I have attended “De Avond van de Filmmuziek” (The Night of Film Music) concerts , the largest concert celebrating film music in the Netherlands, many times. As you can read in previous reports, I have been fond of these concerts while they were in Het Concertgebouw as a venue, but I was less enthusiastic when they moved to the massive Ziggo Dome arena. While the concerts in the new location had many great moments, they also focused on more well-known pieces I have heard many times before and on entertainment value, hiring artists to perform songs from films rather than the actual music written for them. Another aspect I liked less during these concerts is that they tend to repeat the same pieces over the years. Last year, the organizers were allowed to do so, since playing the favorites was the whole idea of that anniversary edition. With that in mind, I was pretty curious about what I would experience this year, because, having played the “performing all the favorites” card already, the Metropole Orchestra would have to do something else.
After performing the traditional “Also Sprach Zarathustra” we could see a Back to the Future parody on the big screen in which the two hosts, Daan Schuurmans and Dominic Seldis, took us along for the ride through time, showcasing us from which movies we could expect to hear some music, and what I saw made me quite excited, because I saw many fragments from movies that I had not seen at these concerts before. When the movie was over, the hosts drove the iconic DeLorean into the hall and announced the music from Back to the Future on stage, which, as far as I know, has never been performed at a De Avond van de Filmmuziek concert before.
The following piece was from Ennio Morricone, but instead of the usual music from one of the Westerns, we were treated to his gorgeous theme from The Untouchables. After this excellent piece, three cues were performed from television shows: Downton Abbey, Succession, and The White Lotus. The last piece was amusing because soprano Ella Taylor and the choir were tapping their mouths while singing.
For this concert organ player Anna Lapwood returned as well, but to play a different piece this time. She began by playing “Test Drive” from How to Train Your Dragon on the organ, and afterward the orchestra performed its own version of this stunning piece. Their version prominently featured a drum kit and an electric guitar, which works surprisingly very well for that piece.
The following pieces continued the trend of introducing the audience to new music. “Hymn to the Fallen” from Saving Private Ryan is an iconic piece by John Williams, but one I have heard performed very rarely. The theme from La vita è bella was lovely and offered a stark contrast to the horrors of war on the big screen. With “I Could Use a Boost” from The Wild Robot, the orchestra showed the audience that they have kept up to speed with film music, because that movie, with its great score by Kris Bowers, just came out last year.
Before the first half came to an end with the Metropole Orchestra’s take on the Mission Impossible theme, we could listen to some Dutch film music. Composer Sven Figee placed himself behind the piano, and, together with the orchestra, he performed a gorgeous suite from De Wilde Noordzee.
The second half started with a movie on screen featuring Daan Schuurmans as Superman, followed by the famous Superman march by the orchestra. After stunning pieces from Out of Africa and American Beauty, singer Gary Jules came on stage to sing his spectacular version of “Mad World” that was used in the movie Donnie Darko. It is a song I know very well from my Streaming Soundtracks days, and it was a privilege to hear live.
After the fantastic music by Elliot Goldenthal from Heat, it was time for the first Hans Zimmer piece of the evening. Instead of all the more well-known pieces from his repertoire, we were surprised by the emotional “Solomon” from 12 Years a Slave, a film directed by Amsterdam resident Steve McQueen, who was in the audience.
The following piece was music from another film with a Dutch connection. We could listen to “Mommy’s Dollhouse” by Cristóbal Tapia de Veer from the movie Babygirl, directed by Halina Reijn, a gorgeous waltz with Ella Taylor returning to the stage. Afterwards, Anna Lapwood also returned to the stage to perform her stunning organ version of “Chevaliers de Sangreal” from The Da Vinci Code, together with the orchestra and the Dutch Concert Choir, which was one of the highlights of the evening for me. She also wanted to perform her Interstellar music again, so she could see the Ziggo Dome filling up with phone torches, as she had requested spontaneously from the audience last year. It was again a sight to behold.
After having Dutch giant Olivier Richters on stage to relive the story of how he accidentally hit Harrison Ford in the face, and to listen to the “Raiders March,” we came to the conclusion of the evening. As the finale, we could listen to Vajèn van den Bosch, who has sung in both Dutch and German versions of the Wicked franchise. She sang “No One Mourns the Wicked” for us and performed “Defying Gravity” as the encore.
When the concert was over, and I was leaving the venue, I still had trouble grasping what I had experienced. I was hoping for some improvements after the last few concerts, but instead I was utterly blown away by the quality of the music and the choice of the pieces I had not heard before, brilliantly performed by the orchestra, choir and artists. I also loved that more Dutch connections to film music were being celebrated, because we do have Dutch people working in the movie industry we should be proud of and who deserve some attention.
When I was visiting big-budget film music concerts in foreign countries, I was always a little envious of how they managed to pull off an entertaining evening by playing all kinds of interesting and lesser-known film music. I always wanted De Avond van de Filmmuziek to be like that, and after their latest concert, my wish has finally been granted. It was a concert the organization should be very proud of, with a program that showcases how diverse and amazing film music can be, and I really hope it is the beginning of many more to come.
Concert information
Where: Ziggo Dome – Amsterdam, The Netherlands
When: November 22, 2025
Orchestra: Metropole Orchestra conducted by Jules Buckley
Choir: Dutch Concert Choir
Artists: Ella Taylor, Sven Figee, Gary Jules, Vajèn van den Bosch and Anna Lapwood
Guests: Steve McQueen and Olivier Richters
Hosts: Daan Schuurmans and Dominic Seldis
Program
- Richard Strauss – “Also Sprach Zarathustra”
- Alan Silvestri – Back to the Future
- Ennio Morricone – “The Strength of the Righteous (main title)” from The Untouchables
- John Lunn – Suite from Downton Abbey
- Nicholas Britell – “Main Title Theme” from Succession
- Cristóbal Tapia de Veer – “Renaissance” from The White Lotus
- “Test Drive” from How to Train Your Dragon
- John Williams – “Hymn to the Fallen” from Saving Private Ryan
- Nicola Piovani – La vita è bella
- Kris Bowers – “I Could Use a Boost” from The Wild Robot
- Sven Figee – Suite from De Wilde Noordzee
- Lalo Schifrin – Mission: Impossible
Intermission
- John Williams – March from Superman
- John Barry – Out of Africa
- Alfred Newman – 20th Century Fox Fanfare
- Thomas Newman – American Beauty
- Roland Orzabal, Michael Andrews – “Mad World” from Donnie Darko
- Elliot Goldenthal – “Of Separation” from Heat
- Hans Zimmer – “Solomon” from 12 Years a Slave
- Cristóbal Tapia de Veer – “Mommy’s Dollhouse” from Babygirl
- Hans Zimmer – “Chevaliers de Sangreal” from The Da Vinci Code
- Hans Zimmer – Suite from Interstellar
- John Williams – “Raiders March” from Raiders of the Lost Ark
- Stephen Schwartz – “No One Mourns the Wicked” from Wicked
- Stephen Schwartz – “Defying Gravity” from Wicked (encore)
