Review: Planet Earth Live, Colston Hall

Jaws plunged to the floor during the 2006 debut of BBC TV series Planet Earth, one filled with such splendiferous and majestic sights that we often had to question if it was reality we were watching. Nevertheless, whilst the breathtaking visuals grabbed the attention the soul of the series was provided by veteran British composer George Fenton, fresh from his success on fellow BBC enterprises Life in the Freezer and The Blue Planet (with Frozen Planet to follow later in 2011). Yet even when placed next to those trendsetting efforts, Planet Earth is arguably Fenton’s musical opus, one that plunged audiences into a hushed reverie during its live concert performance at Bristol’s Colston Hall.

Scored in carefully arranged suites to select pieces of footage from the series itself, the music’s rich nuances became all the more apparent through the typically outstanding performance of the Philharmonia Orchestra (described by Fenton himself as one of the best in the world). With special emphasis on strings, including five celli and three double-basses, plus a rich assortment of brass, timpani and woodwind, the Planet Earth soundtrack revealed itself as a symphonic powerhouse that captures both the grandiose scale of our world and also the exquisite nuances to be found in more intimate detail at ground level. Yet underpinning everything is a distinctly wide-eyed sense of wonder: even in its darker moments, this is clearly a deeply felt work that stems from a deep love of the planet itself.

Highlights included the amusingly comical interaction between chimes and tuba for the fledgling Emperor Penguin chicks; the serene musical depiction of migrating Caribou gradually overtaken by ferocious action music as marauding wolves close in; and the soaring brass textures as a group of determined cranes ride air thermals to soar above Mount Everest. The success of Fenton’s achievement resides in how perfectly judged the music is: the comical moments are dainty but not overly so; likewise the more forceful material is pitched to exactly the right degree that it doesn’t become overbearing. After all, the footage is in itself already wondrous; the music for its part has to walk a very fine line in elevating our emotions further.

And it was hard to argue with the scale of Fenton’s achievement when his graceful strings combined with soprano Haley Glennie-Smith’s haunting vocals to represent a herd of elephants’ epic journey towards Africa’s Okavango Delta. It was one of many special moments during a stunning evening that also found time for humour: an unexpected injection of George and Ira Gershwin acted as an inspired backdrop to behind the scenes diary footage of the hardworking Planet Earth camera crew. Meanwhile the closing suite accompanying footage of nest-pillaging penguins from Frozen Planet almost stole the show, reducing the audience to gales of laughter. Both a musical powerhouse and an urgent call for us to protect our planet’s treasures, Fenton’s compositions stand as some of the finest musical storytelling of the last 20 years.