Phew, what a week last week was, but as the song says, 'that was the week that was, it's over let it go'. So, last night I did in grand style at the wonderful Bridgewater Hall, in central Manchester, home of the Halle Orchestra.Last night was one of their famous Halle Pops evenings - Puttin' on the Ritz: A tribute to Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.
To put not to fine an edge on it - I was in my element.
John Wilson conducted, fresh from his triumph at this years Promenade Concert with the music of the MGM Musicals. He continues to demonstrate his fascination for the music of the 30's and 40's.His musical arrangements remain 100% faithful to the original RKO and MGM musical scores. It was wonderful to think that this was exactly how Fred and Ginger heard the scores they danced to.
Kim Criswell not only treated us to some wonderful singing but gave a brief and succinct historical setting of each number, certainly paying Ginger her musical dues.
Gary Williams too, was just perfect, never imitating Fred, but always with a subtle nod in his direction. The music covered thirteen films, from Flying Down to Rio right up to Funny Face.
If you ever get the chance to see this show don't hesitate. I guarantee you will dance all the way home.
Have a good week nice people.
Were you dancing in the aisles Michael? Glad you enjoyed it so much. In the past, when I lived in Lincoln, we used to make the journey to Manchester to see Barbiroli and the Halle - wonderful stuff - saw some lovely concerts.
ReplyDeleteWow, just to be present in that fabulous Bridgewater Hall, alone, would be delightful. Did you wear your classy spats, Michael?
ReplyDeleteHi Michael,
ReplyDeleteCan imagine the arrangements were wonderful. Glad you had a good evening.
Sounds like a great evening!
ReplyDeleteLove the video!
Lovely. Makes me smile. It does seem a shame though, that given all the effort that went into lip sync-ing it exactly right, Utube delivers it, as they so often do, out of sync. They should introduce a little slider, which would enable us to slide the sound forwards or backwards.
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