Review: TITANIC LIVE, Royal Albert Hall

The tale of the RMS Titanic has been etched in the minds of millions for a century. The shattered dreams of those 1,500 who lost their lives against an iceberg in the North Atlantic Ocean in April 1912 still stun us in horror, but James Cameron's epic romance has made us dream - and sob - for 25 years.

We swooned when we saw the glint of youthful hope in Leonardo Di Caprio's eyes. We lit up with him when he glanced at Kate Winslett's walking on deck. We read endless studies of dubious scientific value, as well as Reddit threads, on how Jack could have fit on that damned plank of wood.

With a blend of fictional and historical characters, the movie - which includes footage from the real wreck specifically shot - was a glorious success for the director and the cast, who skyrocketed to fame. Eventually, it came to cost an overwhelming 200 million dollars, but it went on to earn over two billion. It was the first film to reach such a number.

When Enya declined Cameron's offer to compose the score, the director looked past some serious acrimony over a previous film of his, and chose James Horner for the job. The result is a leitmotif-centred soundscape that's grown to become intrinsic to popular culture.

Conductor Ludwig Wicki made Horner's work soar at the helm of the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall yesterday, while Alice Zawadzki added an ethereal touch as the vocal soloist (also doubling as violin player) and Eric Rigler joined with Uilleann Pipes and Whistles.

Morose, moody strings and dramatic horns guide Jack and Rose's journey from Southampton to their death, but it's the 20th Century Fox fanfare itself that kicked off the musical accompaniment.

Sniffles resounded at all the right places and a cheer broke across the auditorium when Rose spat at her certified slimebag of a fiancé. The Orchestra swung between melancholic and frantic, but always romantic. Particularly beautiful were their controlled, trembling strings during the characters' tense, hopeless rush to the lifeboats.

There is one specific scene that holds new meaning in this live context. As the fictional band entertain the passengers and soothe themselves in those last, dreadful moments when the Titanic's bowels are filling with water, it's impossible to separate them from their real life colleagues playing just below them. It felt special, like a camaraderie of sorts was ignited right there and then.

"Seeing her coming up like a ghost ship gets me every time" says Brock Lovett, the treasure hunter spearheading the expedition. Well, it gets us too. Where Titanic is, tissues dampen. But when Wicki's Orchestra play, hearts swell and flutter.

Next up in the Royal Albert Hall's Films in Concert series is Star Wars: Return of the Jedi from 23 to 25 September.

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