Ennio Morricone

Ennio Morricone is rightly considered the world’s greatest living film composer, a legend whose work has reached far beyond the scorched desert-scapes of Almeria (A Few Dollars More) and the tumultuous waters of Iguazu Falls (The Mission). Now for the very final time, Maestro Ennio Morricone will conduct his film music live in the UK at The O2 on 26 November 2018.

Much sought after by filmmakers the world over for his matchless versatility and productivity, Morricone’s innovative soundworks and truly exhaustive range of musical styles have complemented practically every conceivable movie genre there is. Over a career spanning six decades, Ennio Morricone has composed over 500 scores for cinema and television as well as over 100 absolute music works. Highlights include his scores for Once Upon a Time in the West, One Upon a Time in America, A Fistful of Dollars, The Untouchables and The Mission. Morricone’s score for The Good, The Bad and The Ugly holds the number two position in the Top 200 ranking of best film soundtracks ever composed.

The performance in London is part of an extended tour to mark his 60-year Anniversary as a professional composer and conductor, which has included more than 40 concerts played in 30 European cities over the last few years, selling over 500k tickets.

In 2016, Morricone composed and recorded the score for Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight, for which he received universal praise, including his long awaited Academy Award for Best Original Score, his sixth BAFTA Award for Best Film Music, and his third Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score.

That same year, Ennio Morricone also reunited with director Giuseppe Tornatore on romantic drama The Correspondence, starring Jeremy Irons. Its release was exactly 30 years after the 1986 release of The Mission, which also starred Irons. Morricone and Tornatore had previously collaborated on Cinema Paradiso, Malèna, The Legend of 1900, Baaria and The Best Offer.

On the final show in London, Morricone said: “I have very fond memories of my tours to the UK. From my very first concert at the Barbican Centre to my shows at the beautiful Royal Albert Hall and recently the spectacular nights at the o2 Arena and the Blenheim Palace grounds. The English audience has always given me a very warm welcome and I felt strongly that I should play one last big concert in London before I retire at the end of this year.”

Maestro Morricone will personally conduct the concerts. The concert in London will be performed by the Czech National Symphony Orchestra and the Crouch End Festival Chorus. The CNSO has had a long history of working with Maestro Morricone, having joined him on almost the entirety of his tour the past few years. They were also the orchestra on the recording of the music for The Hateful Eight, so the many awards this score garnered show the fruitful collaboration between the Maestro and this orchestra.