From Dune to Dubai.
In this edition of Interview, Euronews' Jane Witherspoon talks to legendary musician and composer Hans Zimmer.
The Hollywood composer and music producer has announced that he will be performing in Dubai for the first time with his Hans Zimmer Live Tour. Speaking to Euronews, he said people were expecting "chaos" and "something very different". He likens his touring band to a "supergroup" and says, "I have Lisa Gerrard from Gladiator or from Dead Can Dance. There's Lebo [Lebo M.], who is the voice of The Lion King. There's my favorite guitarist, Guthrie Govan. And Johnny Marr can come any time."
Hans has acted in over 150 films during his career including Gladiator, Black Hawk Down, Interstellar, Rain Man, Dune and The Lion King. The latter two films earned him the Oscar for Best Achievement in Film Music (Original Score) and Best Music (Original Score), respectively. He has also won three Golden Globes and four Grammys.
The new show will feature some of the most popular soundtracks from his most famous films in a completely new rehearsed form.
Hans is also in the United Arab Emirates working on the new Dune movie sequel, directed by Denis Villeneuve. Hans describes the Dune films as a "passionate project" for him, and calls Villeneuve "remarkable". He told Euronews: "All directors come to me with a lot of imagination and big plans. They seduce me to do something. They have these surprising ideas. But what's special about Denis is that on top of that he's so kind in his leadership role".
Another director the musician has developed a great friendship with is Ridley Scott, the man behind Black Hawk Down, Gladiator, Thelma and Louise and Blade Runner to name a few.
"First and foremost, he's an artist. He responds to other artists accordingly. He pretty much lets me do whatever I want," Zimmer said. "It's this constant way of trying something new, seeing if it works. And sometimes it doesn't. I mean, we've had that before."
Apart from two weeks of piano lessons at the age of six, Hans is self-taught. He started out in a rock band and even played with Trevor Horn and the Buggles on Video Killed the Radio Star, the first video to be played on MTV. Jokingly he said: "Who would have thought? Yes!".
Special work on 'Planet Earth'
Despite his illustrious career as a film music composer, he says that working on David Attenborough's Planet Earth programs is the most important thing he has ever done: "He reminds us that we are meant to be in love with this planet, with this planet we live divide."
He also told Euronews how he grew up in a Jewish family in post-war Germany. He recalls a time when he feared an anti-Semitic backlash when he "outed" his family at a press conference at the 1999 Berlin Film Festival.
Although he was there for "The Narrow Degree" there was another film - about the Holocaust. "The journalists asked, 'Why does this need to be talked about any further? And I was sitting next to Renee Firestone, who had come from Auschwitz at the age of 14. I was surrounded by people who had returned to Germany for the first time, and I was scared .And I said, 'Well, I have a strange relationship with this country.
You know, I come from a Jewish family," and as I said this, I suddenly thought, "Oh my god, I made a terrible mistake." I outed my family... and I had a violent panic attack. And I remember Renee Firestone, the Auschwitz survivor, putting my hand under the table when she realized I was having a bit of a nervous breakdown."
Hans Zimmer Live in Dubai takes place on January 27, 2023 at the Coca-Cola Arena.
