Nicholas Dodd raised up the score sheets, held inside their binder, several times during the final part of the concert. Rather like the captain of a football team holding the world cup in triumph. For some reason, it is writ large in memory and always will be.
It was a magnificant, moving evening. Nicholas Dodd was superb as was David Arnold, really glad we took the effort to go. It makes you love his music and the man even more....Thank you for the lovely music Mr Barry.
By the way, there are also YouTube links but I'm going to let others present those ...
Your blog post really sums up the evening rather well. I apologise for interrupting your conversation in The Gore, but thought I'd say hello at the very least!
Hey Adam, no problem at all. I wanted to say hello to as many people as I could! I'll add you to the name check! Apologies I forgot to list you before! :-)
Thanks for posting this wonderful write-up Steve, and for namechecking me. It was a truly remarkable evening, one I'll certainly never forget. Firstly, it was lovely to meet so many people who before yesterday had only been names and perhaps photos on a computer screen, but now when I read their posts here and elsewhere I'll remember their enthusiasm and love for John Barry and his music, something we all celebrated yesterday. The concert itself was majestic. Not flawless perhaps, but passionate, emotional, real and true. There were so many moments when the energy in the air was palpable, so many moments when the emotion of the evening filled up inside and caused goosebumps or made shedding a tear inevitable.
I intend to write something a bit more detailed and post it on my facebook page and here when I get a chance, but I want to mention one moment that really sent me over the edge into weeping due to very personal reasons. My father (who loved Bond incidentally, saw all the films except For Your Eyes Only on the cinema and loved Barry's music too) passed away in 2004. I was 27. So I know what it is like to lose a father, and also to feel like I didn't have enough time with him as I was too young when he went. When John's son Jonpatrick carried a bouquet of flowers over to his mother at the end of the concert and gave her a huge hug, I thought to myself that he is younger than I was when I lost my father, had even less time with his dad then I did. So it really hit me. And he looked out at the huge audience, at all the people who were there to celebrate his father, and I wondered how amazing it must be to know that all of those people were there for his dad and for what he and his work meant to them. I'm probably not explaining it very well, but I felt it was really beautiful yet bittersweet. Well, I cried...
Steve, can not agree more this was a very special evening and it was nice to be part of it, your article is excellant and this evening will never be forgot.
For those who missed this concert you can listen to it on BBC Radio 2 Friday 1 July from 8pm to 11pm(Friday night is music night programme).
Good news - thank you! Having passed up my chance to attend (I enjoyed hearing my son's feedback last evening) I shall look forward to hearing the broadcast.
One of the highlights of the concert for me was this beautiful version of 'Count The Days'. Music by John Barry, lyrics by Don Black, Vocal and acoutic guitar: David Arnold.
This song appeared on the Ten Tenors Album in 2006 but was submerged by an overpowering arrangement. This stripped down version shows what a gem of a song it really is.
Your eloquent and deeply moving representation of that august event is a pinnacle in all the years we've been so impressed by your insights and evident affection for our favorite composer.
I don't suppose that broadcast will be available online for those who live outside the UK?
It should be, according to those who regularly listen to BBC Radio 2 from outside the UK. But you can try the station in advance by going to http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/ and clicking on the listen button at top right.
