Carl Davis is renowned for the skill and sensitivity of his silent film scores, but the 5.5 hour epic Napoléon must surely be the pinnacle of his output in this genre. It was composed in 1980 to accompany Kevin Brownlow’s restoration of Abel Gance’s classic 1927 silent film Napoléon, and has been playing to sell-out audiences around the globe since. When it was screened/performed in LA the LA Times reported that ‘the audience had just lived through one of the world’s great cinematic experience.’
For anyone yet to experience this unique cinematic event, the Holland Festival will be showing Napoléon on 15 June at the Ziggo Dome, with the Het Gelders Orkest, conducted by Davis.