Conductor Carl Davis is shaken and stirred by Bond music

Most of us are fans of the James Bond theme music and New York-born composer and conductor Carl Davis is no exception.

He’ll be conducting the Welsh National Orchestra with a concert of Bond theme tunes at next month’s Llangollen International Eisteddfod, accompanied by soloists Mary Carewe and Simon Bowman, on an evening narrated by actress Honor Blackman, aka Pussy Galore from Goldfinger - reports The Daily Post.

“The music is terrific,” enthuses Carl. “It’s very dramatic and very sensual with compelling tunes. You hear one and that’s fine. But when you hear the series and you see how it’s spot on the style of the time. They always wanted to be cutting edge.

“So you had rather crooning songs at the start (think From Russia With Love by Matt Monro), then it went rock and roll with Roger Moore (Live and Let Die), then it got rhythm & blues with Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan and now it’s really raunchy and raw. So you can almost tell the history of music in the last 40 years. From the start of the Sixties to the moment Paul McCartney is writing a title song for them.”

Carl is thrilled to be welcoming Simon, from Cardiff, and Mary.

Carl says: “He’s fabulous. He’s a real theatre creature. He’s done Phantom, he’s done Les Mis, he’s done Miss Saigon. He brings a lot of characterisation to the songs. Simon and Mary are so good they really make you forget the originals.”

Musically, too, the James Bond songs are quite a test for the WNO.

Says Carl: “They’ve got to move with the styles. I think they’ll find it fun. And we will have come from doing it at Chichester Cathedral.”

Carl will be back in Wales in September when he and the great Dame Edna Everage will be performing their wonderful send up of the Last Night of the Proms with their own Australian version entitled The Last Night of the Poms.

They will be staging the show at the Cardiff International Arena on the September 25. That show was first performed 21 years ago to a sell out audience at the Royal Albert Hall.

Licensed to Thrill – Carl Davis Presents the Music of James Bond 007, Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod, Llangollen Pavilion, Sunday July 12, 7.45pm; plus bonus early evening concert, The Naked Violin by world famous and award winning solo violinist, Tasmin Little on the Eisteddfod Field at 6.15pm. Ticket Prices:– £39, £33, £24, £16. Ring 01978 862001 or visit llangollen2009.com

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