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Usher Hall
There’s something about the Usher Hall that suits a night of old Hollywood glamour, and this one delivered it in spades. Sinfonia of London, under John Wilson, spent the evening raiding the golden vaults of MGM, and what a raid it was.
Worth knowing going in: the entire MGM music library went up in flames back in 1969, and Wilson has spent over thirty years piecing the original orchestrations back together from scratch. That’s not a small labour of love, that’s borderline obsession, and it shows. Every number felt lush and full, like you were hearing it exactly as some 1930s studio orchestra intended, not a tribute act version.
The set list was a proper who’s who of the era. Over the Rainbow, I Got Rhythm, Singin’ in the Rain, The Lady Is a Tramp, the ballet from An American in Paris, the title song from Gigi. Cole Porter got a hefty share of the programme too, which is no bad thing. Louise Dearman and Matt Ford handled the vocal duties and both were on excellent form, trading the Judy Garland and Fred Astaire numbers between them with real warmth and polish.
What struck me most was just how engaging the whole thing was. Two hours of orchestral standards could easily turn into background music you nod along to, but this never let up. It moved, it swelled, it had genuine moments of drama, and I was properly locked in from start to finish.
Only one small wistful note. No Sunset Boulevard, which is such a stunning piece of music, but then that’s Paramount rather than MGM and a good couple of decades later than everything else on the bill, so it was never really in the running. Can’t fault a programme for staying in its lane.
A gorgeous evening all round, beautifully played and beautifully sung.