Despite being an aesthetically impressive venue both outside and in, due to the hall's large size it's apparently necessary to amplify these concert performances over the venue sound system. Following an enthusiastic standing ovation from a large part of the audience came the second and final encore piece "Torn from the Heavens", which though one of the simpler selections of the concert, as an energetic orchestral-choral piece with hints of the Prelude theme was a good choice.Īs with the Distant Worlds: The Celebration concert I attended in Tokyo in 2012, Eorzean Symphony was held at Tokyo International Forum. Concluding the main program was the title theme "Heavensward", which thanks to excellent performances by the solo soprano, chorus and orchestra made for a dramatic grand finale to the concert.Īs an encore the orchestra performed "A World Apart", one of the more memorable takes on the venerable Final Fantasy main theme thanks to its lively arrangement. Fortunately the second half picked up with another excellent Susan Calloway performance in "Dragonsong" and maintained its energy from there, with the orchestral action theme "Moebius" (another arrangement with great interplay between piano and orchestra), the choral action theme "Heroes", and a string quartet rendition of "Oblivion" in between as a well-timed change of pace. Calloway's performance achieved the right balance of being subdued yet imposing in some places, while soaring and epic at others, and though she did seem to hold back on a few of the high notes - perhaps due to having four performances in two days - the dramatic effect was hardly diminished.Īfter being pleasantly surprised by the first half of the program, the second half, dedicated to the expansion pack Heavensward, had me a bit disappointed to start, as its opening three pieces felt a bit generic in comparison. This was my second time to hear the piece live, in addition to hearing a few different recorded versions on various Final Fantasy arranged albums, and among those I'd say this performance closely follows the Distant Worlds: Returning Home album performance as the best to date. In fact I'd say the choral performance for the concert as a whole was the strongest of the four Square Enix-produced Final Fantasy orchestral concerts I've seen to date.Ĭoncluding the first half of the program was the orchestral-choral epic "Answers", featuring solo vocalist Susan Calloway. "Out of the Shattered Labyrinth" was a very good orchestral action piece, and the choral battle theme "Ultima" which followed was equally impressive, thanks to excellent arrangement and performances. I've always loved the piano version of that theme on the arranged album From Astral to Umbral (the only FFXIV album I've listened to extensively), and the concert arrangement maintained the piano part's beauty while adding a richer fantasy feel from the orchestra in full. The first half of the concert, dedicated to A Realm Reborn, got off to a good start with the fanfare "A New Hope", and got better from there with the second piece "Serenity". I attended the September 24 afternoon show, and even having little familiarity with the two titles' music, I came away impressed by the arrangements, performance, and overall production. The four concerts (to my knowledge all with identical programs) were dedicated exclusively to Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn and its first expansion pack, Heavensward.
On September 23 and 24 Square Enix held the "Eorzean Symphony: Final Fantasy XIV Orchestra Concert 2017" in Tokyo. I attended one of the Tokyo concerts and in the spirit of being better late than never have included my impressions from after the concert below. Credit to VGMO for reporting on the announcement. More information and ticket sale links are at the official FFXIV website's event page. Ticket public sales: February 26 at 1:00 a.m. Ticket pre-sales: February 17 at 3:00 a.m. Ticket public sales: February 26 at 10:00 a.m. Ticket pre-sales: February 17 at 12:00 p.m. Scheduled as guests for all four shows (two at each venue) are FFXIV producer and director Naoki Yoshida, sound director and main composer Masayoshi Soken, and vocalist Susan Calloway. After holding four concerts in Tokyo in September 2017, Square Enix will be bringing the Final Fantasy XIV Orchestra Concert ~Eorzean Symphony~ to Los Angeles, USA, and Dortmund, Germany, in 2018.
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