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For anyone who grew up with the Harry Potter books and movies, The Harry Potter Film Concert Series, produced by CineConcerts in conjunction with Warner Bros., is an entirely unique experience. The West Australian Symphony Orchestra performs the music score live while the entire film plays on a screen behind them. Starting in 2016 with the first movie in the Harry Potter series, this May they returned with Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the third performance in this series.

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Before the show, a video of John Williams, the man behind the film’s incredible musical score, is played. He talks to the camera about the pressures of writing music for a movie as widely anticipated as this one was, and there are clips from the studio showing the writing and recording process in action.

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I was unsure about how the orchestra’s playing would blend with the movie and curious to see if either the film or the music would distract from one another. The orchestra played louder than the soundtrack would normally be in the film. This does not mean the film was drowned it, but that sometimes where it made sense, the music took a greater prominence. After all, you are attending the concert to fully experience the music of Harry Potter.

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My favourite example of this was in the Leaky Cauldron; when a Celtic-style tune I would never have registered playing in the movie got to be appreciated. Another instance was a couple of times when medieval music played in the Hogwarts castle, really encapsulating Hogwart’s ancient setting where ghosts glide freely and thousands of years of magical history come to life.

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To ensure we could always follow the speaking parts of the film with this increased volume, there were subtitles. They were really a great help if ever the music threatened to obscure someone’s words, especially for those who might be hard of hearing or keenly focused on the music, but they also pick up on a whole bunch of words murmured in the background that I have never actually heard properly without subtitles. Turns out Harry Potter has some hilarious lines uttered by extras and people off-screen, so that is just one of the many little-unexpected delights I enjoyed.

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It isn’t simply the music score, but also sound effects that are recreated by WASO with various instruments. The ticking clock sound when Hermione and Harry go back in time was admittedly a little loud given how long it goes for, but it is a particularly urgent scene, and it does help you empathise with the pressure the characters are feeling. A highlight in terms of sound effects was certainly those made by the voices of the choir accompanying the orchestra.

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I was particularly impressed by their abilities when they belted out the extremely high-pitched ghostly notes that were supposed to be ominous sounds made by approaching Dementors, black-cloaked figures straight out of a nightmare. It was uncannily identical to the sound in the movie, but far more piercing live and sent shivers down my spine.

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The audience engagement is another aspect that really makes the show worth the time and money families would be spending to attend. Before we went in, and during an interval where the film was paused, there were people dressed and acting as various characters, including the Fat Lady from the Gryffindor common room portrait, Professor Sprout and Sirius Black. They took photos with anyone who wanted them, including the many people who dressed up in the spirit of the wizarding world for the event.

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During the show, we were encouraged to clap and cheer and I am assuming they stationed some people at the back to help this process. There was cheering for Harry’s triumphs, wolf-whistling for villain/bad boy Draco Malfoy’s first appearance, and endless moments of thrilled laughter.

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After the film, the orchestra continued to play the entire credits. Some might have been a little restless at this point, and a few families did leave, but for most, it was a delightful opportunity to really focus on just the brilliant musical score, like an extra concert at the end.

The music, the movie, the audience engagement all contributed to making it truly magical – for me, it was the stuff of childhood dreams.

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AMNPLIFY – GD