Movie magic: Opera North's Orchestra prepares for Top Gun

In a first for the theatre, while the audience watch all the action unfolding with Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Tom Cruise) on the big screen, the orchestra will be playing Lorne Balfe, Harold Faltermeyer, Lady Gaga and Hans Zimmer’s score conducted by Ben Palmer.

Trombonist Blair Sinclair cannot wait. Already a dab hand at tackling film scores, he has previously played the first Lord of the Rings film in the Royal Albert Hall, and Back to the Future and Jurassic Park with Opera North in Millennium Square. “They’re a lot of fun and usually have great brass parts!” he remarks. “Everything has to be timed to perfection in these performances to match the action onscreen so, while there’s still room for expression, it has to be done within a very strict beat. It’s a fun challenge!”

Cellist Lydia Dobson, who joined the orchestra in January, agrees: “With opera, it’s a constant balancing act between the orchestra and the singers; there’s always room for something different. When you’re playing a film score, you must play to the second as everything is timed to match what’s happening in the film. There’s no room for extra time here and there!” Not only does Tom Cruise wait for no one, but the orchestra also needs to be careful not to drown out the words when they are required to play during some dialogue. It is a careful balancing act. There is another danger, too, as Lydia points out: “It’s always really exciting, but also difficult not to get distracted by watching the film!”

It may seem like quite a leap to go from arias to aviators in one season but, as Blair explains, just because the orchestra usually plays classical music, that does not mean they cannot appreciate and enjoy other musical styles: “I always remember coming home from high school and listening to music, anything from Radiohead to Shostakovich. I didn’t know much classical music at the time, so it was just trial and error, but I’ve always loved discovering music that’s new to me of all genres.”