les miserables

We saw Les Miserables in theaters a few weeks ago and the music has been playing in my head ever since!  I have always loved the music and I love love loved the movie.  Definitely my favorite movie of 2012.  I thought the actors all did a brilliant job of portraying the raw and stirring emotion that the story tells and the music evokes.  

If you haven't seen it, and aren't familiar with the musical, here's a disclosure: Mr. Harper saw it with me, and he didn't know beforehand that the whole thing is music - hardly any dialogue, which is what I love about it!  But it was a little exhausting for him.  He said that "it felt like every song was the climax of the movie."  Which is kind of true, but seriously that is what makes it so amazing!

FYI all of the vocals were recorded live on set, with just a live piano accompaniment playing in their ear.  And Anne Hathaway's hair was cut live on set when they were doing "I Dreamed a Dream."  I think she should win an academy award just for that performance.  Also, you might not have noticed but there was a ton of harp in the soundtrack!  On about half of the songs, it was the vocalist, and then just harp accompanying them.  The soundtrack was recorded and mixed at Abbey Road Studio in London, and Skaila Kanga was the harpist.  She has done harp on lots of major movies including:  all of the Harry Potter's, Skyfall, The Hobbit, etc.

I have a harp arrangement of "On My Own" that I always play at the Grand America, but the other day I picked up a book of Les Mis piano arrangements, which actually transfer nicely to the harp.  So excited to play all of them at the Grand this week!