FRIDAY 3 SEPTEMBER
Muziekgebouw, 20.15, €23

Is silent film still relevant in 2010? Of course. Especially when this silent film is Charlie Chaplin’s sublime 1931 piece about a tramp who falls in love with a blind flower girl (it originally wowed audiences after the ‘talkies’ had taken over). Almost 80 years on, it remains a beautiful romantic comedy filled with typical slapstick but also genuine screen emotion. It’s poignant ending alone sets it apart as one of Chaplin’s finest accomplishments. What’s sweetest about this screening is a live orchestral score by Het Brabants Orkest and composer/conductor Timothy Brock. The orchestra began a tradition of perform- ing silent movie soundtracks back in the ‘80s, while Brock has been working with the Chaplin estate over the past decade to restore Chaplin’s scores to the form he originally intended.