On Monday night we went to see Ennio Morricone conducting his works in the Royal Albert Hall.
It was a lucky coincidence I'd bought Time Out that day and we only just caught it and got good seats.
The venue itself is so special, just telling a cabbie "Royal Albert Hall" has an effect. And then Knightsbridge.
The ultimate exclusive London postcode. The other people arriving all looked very interesting,
R recognised a TV celebrity or two sitting next to us. Our seats were in the stalls very close to the stage,
just under the exclusive opera style "box" seats.
R had always admired Ennio Morricone's works, he had a tape of his compositions since he was a little boy.
Only he never dreamed he would ever get to see the Maestro perform live. And on his birthday.
It was a very special concert to celebrate his 75th birthday. Him conducting the Rome Sinfonietta -
a huge orchestra, a colection of every possible musical instrument ever invented,
including a large drum bells and percussion section, a piano, cellos etc joined by the Crouch End Festival Choir
who have made quite a name here - all 50 of them or more. It was a huge affair.
Preceded by an excerpt from a film about him by his son, which was a bit disappointing.
He has composed music for 400 films! And worked with most of the world's top directors.
He was received with cheers whistles and loud applause every time he made an entrance.
The program was divided up by kinds of cinematic scores/kinds of films.
Sergio Leone's films had a separate section, one short piece each from 4 films.
We were wondering how he would perform the famous Good,Bad and Ugly theme which he said
was inspired by a coyote's cry. They did it (the coyote howl) by a unearthly sounding horn instrument
and the theme from the famous scene where the 3 actors stand around the gold just before the shootout
called "The Ecstasy of Gold" was performed by an impressive soprano singing the difficult theme live.
It worked and was hair-raising. There was a deafening standing ovation after that section.
Ending with the theme from "The Mission", it was a long long program, going from 8 to 10.
And even after that there had to be an encore, so the Sergio Leone bit again.
Then more standing ovation, and another encore! And then another!
The audience was just not letting him go.
To top it all at about this point a voice cried out "Thank you Ennio!!"
And the orchestra laughed with the rest.
Then someone cried out "Happy Birthday Ennio!" - before you knew it the entire audience was on its feet singing
"Happy Birthday to You Dear Ennio" then the orchestra picked it up, and then the choir joined in.
It was very moving. Specially for R who was loudly singing along.
By the time we got out we saw it was 11 - too late to eat out. Everyone was filing out looking flushed and happy.
We never noticed the time passing!
Thinking of revisiting Sergio Leone films, buying a proper CD of Morricone...
Also, R now leaves for work merrily whistling the Good Bad Ugly theme.
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