Nosferatu: A Halloween Special with Live Piano

Tony Judge is back at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall on Saturday 31 October, bringing a live improvised piano score to F.W. Murnau's 1922 silent film Nosferatu. It's a Halloween special, and the screening takes place in the Music Room rather than the main hall. The film runs for an hour and a half, and the whole thing kicks off at 20:00.

If you're not familiar with the film, Nosferatu is the original vampire movie from which almost every other has borrowed, and it's still the one that holds up best. It's a silent, so the music isn't just background — it's what carries the mood and the tension. The critic Robert Ebert once wrote that the film is more effective for being silent, and that's exactly where Judge comes in. He'll be playing live and improvised, meaning he's reacting to the images on screen in real time rather than following a fixed score. It's a different experience every time, and it gives the whole thing a live energy that a recorded soundtrack can't touch.

Judge is a Liverpool-born composer and pianist who's been writing original music for silent film for years, so this is right in his wheelhouse. He's not new to the Music Room either: he played a similar special here last year, and that one sold out, so he's returning to the same room for this one. The screening is certified PG, so it's one you can bring younger ones along to if you're fancying a family Halloween outing.

It's a single film, one night, in the Music Room at the Philharmonic. The screening starts at 20:00 on Saturday 31 October and runs for 1 hour and 35 minutes.