London: Realising a long-held dream, German Oscar-winning composer Hans Zimmer is to perform live on stage his scores from blockbusting films including "The Lion King", "Rain Man" and "Gladiator".
Zimmer, 58, has composed music for over 100 films in an illustrious career which spans over 30 years, winning two Golden Globes and four Grammys alongside his 1994 Oscar for "The Lion King".
He continues to bewitch cinema goers with recent credits including "Pirates of the Caribbean", "Interstellar" and "12 Years a Slave", but has kept a low profile behind the silver screen.
"I have always had stage fright," he told AFP in London ahead of a European tour which begins in the city on April 6 and will pass through 30 cities including Paris, Berlin and Brussels.
"I think one of the reasons I like being a film composer is because you have a lot of control."
Despite being the most Hollywood of the European composers, Zimmer scoffed at suggestions that he had gone completely native.
"When I speak German I have an English accent, when I speak English I have a German accent but when I speak music, I definitely have a German accent," he said, adding that had helped with his breakthrough score.
"The first movie I did in America was 'Rain Man', which is the great essential American road movie," recalled Zimmer of the film that earned him the first of nine Oscar nominations for Best Score.
"For (director) Barry (Levinson), it was important that the eyes of Rain Man, the way you look at America, was through foreign eyes, and when you hear of America, it was through a foreigner's ears," he added.
AFP
