Mystery Ensemble returned to Oxford this past weekend, bringing with them Hayao Miyazaki’s Dreams, a collection of pieces taken from the work of the animation maestro. Predominantly taken from his time at Studio Ghibli, the two fundamentally interlinked, we are treated to score from the likes of Spirited Away and Howl’s Moving Castle, but also earlier works like Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind and Laputa: Castle in the Sky. But towering over proceedings is the film that made the studio and gave them their mascot – My Neighbor Totoro.

Most of the pieces are composed by Joe Hisaishi and the evening is testament to the artist’s skill. His pieces really are the stand-out across the hour, a tapestry of tone and mood. Motifs bleed across pieces, across decades and styles. I was left with a deeper appreciation for the composer, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the likes of Hans Zimmer, John Williams, Howard Shore and Ludovico Einaudi, all of whom Mystery Ensemble will playing across the Autumn.

The concert itself took place in the resplendent Town Hall, a space I’d only been in for a previous Green Fair. The acoustics enhance the music and it was heartening to see the place packed with an audience ranging from the very young upwards. Over the past two decades Ghibli has become a towering animation house in the West, since the Oscar-winning success of Spirited Away. And now with the films more readily available on streaming and home release it showed the level of love that exists for one of the great living directors.

But as appreciative as the audience were, as resplendent as the venue is and as beautiful as the music composed was, what pulls the evening together is Mystery Ensemble themselves. Performing a range of string instruments and the piano, the group show skill as well as joy towards the music performed. Whilst interactions between performer and audience are minimal, the smiles on the performers' faces as well as an occasional playful touch (such as a boldly spun double bass) are enough to make a strong connection. I would gladly see the group take on another piece of score and will keep an eye on when they are next in town.

The Oxford concert scene has always had a breadth to it, and it is pleasing that more approachable work is given space amongst more seasoned pieces. Cinema is a great entry point to classical music, and the work of Mystery Ensemble is charmingly approachable without losing any of the skill or craft needed to truly pay tribute to the films of Hayao Miyazaki. So if you find yourself able to attend one of their shows, take the advice of one of the Totoro themes and say ‘hey, let’s go!’