Review of James Bond concert by Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra

There was an electric guitar in the orchestra, with a drum set and an amplifier. No, you were not mistaken, this was a concert by the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra - reports NST. It’s just that for the night, MPO went pop. Symphonic pop.

The orchestra, under the baton of guest conductor Carl Davis, presented The Music of James Bond, exploring the themes (from the lasting beauty of diamonds to the man’s licence to kill), musical styles, and the evolution of the theme songs in the Bond films.

For example, composer Eric Serra’s score for Goldeneye (1995) was, in all musical senses, very contemporary and described by many as “avant-garde”. Bond fans, including myself, found it more fitting for a experimental horror flick than a campy spy action movie.

Serra took over from John Barry, the man with the golden baton who helped shaped James Bond’s musical identity with his compositions in many of Bond’s films, from Goldfinger (1964) to The Living Daylights (1987).
It was also interesting to see pop (or Britpop) making a huge presence with Paul McCartney’s composition of Live and Let Die (1973) and how later composer David Arnold managed to capture Barry’s musical essence with the following Bond films beginning with Tomorrow Never Dies (1997).

Unfortunately concert-goers did not get to see one particular stage of the evolution, which turned to electronica with Die Another Day (2002), whose theme song was written and sung by “Queen of Pop” Madonna. Perhaps having synthesisers and keyboards might just be too much for MPO’s classical integrity.

But the evening was fun, nevertheless. From the moment the audience saw Davis in metallic gold knee-length coat (instead of his usual black tuxedo), they knew this was going to be a retrospective ride into Moonraker universe and beyond.

Davis, identifiably looking like Bond’s wise-cracking gadget-master Q, took the MPO to open the concert with Monty Norman’s James Bond Theme, the signature tune of all “official” Bond films since Dr No.

Vocalist Mary Carewe gave a fine job interpreting Bond theme songs. She was comfortable crooning Diamonds are Forever (1971) and Licence to Kill (1989), originally popularised by Shirley Bassey and Gladys Knight respectively, but seemed to struggle with For Your Eyes Only (1981), made popular by Sheena Easton.

She didn’t sing Die Another Day (2002), The Living Daylights (1987) and Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) (originally performed in the films by Madonna, Norwegian group a-ha and rocker Sheryl Crow) but nailed the theme song You Know My Name for the latest Bond installation Casino Royale (performed in the movie’s opening credits by Audioslave’s singer Chris Cornell), with cabaret-like flair and sensibility.

Clad in a fetching evening dress that made her look like a Bond girl, Carewe was in her element for Goldfinger (1964) and Goldeneye (1995), made popular by Bassey and Tina Turner. She even posed like a cabaret dame on stage.

The evening was made even more informative with anecdotes about the songs, composers, the films and the stars (during the filming of You Only Live Twice, Sean Connery’s toilet break became a high-profile media event), read out by actress Samantha Schubert who was dazzling in a turquoise evening gown.

With Carewe and Schubert as the evening’s Bond girls and Davis as Q, what the event needed now was Bond, James Bond.

No problem. There was a “best dressed” competition for the audience and a man clad in tux won the top prize. Runner up was a Bond girl in crimson red dress and third a Bond villain Oddjob (the moustached baddie from Goldfinger who kills people with his spinning hat).

I was expecting to see someone who had enough guts to pull a Jinx (Halle Berry’s character) with the bikini scene from Die Another Day), but no such luck!

To Dewan Filharmonik Petronas... let’s have more fun evenings like this, please.

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