The Philharmonia Orchestra is set to bridge the gap between classical music and heavy metal in their upcoming concert, 'Forged in Sound: Heavy Metal Orchestrated', part of the Southbank Centre's Multitudes festival. The event raises the question of why such a collaboration has taken so long, given the deep connections between the two genres.
Both classical and heavy metal share a love of volume, virtuosity, and grandiloquence. From Black Sabbath to Stravinsky, and from Vivaldi to Van Halen, the parallels are evident. The legendary violinist Paganini was rumoured to have made a deal with the devil, much like the satanic panic surrounding 1980s metal. Robert Walser's study 'Running with the Devil' reveals how classical music forged the heavy metal guitar sound, with Ritchie Blackmore modelling solos on Vivaldi and Randy Rhoads using Pachelbel for Ozzy Osbourne's 'Blizzard of Ozz'.
The concert will explore these connections, but some frontiers remain uncrossed. The article suggests that grindcore band Napalm Death could push boundaries further with an orchestral collaboration, referencing their albums 'Throes of Joy in the Jaws of Defeatism' and 'From Enslavement to Obliteration'. Such a partnership would shake the musical world.
Meanwhile, the Royal Opera House's new season features a Wagnerian face-off between new productions of 'Parsifal' and 'Götterdämmerung'. Conductor Antonio Pappano leads the Ring cycle, while Jakub Hrůša takes on Parsifal. The article predicts that Christian Gerhaher's performance as Amfortas in Parsifal could be one for the ages.
