The Classics: A Symphony of Iconic Film Scores

Lang Lang (Piano)
Lindsey Stirling (Violin)
Till Brönner (Trumpet)
The Piano Guys (Performance)
2Cellos (Performance)

★ Featuring best-selling film scores from "The Dark Knight Rises," "Interstellar," "Pirates of the Caribbean," "Gladiator," "Man of Steel," "The Lion King," "Inception," and more.
★ Reinterpreted by Lang Lang, 2Cellos, The Piano Guys, Till Brönner, and others.

Film composer Hans Zimmer rose to fame in the 1990s after winning the Academy Award for Best Original Score for Disney's "The Lion King." He became the natural successor to Hollywood master John Williams, and later solidified his status as a maestro by scoring blockbusters like the "Pirates of the Caribbean" series and "Gladiator." Recognized as the primary composer for fantasy films, he was appointed head of the film music division at DreamWorks. However, few know that Zimmer is a native German who grew up in Frankfurt. As a teenager, he moved to London to study, and after the passing of his father, he submerged himself in the world of music to escape his grief, embarking on a lifelong journey with the art form. Zimmer first entered the pop music scene by exploring the synthesizer and electronic music trends emerging in London. He collaborated on albums and performances with British, Italian, and Spanish punk and alternative bands. His first foray into film scoring came when he worked as a music producer on Bernardo Bertolucci’s "The Last Emperor," a project featuring Ryuichi Sakamoto. He was subsequently introduced to the Hollywood film industry through his score for "Rain Man." In this film and those that followed, he made extensive use of synthesizers, bringing a new sonic landscape to Hollywood dramas. Since then, Zimmer has been consistently sought after by top directors, scoring over 120 films to date with a total box office gross exceeding 24 billion USD. His scores are almost exclusively for acclaimed blockbusters, creating countless iconic melodies while garnering an Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and three Grammy Awards.

This album features Hans Zimmer’s re-arranged themes from his renowned past works, such as "Inception," "The Lion King," "The Dark Knight," "Pirates of the Caribbean," and "Interstellar." He invited celebrated artists—including violin virtuoso Maxim Vengerov, pianists Lang Lang and Khatia Buniatishvili, and jazz trumpeter Till Brönner—to reinterpret these pieces. Distinct from the ensemble arrangements heard in the films, this album strives to highlight the solo and personal expression of these scores. Listeners will hear Lang Lang and Maxim Vengerov perform the theme from "Man of Steel" as a piano and violin duet, and Lang Lang’s piano concerto arrangement of the "Gladiator" theme, which evokes the moving poetry of Rachmaninoff’s "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini." This album serves as a culmination of Hans Zimmer’s twenty-year career in Hollywood, a masterwork that uses classical and crossover styles to allow the world to rediscover the creative drive behind his music.

【Tracklist】

1.    The Dark Knight Rises: Main Theme - Lindsey Stirling
2.    Themes from Pirates of the Caribbean - The Piano Guys
3.    Gladiator Rhapsody - Lang Lang
4.    Crimson Tide: Main Theme - Till Brönner
5.    Inception: Time - Tina Guo
6.    The Lion King: This Land - Amy Dickson
7.    Now We Are Free - Leona Lewis
8.    Man of Steel: Flight - Lang Lang & Maxim Vengerov
9.    The Thin Red Line: Light - Maxim Vengerov
10.    Gladiator: The Battle Scene - Khatia Buniatishvili
11.    Inception: Mombasa - 2CELLOS
12.    Interstellar: The Docking Scene - Roger Sayer