The irrepressible Paul Barrett has done it again! For the fourth year running he has achieved what he was once assured was simply impossible – selling out a major concert featuring the music of Mantovani.
A 1,000-strong audience packed the Pavilion on Sunday to hear his hand-picked 45 piece Mantovani orchestra re-create the musical magic of the late king of romantic strings.
With narration from popular broadcaster Ed ‘Stewpot’ Stewart, this year’s show concentrated on the maestro’s take on the music of Hollywood and Broadway.
Under leader John Bradbury and conducted by light music expert Gavin Sutherland, Barrett’s Mantovani Orchestra played lush renderings of numbers from Gone With The Wind, Doctor Zhivago, The Magnificent Seven, South Pacific, My Fair Lady and many more. A big-screen above the stage showed clips from the movies and shows in question.
The concert ended with a crowd-pleasing outing for Mantovani’s greatest hit Charmaine and huge smiles from delighted fans of the much-loved italian born bandleader.
Key musicians included trumpet wizard Mike Lovatt, accordion player Eddie Hession, brilliant young piano soloist Samuel Hanson, inspirational co-leader Jack Maguire and of course the extraordinary Mr Barrett himself on percussion.
While in the audience Mantovani’s son, Kenneth Mantovani and his family, applauded with gusto and nodded their approval.
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