Stellar performance: this powerful orchestral odyssey does Kubrick’s genius justice.

2001: A Space Odyssey
Sydney Symphony, Sydney Philharmonia Choirs/André de Ridder
Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House, January 24

No filmmaker has ever married striking visuals and classical music with such impact as Stanley Kubrick; you can hardly recall a scene from his 1968 epic without the trumpet of Thus Spake Zarathustra blaring its way into your consciousness. Which is why I waited with bated breath while the opening credits started to roll – I don’t believe it’s true what they say; that in space, no one can hear you fluff a note. But the Sydney Symphony players acquitted themselves admirably under the precisely synched and computer-monitored baton of André de Ridder, the timpanist’s mallets held high and proud. That mighty, radiant C Major chord that sets the world alight was a triumphant introduction to this three-hour immersion in Kubrick’s universe of vision and sound.

Unlike the SSO’s concert screenings of Metropolis and West Side Story in recent years, there are long stretches of tacet in the 2001 soundtrack. That gave the musicians a chance to conserve strength and perhaps even get lost in space for a scene or two, thanks...