The last concert I attended before COVID hit was a fantastic Star Wars concert organized by Film Music Prague. Unfortunately, it would be the last concert of this festival for a long while. A concert with an exciting program was announced a couple of years ago, but sadly it didn’t go ahead. To my delight, it turned out the concert had been postponed rather than canceled. On October 4, 2026, I was back in Prague for a new version of it, with music by two composers I truly admire, and who are sadly no longer with us: Basil Poledouris and Jerry Goldsmith.
The concert was held in the stunning Rudolfinum concert hall, located in the city center. On the doorstep of the hall we were greeted by some great cosplayers, who were dressed as characters from Star Trek, and a xenomorph from Alien walked around to get the audience in the mood.
The concert began with an introduction by festival director Nikola Bojčev, after which conductor Chuhei Iwasaki took the stage to lead the Hradec Králové Philharmonic Orchestra. There was no special lighting, no effects, no screen. Just the music. The first piece was a banger: a suite from Total Recall, starting with the theme but transitioning to other, lesser-known music Goldsmith wrote for the film. After that came the music from Hollow Man and Flesh and Blood, which made for an excellent listening experience, as I do not know these scores that well.
For Alien, the orchestra played two pieces very well, filling the venue with the haunting sounds from that score. By contrast, next came the beautiful, majestic theme from Star Trek: First Contact, played with real emotion by the French horns. After that emotional tune, it was time to end the first half with another bold-sounding piece: a suite from RoboCop. This piece was the highlight of the evening for me. RoboCop is one of the scores that sparked my love of film music when I was young, and to hear it live for the first time, excellently performed by the orchestra, was a real privilege.
When the intermission was over, the choir joined the orchestra on stage, and they made themselves heard right away in the first piece, which was a long and amazing suite from The Mummy. After “Main Title” from Free Willy, it was time for another highlight of the evening with music from Conan the Barbarian, with bombastic melodies filling the hall, including the iconic clanging metal sounds. Next up was a beautiful, intimate version of Goldsmith’s theme for Basic Instinct, and afterwards we could enjoy the next Poledouris block, with magnificent music from The Hunt for Red October – of course with choir – and Starship Troopers.The evening ended with a piece by Goldsmith as an encore, which was “End Credits” from Rambo II.
The music of Goldsmith and Poledouris is among the best the genre has to offer, but unfortunately it is music you seldom hear, as is shown by the many world premieres on the program of this concert. After hearing so much music from Star Wars, Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings and many other famous movies at traditional film music concerts, it was a delight to see these two underrated composers in the spotlight for once. I have to applaud Film Music Prague director Nikola Bojčev for that. As someone passionate about film music, he doesn’t just shop around for standard concert suites; he uses his resources to create the music he himself wants to hear. Luckily for me, and many others in the audience at this almost sold-out concert, his taste matches that of many others, resulting in a fantastic and unique concert that brilliantly highlighted the music of these magnificent composers.
I am glad that Film Music Prague is back after a long break. It was only one concert this time, but for me, it was all that I needed. The festival has already announced its next event: two nights of Interstellar with a live orchestra in February 2027. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to go, but I’ll continue to keep an eye out for what comes next from this amazing festival.
Concert information
Where: Rudolfinum in Prague, Czech Republic
When: October 4, 2026
Orchestra: Hradec Králové Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir conducted by Chuhei Iwasaki
Program
- Jerry Goldsmith – Suite from Total Recall
- Jerry Goldsmith – Suite from Hollow Man
- Basil Poledouris – Suite from Flesh and Blood
- Jerry Goldsmith – “Main Titles & The Landing” from Alien
- Jerry Goldsmith – Theme from Star Trek: First Contact
- Basil Poledouris – Suite from RoboCop
Intermission
- Jerry Goldsmith – Suite from The Mummy
- Basil Poledouris – “Main Title” from Free Willy
- Basil Poledouris – “Anvil of Crom & Riddle of Steel / Riders of Doom” from Conan the Barbarian
- Jerry Goldsmith – Theme from Basic Instinct
- Basil Poledouris – “Nuclear Scam” from The Hunt for Red October
- Basil Poledouris – “FedNet March & Klendathu Drop” from Starship Troopers
- Jerry Goldsmith – “End Credits” from Rambo II (encore)
