Hooray for Hollywood

EMI Classics Coverage date: 04 December 2011 Circulation: 561424 Page: 56 Hooray for Hollywood OHN WILSON has been obsessed with the Conductor John Wilson tells JMetro Goldwyn Mayer film musicals since Charlotte Heathcote how childhood, especially his favourite Singin’ In The Rain. However, while most of us remember he discovered the scores of that film classic for, say, Gene Kelly’s dazzling footwork, John was more struck by “the unison his favourite MGM musicals French horn countermelody in the main titles” had been used as landfill and “myriad woodwind doublings”. His obsessive passion for and fine-tuned understanding of what made MGM film music so special has led to him over again. As he wryly puts it in his Northumbrian rescuing their soundtracks for posterity. lilt: “I once spent an entire Sunday reconstructing The John Wilson Orchestra is currently taking four seconds of music from the cyclone scene in its Hooray For Hollywood tour around the UK, and The Wizard Of Oz.” the eminent conductor says: “It’s the history of the John has collaborated with Paul McCartney on film musical from 1929-1969, starting off with Al and off for the past 10 years, most recently scoring Jolson, then Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, Judy and orchestrating his ballet Ocean’s Kingdom. Garland, Mickey Rooney, Doris Day, Barbra However, film musicals are where John’s loves of Streisand. The whole thing.” music and movies overlap. However, the orchestra’s performances Having already conducted a Prom of MGM are the fruit of 11 years’ painstaking scores, he describes the experience as labour, albeit a labour of love for John. A “life-changing...thousands and thousands of decade ago he wrote to Warner Bros people wrote to me from all over the world requesting access to the MGM scores saying they’d waited all their lives to hear and was horrified to hear “the full scores this music in concert. and orchestral parts for all the MGM “At the minute I live and breathe it. I’m productions were destroyed in 1969... really lucky to be able to present these they took up too much space and a songs in the original orchestrations new car park was needed”. The that people have grown up with. This scores were used as landfill for a music is venerable, it’s almost 100 California golf course. years old. Yet it had never been Although John had access to played live until we performed it.” The MGM Conductor Books, condensed versions of some ¬ That’s Entertainment: A scores retained for royalty Celebration Of The MGM Film payment purposes, he did the Musical is out on EMI Classics. bulk of the reconstruction by The John Wilson Orchestra is playing the soundtracks over and on tour until December 11. For dates and tickets visit OBSESSIVE: John Wilson has johnwilsonorchestra.com brought MGM music back to life Jeffery Taylor is away The contents of the publications from which these extracts have been taken are copyright works and without prior permission of the relevant collecting society or save as permitted by statute may not be copied or otherwise reproduced (even for internal purposes) or resold. .

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