Franco Esteve: “The Hunt” – a remarkable concept album

Three years in the making, the loosely tied together, classical crossover, concept album, “The Hunt”, represents a masterwork for Puerto Rican multi-disciplinary artist, Franco Esteve. The award-winning filmmaker and music composer, once again forges his intense-storytelling, and vivid imagery-driven compositional skills. Esteve’s music not only engages the ears but also intrigues the mind and feeds the soul. “With The Hunt, I wanted to do something different, expressing through classical, orchestral music, the images and feelings one gets from life itself,” explains Franco Esteve, continuing: “Whether it’s the drive of ‘The Hunt’, the insomnia of ‘The Wait’, or the sadness of ‘Quicksand’ and ‘Lament’. The album serves as a metaphor for life’s experiences and is an indirect soundtrack of it, expressed as individual musical pieces that are easy to digest and absorb.”

The true magic of “The Hunt” is that Franco Esteve, with all his cinematic dexterity did not compose this music as a background to any film. Rather, he composed as a backdrop to life itself. And as such the recording absolutely holds its ground as a stand-alone album.

Having said that, Esteve’s music combines the dreamlike quality of Danny Elfman with the more dramatic, and dynamic styles of Hans Zimmer and the pieces here tend to alternate between these two styles with consummate skill.

Esteve’s compositional range, often showcases strident low strings and brooding brass combining to give the music real power and maintain the tension which displays his gift for musical storytelling so well. To be fair Esteve’s use of strings all across this album, is both stunning and gorgeous.

From the cheeky playfulness of “Enter The Huntress”, to the push and shove of “The Hunt”, and the ominous strains of “Lament”, Esteve’s strings are always central to the theme and mood. It is only on “The Chase” and “Quicksand”, that the composer allows the piano to drive the narratives.

The recording is brilliant, and you can clearly listen to all the details your mindset will convey as it interprets each musical passage and motif. It has lots of affecting moments, such as those on the slow building, “The Trek” and “The Wait”, which trigger deep emotional feelings.

As with most music it is within the quieter, less busy moments that your mind is more active in attempting to fill in the spaces. The album creates a sense of wonder and awe at times, and anxiety and distress at others, as Franco Esteve uncovers new ways of inducing emotion through his scores.

Overall, “The Hunt” is a remarkable concept album by an immensely talented composer and musician. With a complete grasp of orchestration, he has learnt to blend his many compositional influences into a nuanced style of his own.

This takes the listener to some magical and dramatic places, and like all the best albums, leaves the listener wanting more. Franco Esteve could well become one of the more prominent classical crossover composers we currently have around. His music is mesmerizing and will touch you emotionally.

More About: Franco Esteve is a multi-disciplinary artist – a Composer, Filmmaker, Writer, Photographer, and Artist. He expresses himself artistically in many ways and through different media. Born in the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico, with a globe-trotting background, Franco Esteve is as varied as they come. He won the Indie Fest Award of Merit in 2015 – Best Original Score – Consequence, The Doll Chronicles Soundtrack.

His multicultural upbringing throughout the United States and Europe led to his adoption of the concept of everywhere and nowhere for his views of life, origin, and culture. The same has applied to his professional life as well, covering a multitude of disciplines, feeding his thirst for knowledge and expression. He has strived to transmit and communicate that through his various artistic and musical creations.