With the De Avond van de Filmmuziek (The Night of Film Music) concerts being so successful, including three sold-out arena shows in November, the organisation wanted to try something new: a Christmas Edition. I am not the biggest fan of Christmas music, but my curiosity won, so I found myself in the Ziggo Dome a month later for another De Avond van de Filmmuziek concert.
During the concert in November I could listen to new material. For this Christmas edition, however, the Metropole Orchestra played a lot of music from their ever growing library of film music, focusing on “movies that you would watch during the holidays.” As a result we could enjoy many pieces from John Williams. For the music from Jurassic Park, dinosaurs were walking through the isle, which involved quite impressive puppeteering. For Harry Potter a snitch was zooming over the stage, which we could follow on the big screen and is an amazing idea. Unfortunately the Golden Snitch is very stealthy in its looks but also in sound, while drones are loud and obnoxious, and the one simulating this snitch was no different and its zooming around could be heard throughout the whole arena, while the orchestra was performing “Hedwig’s Theme.” In addition to music from Williams, we could also listen to pieces from other composers that I have heard at previous De Avond van de Filmmuziek editions including music from The Holiday, Once Upon a Time in the West and Gladiator.
The organisation asked for artists who have featured in their concerts before to return as well. I have lost count of how many times I have heard Noa Wildschut perform Schindler’s List, but it gets me every time. I do have to say that I do not associate the gruesome images from that film with the Christmas spirit. We could also listen once again to Iris Hond performing “Fly” from her friend Ludovico Einaudi. For the next Einaudi piece, however, Hond and Wildschut joined forces to perform a stunning version of “Experience,” which was used in the movie Mommy.
Even though there were many familiar pieces I had experienced before, the evening also featured a lot of new music, including music from Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, Home Alone, and Love Actually, with the last one featuring a suite with Craig Armstrong’s music and two songs as encores. One of these was sung by Soy Kroon, one of the newly introduced artists that night. He also sang “Pure Imagination” from Wonka. Another new face was soprano Aylin Sezer, who gave a wonderful rendition of Once Upon a Time in the West and also sang “Now We Are Free” from Gladiator. In that last song, I appreciated her lovely voice, but, unfortunately, that piece needs a soothing voice to make it work. Benjamin Herman also contributed to the concert by performing the John Coltrane version of “My Favorite Things” from The Sound of Music on his saxophone.
The highlights for me were performed by two newly invited singers: Andrea Lykkei, who sang “My Heart Will Go On,” and Willemijn Verkaik, who performed a wonderful version of “The Way We Were.” I was especially looking forward to hearing Verkaik perform. I am not into watching or listening to versions of musicals in other languages, but her performance as the Dutch Elsa in Frozen is excellent. She was even the German Elsa, which is quite impressive for a Dutch woman. Lykkei and Verkeik joined the stage together to sing a Dutch-English mash-up of “Let it Go,” which was quite a treat and showcased both vocalists’ excellent voices.
I liked the idea of having an extra De Avond van de Filmmuziek concert that was more Christmas-focused. However, it also shows that filling an entire evening with Christmas film music is almost impossible, so I understand the idea of performing other familiar iconic pieces. If I am honest, experiencing this concert once was enough for me. I would prefer that all the effort to create new, innovative, and entertaining film music ideas be given to the regular De Avond van de Filmmuziek concerts, rather than dividing them across two projects. I really liked the last regular edition, and I hope it will continue like that. Nonetheless, it was fun to experience this Christmas edition once, which had many great moments, but I do not think I would return anytime soon for another Christmas Edition of De Avond van de Filmmuziek.
Concert information
Where: Ziggo Dome – Amsterdam, The Netherlands
When: December 20, 2025
Orchestra: Metropole Orkest conducted by Jochen Neuffer
Artists: Andrea Lykke, Aylin Sezer, Benjamin Herman, Iris Hond, Noa Wildschut, Soy Kroon and Willemijn Verkaik
Hosts: Daan Schuurmans and Dominic Seldis
Program
- Richard Strauss – “Also Sprach Zarathustra”
- John Williams – “Main Title ‘Somewhere In My Memory’” from Home Alone
- John Williams – “Holiday Flight” from Home Alone
- Ryūichi Sakamoto – Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence
- Bergman / Bergman / Hamlisch – The Way We Were
- John Williams – “Hedwig’s Theme” from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
- Ludovico Einaudi – “Fly” from Intouchables
- Ludovico Einaudi – “Experience” from Mommy
- John Williams – Theme from Jurassic Park
- Craig Armstrong – Suite from Love Actually
- Hans Zimmer / Lisa Gerrard – “Now We Are Free” from Gladiator
- Hans Zimmer / Lisa Gerrard – Suite from Gladiator
Intermission
- John Williams – “Flying Theme from E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial
- Rodgers & Hammerstein – “My Favorite Things” from The Sound of Music
- James Horner – “My Heart Will Go On” from Titanic
- Hans Zimmer – “Maestro” from The Holiday
- Ennio Morricone – Once Upon a Time in the West
- Leslie Bricusse / Anthony Newley – “Pure Imagination” from Wonka
- John Williams – Theme from Schindler’s List
- John Williams – “The Imperial March” from Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
- John Williams – “Main Title” from Star Wars: A New Hope
- Kristen Anderson‐Lopez / Robert Lopez – “Let It Go / Laat het Los“ from Frozen
- Reg Presley / Billy Mack – “Christmas is All Around” from Love Actually (encore)
- Brian Wilson / Tony Asher – “God Only Knows” from Love Actually (encore)
