of a concert by the orchestra of
mostly Zimmer movie compositions, and a Wolfgang Puckcatered supper in
the Center’s courtyard afterward — raised approximately $1.2 million for the
Israel Philharmonic, according to David Hirsch, president of the AFIPO. “We
exceeded our goal, which was originally $1 million, minus the cost to produce
the event,” said Hirsch. Other guests included Armie Hammer, WB’s Sue
Kroll, Josh Malina, Eli Broad, Steve Kofsky, Rob Schneider, George Schlatter
and Jolene Brand, Matti Leshem and Lynn Harris.
The event was neither insignificant for Mehta, with whom Zimmer enjoys “a
strange friendship,” according to the Oscarwinning composer, whose mother,
an opera lover, was granted a box by Mehta when he was music director of
the Bavarian State Opera in Munich. But it was Mehta’s 16year stint as music
director of the L.A. Philharmonic beginning in 1962 that prompted him to
address the Beverly Hills audience like a prodigal son.
“As you know I’ve been in this city for quite a bit of time,” he said from the
stage, “and you can imagine how many people have asked me to conduct
movie scores. And I’ve always shied away from it because it’s not my
profession. So today is kind of a debut for me, and I’m very glad that Hans
was at the rehearsals to help me out a little bit.”
The crowdpleasing program featured compositions from “The Da Vinci
Code,” with a gorgeous assist from operatic soprano Angel Blue, as well as a
percussive ode to “The Dark Knight Rises” villain Bane, resulting in thundering
applause, and segments of the “Sherlock Holmes” and “Pirates of the
Caribbean” scores.
“I snuck in quietly so nobody would notice during the rehearsal,” said Zimmer
when asked if he might work with the ensemble in the foreseeable future, “and
I heard the French horns start playing and I thought, ‘Ooh, they’re pretty good.
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I’ll have a bit of that for future scores I make.’ Because orchestras, musicians,
they’re all individuals at the end of the day. And the strength of these players
is so phenomenal.”
The nonprofit institution definitely relies on the comfort of strangers to keep
afloat, and Zimmer, one of a handful of Hollywood musicmakers whose name
is as recognizable as Spielberg, is capable of convincing donors to pony up.
“One of the things film composers can do is make sure that orchestras have
new music,” he told Variety. “I was just in London where they were doing
‘Gladiator’ for four nights at the Royal Albert Hall. So Hollywood is actually
capable of keeping something which is so important in the arts going, because
if we lose the orchestras, we lose a huge chunk of our humanity.”
(Pictured: Hans Zimmer and Zubin Mehta at the Wallis Annenberg Center)
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