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Cinema Retro magazine covers the John Barry &
Timothy Dalton reunion at Carnegie Hall for MI6...
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John Barry 70th Birthday Concert
28th May 2004
The evening of May 25 was a very special one for John Barry and
his admirers. To celebrate the legendary composer's 70th birthday,
a major event was held at Carnegie Hall in New York City. Conductor
Robert Bass led a full orchestra and the Collegiate Chorale in
a masterful tribute to Barry's Oscar-winning score for the 1968
film "The Lion in Winter". The score- one of the most
unique in the Barry list of achievements- was recreated under
the direction of Bass and accompanied by scenes from the film.
Cinema Retro, the forthcoming film magazine devoted to the films
of the 1960's and 1970's, covered the event for a future issue
that will celebrate the legacy of "The Lion in Winter".
Cinema Retro publisher Lee Pfeiffer, accompanied by New York correspondent
Mark Cerulli and photographer Tom Stroud, also attended a pre-concert
seminar with John Barry and Timothy Dalton, who (along with Anthony
Hopkins) made his film debut in the classic directed by Anthony
Harvey.
The event was historic not only in reuniting Barry, who composed
the score for the James Bond film "The Living Daylights"
with the star of that movie, Timothy Dalton. It also marked the
first time Barry had made an official appearance at the famed
Carnegie Hall.
The pre-concert chat allowed Barry and Dalton
to discuss their recollections of the film, with Dalton admitting
he was more than a bit intimidated to make his film debut
opposite Peter O'Toole and Katharine Hepburn. The two men
also discussed the filmmaking process as it pertained to musical
scoring and took questions from the audience as well. "John
Barry was in excellent spirits and was obviously very moved
by this tribute", reports Lee Pfeiffer. "He told
some insightful and amusing stories including one of interest
to James Bond fans. When Harry Saltzman first heard Barry's
rendition of the theme song for "Goldfinger" he
called it "The worst thing I've ever heard" and
wanted it excised from the film. The only thing that spared
this from happening was Barry's warning that they were quite
close to the premiere date and that the main theme had already
been woven into the entire musical track for the film- thus
it was too late to replace it. After the song hit #1 on numerous
international charts, Barry had a chance encounter with Saltzman
in a London restaurant. The only mea culpa the producer could
offer was muttering a subdued "Thank you, John"
before walking away." |
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Prior to the concert, Pfeiffer, Cerulli and Stroud chatted with Timothy Dalton
and then were invited to meet Barry in his private box.
"Ironically, despite the countless James Bond projects
we had all been involved with over the years, we had never
met John Barry", said Pfeiffer.
Left: Lee Pfeiffer, John Barry & Mark
Cerulli. |
"He was as charming and witty as you would expect him to
be. He discussed his score for "Zulu" at length and
answered some questions I've always had about the African tribal
chants that were employed for the film. He also recalled an amusing
story about having a down-and-out Michael Caine as a semi-permanent
houseguest at his London flat. During this period, Barry was composing
the title song for "Goldfinger" and Michael Caine was
the first person he played it for." At one point, Barry said
he never had any interest in acting in films, but Dalton reminded
him that he recalled seeing him play a conductor in a film once-
a sly reference to Barry's cameo in "The Living Daylights".
"The concert itself was magnificent" said Mark Cerulli.
"Timothy Dalton introduced the event, which received a rousing
standing ovation when John Barry came on stage to acknowledge
the crowd. It was truly a night to remember".
Many thanks to Cinema Retro magazine. For more information visit
www.cinemaretro.com