The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses concert that took place November 3, 2012 at the Majestic Theatre in San Antonio, Texas, was a wonderful night of music.  Produced by The performance consisted of a four-movement symphony with additional songs sprinkled throughout.  This was different from Distant Worlds: Music From Final Fantasy, which is more of a ‘greatest hits’ performance of individual songs.  A symphony, on the other hand, is written as a single long piece of music.  Each of the four movements focused on a game: Ocarina of Time, Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, and A Link To the Past. 

Home to the San Antonio Symphony, the Majestic Theatre is a beautiful facility that was filled to capacity for the evening’s performance.  Eímear Noone was the conductor and producer Jeron Moore was the master of ceremonies.  Jeron is clearly a fan of the games, he enthusiastically introduced each piece and made several jokes about the series as well. At one point he even showed off a Legend of Zelda NES cartridge.  I thought his introductions were well done; he talked about which games the music came from and knew what he was talking about.  In a nod to Wind Waker, Eimear used  a Wind Waker baton to conduct the orchestra during that game’s movement.

As is the norm in videogame orchestral performances these days, a screen above the orchestra displayed footage from the games.  It worked very well, the music was synched to the video and the footage being shown matched up with the music.  While I did not recognize every piece of music that was played, I enjoyed the performance.  The audience was also pleased; the musicians were showered with applause and cheers after each song.  Those that left after the final movement missed out on the three encores. 

My favorite movement in the symphony was the final one: A Link to the Past, and the Great Fairy’s Fountain theme that played after intermission was my favorite song.  The only real problem with the concert was a slight crackling that would occasionally come from the loudspeakers.  With the exception of some idiot’s cell phone going off near the end of the last movement, the crowd was well-behaved.  T-shirts and posters were available to purchase and sold out before the end of intermission.  While there were no CDs available to purchase, a significant portion of the music performed can be found on the special soundtrack CD that was included with Skyward Sword.

Music has been a part of The Legend of Zelda series since the beginning, and The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses provides fans with an opportunity to experience the series’ music in its most dramatic and powerful form.  If you are a Zelda fan and are fortunate enough to have a performance come to your area, I highly recommend attending so you can experience Zelda as you never have before.