After Jerry Goldsmith's first concert in Monte-Carlo in 2001, the announcement of a new one, this time in the Auditorium Rainier III, caused a great deal of excitement amongst the French film music community. Titled as Hollywood at Monte-Carlo - The Film Music Of Jerry Goldsmith, it was to eventually be conducted by Jeff Tyzic, replacing Jerry Goldsmith on health grounds.

Tyzic is best known as the conductor for The Rochester Philharmonic, Winnipeg and Vancouver Symphonies, and this was his first time performing music from one of Hollywood's finest. Interestingly Tyzic had is own style of conducting the fine Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra, as showed by the first notes and quickly proving adept at encouraging the players to give Goldsmith's music an enthusiastic performance. Like a previous concert of Jerry Goldsmith's in Spain, this one followed on the same lines with Tyzic speaking to the audience on the art and craft of the legendary composer, often examining the composer's style and his use of both solo instrumentation and the full orchestral power of Goldsmith's orchestrations, impressively conveying Goldsmith's ability at capturing the imagery of a movie through music. The performance by Tyzic, predominantly known for his various classical, jazz or big-band music, showed an abundance of enthusiasm and he clearly loved the opportunity to perform less traditional orchestral music. Tyzic remarked how honoured he was for being chosen as the conductor to replace Goldsmith and to perform some of his finest works.

As interpretations go, his view on film music could have been scene as a non-traditional one, but the concert showed us that even in Goldsmith's absence his presence was felt through some dazzling musical moments that filled the whole of the auditorium. The programme's earlier pieces for The Last Castle and The Sum of All Fears, sounding much better in concert than CD, were quite a contrast to the more popular arrangements for some of Goldsmith's finest scores. The concert arena adding to the music's unique ambience, clearly sounding much better than it was two years ago, even if the atmosphere was dulled by the absence of the maestro. But Jeff Tyzic's fine efforts were rewarded by an enthusiastic audience who clearly appreciated his skill that night, calling the conductor back for an encore of the majestic Supergirl theme.

Monte Carlo Concert - The Music Of Jerry Goldsmith
Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo
22nd July 2001 @ 10pm
Conducted By Jerry Goldsmith

Jerry Goldsmith's first concert in the dazzling Principality took place in the Palace Honorary Court in the presence of Prince Albert and his son, Rainier III, with the orchestra sat on the white stone stairs, on a warm calm evening. The men wearing tuxedos, while the women looked elegant in their evening gowned, ready to greet the great showman - Jerry Goldsmith. Goldsmith, with his trademark shocking white hair was to lead the orchestra through a mixture of both his own music and a selection of classic film scores from the Golden and Silver Age. But it was know doubt Goldsmith's own impressive themes that managed to captivate the Monaco audience. From the elegant and stately Star Trek : First Contact to the beautiful Mulan, by way of the tender theme to A Patch Of Blue and the lively militaristic Small Soldiers, the audience was in rapture by the harmonious Monte Carlo players. Throughout the evening the musicians were clearly attentive to the conductor's baton and gestures that captured the authenticity of the performance. At one point Goldsmith could clearly be seen imitating a Supergirl synth sound with his hand! Being outdoors the acoustics suffered a little compared to a good concert hall, but generally the performance came across as impressive and full of energy as one hoped, and clearly proved quite a shock to an audience used to more traditional orchestral music. As an introduction to the world of popular film music for the Prince and is Family, Goldsmith focussed on a suite of classic movie scores by some of his favourite colleagues, that included Sunset Boulevard, the epic Ben Hur, Unchained Melody and most notably, High Noon in reference to Grace Kelly - the late wife of Prince Rainier III.

A spectacular evening in a gorgeous location, fans went away with treasured memories of hearing Jerry Goldsmith's music played live with maestro himself at the podium. Goldsmith, clearly thrilled by the reaction of the audience was humbled by their adoration but had one further surprise, to dedicate the evening's performance to his wife Carol on the occasion of their 23rd wedding anniversary.