for UK Burt fans

[nowmedical]

The Royal Philharmonic playing a night of Bacharach in London - see:

http://www.cadoganhall.com/showpage.php?pid=1650

I've been to the Cadogan Hall - near Sloane Square, it's surprisingly compact and very posh.

[Sara D]

The Music of Burt Bacharach at London's Cadogan Hall, 14th Febuary 2012:
We've just got our tickets, just in the nick of time as it turned out as there's only a few left. I hope there's a few imaginative song choices among all the hits. With the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra invoved there's plenty of scope for the arranger(s) to really do justice to the songs. Is there a more appropriate composer for a Valentine's Day concert than BB?

[An Enormous BB Fan]

I'll bet there aren't too many other songwriters who get this kind of treatment by the Royal Philharmonic -- or any Philharmonic orchestra. Gershwin for sure. Anyone else? This is a true testament to Burt's genius as a composer and as a testament to the variety of music that Burt has composed over the decades. And, of course, they'll play Burt's big hits, which doesn't even scratch the surface of Burt's greatness as a composer.

[Sara D]

Not the full symphonic orchestra, of course, but around thirty musicians plus the standard rhythm section (drums, bass, guitar, keyboard). The four vocalists were fine, especially Mary Carewe and Cat Simmons, and there were genuinely moving versions of 'A House is Not a Home', 'I Just Don't Know What to do with Myself' and 'Alfie. The arranger/conductor was Richard Balcombe and he stuck pretty closely to original templates, just filling out the sound with the extra strings and brass at his disposal. Most adventurous numbers in the running order were an abridged version of 'South American Getaway', part of the overture to 'Promises, Promises' and the theme to 'Casino Royale'. Not quite a sell-out but a very enthusiastic audience nonetheless, hence the encore. Full running order was as follows:

Magic Moments; Do You Know The Way to San Jose'; Don't Make Me Over; Anyone Who Had A Heart; 'Wives and Lovers' (mostly instrumental ala BB's concert version); Trains and Boats and Planes; There's Always Something There to Remind Me; Walk on By; Close to You; What's New Pussycat; South American Getaway; Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head; I say a Little Prayer; - Interval - Part of the overture to Promises, Promises; Promises, Promises; I'll Never Fall in Love Again; Wishin' and Hopin'; A House is Not a Home; Twenty Four Hours From Tulsa; Casino Royale; I Just Don't Know What to do with myself; The look of Love; This Girl's in Love with You; Make it Easy on Yourself; Alfie; Arthur's Theme; What the World Needs Now is Love; - Encore - That's What Friends Are For.

[Colekitchenn]

Just to clarify the orchestral numbers for the concert - there were 66 musicians on the platform in total! But delighted you enjoyed the evening. It was the first performance for those involved, with more performances booked for even larger UK orchestra's when not restricted by the size of the concert platform.

[Sara D]

My arithmetic was never very good, although I'm a wiz with a calculator! When you say that "this is the first performance for those involved with more performances booked for an even larger orchestra.........", I'm assuming you mean of this particular show. Let's hope so.

[Colekitchenn]

Indeed I do - we have at least two more dates booked for this year in the UK, (which will hopefully increase in 2013) and as soon as all contracts are completed and signed, I shall make sure all details reach the forum. We feel a huge responsibility in presented this wonderful music and it was a nerve wracking night getting through the first performance. For these kind of concerts, the singers don't get to hear the orchestra until the afternoon of the performance, which is fine when one has sung the programme many times, but the first time is always scary!

[nowmedical]

I was at this wonderful concert - sorry for the late post. It was a great evening and I agree with Sara's review and support for further such concerts. I think the orchestra were really enjoying the opportunity to play some lighter music than usual with its beautiful melodies; they are a heavy duty classical orchestra normally. The leader of the strings was really giving it some! I remember thinking this at the BB concert at the Roundhouse in Camden a few years back, when the BBC Symphony orchestra - definately not a young bunch - seemed to relish the opportunity to play something different.

My two highlights were the tearjerking House Is Not A Home, and the fab extended Promises Promises (i'm not sure I've ever heard the full orchestral version before - is it on a CD somewhere?).

I really don't want to criticise anything, but if I was in charge I'd bin Magic Moments and replace it will One Less Bell to Answer which Sheryl Crow showed is well suited to nights like this. Also the Carpenters' version of Close to You isn't the one to use - I'd stick with Burt's original as per Dusty Springfield.

Two other highlights of the night - a kind elderly lady asking my 12-year old daughter if she knew any of the songs!! (she knows them backwards, and has even seen Burt live in Italy), and the not-too-petite lady wearing a dress made entirely of small red plastic petals....

[Colekitchenn]

Thank you for your kind comments about our concert. You're right, the orchestra had a ball and were very complimentary afterwards. Talking of 'heavy duty' orchestra's, I can now confirm that we are performing the concert later this year in November on consecutive nights, the 23rd will be in Symphony Hall Birmingham with the CBSO and the following night, the 24th at Bridgewater Hall, Manchester with The Halle Orchestra, and we are very excited about that! I would guess that the orchestras will be about 20 musicians larger than at Cadogan Hall too. They won't officially announce the dates until later in the Spring.

The full orchestral version of the Promises Promises overture (which was not quite the full length of the original) didn't exist. Our conductor Richard Balcombe had to expand the theatrical version from the show score, but how wonderful to hear it played!

I take your point re Magic Moments, although, it was a Valentines Day concert so we thought it fitted the bill, and it does allow the singers and audience to settle before the more complicated material! Not sure One Less Bell To Answer is suited to the top of the concert, although it's a great song and may feature in future programming.

Its always tricky programming a concert such as this, due to the fact that we know we will be playing to not only very knowledgable and learned BB fans, but also to folk who don't know the material quite as well. Hence the decision to use the Carpenters version of Close To You. We had many people exclaiming that they had no idea BB had written all those songs, and they were intending to buy a few cd's to learn more. That can't be a bad thing.....

And I saw that dress too..........!