Video game music performed live by professional orchestras is an especially rare treat for Australian audiences, and an even rarer one from the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.

ELDEN RING Symphonic Adventure offers to quench that thirst, presenting two hours of music from the soundtrack of Japanese publisher and game developer FromSoftware’s internationally acclaimed Elden Ring (2022), created and directed by Hidetaka Miyazaki and featuring the music of composers Tsukasa Saitoh, Shoi Miyazawa, Tai Tomisawa, Yuka Kitamura and Yoshimi Kudo.

Benjamin Northey, Sydney Symphony Orchestra & © Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc./© FromSoftware, Inc.

Conducted by Benjamin Northey and fortified by the choral forces of Sydney Philharmonia Choirs, the performance unfolds through cutscenes and countless combat sequences, fully equipped with cinematic and gameplay footage, lighting, sound design and prerecorded voice acting extracted from the game.

Opening with the orchestra underscoring a dramatic prologue, a dark, expressive cello solo from the orchestra’s Principal Cello, Catherine Hewgill, aptly accompanies the dramatic prerecorded narration that recurs throughout the performance.

The musical calm of this prelude proves to be a rarity – moments of stillness bringing much welcome...