Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, conducted by Gavin Greenaway

Royal Albert Hall, September 30 2017

You know my name…

The world premiere of a James Bond film presented live with orchestra did not disappoint any of the packed house at the Royal Albert Hall. The choice of Casino Royale – Daniel Craig’s debut in the role, and the start of the rebooted series – was an inspired one both in terms of its strengths as a movie (one of the best of the franchise) and as a score, showing David Arnold’s gifts as a composer both for the action sequences and the more sensitive character moments. It’s one of the few Bond scores that’s pretty much completely available, albeit not in film order (if you get the 2-CD version), but hearing it live to picture added an immediacy that cannot be duplicated electronically.

Each of the three performances begins with Arnold being interviewed; the afternoon saw Neil Brand as questioner, while evening viewers were treated to David Walliams. (My money was on Mark Gatiss for Sunday but Brand returned!) For the opener, Arnold discussed his introduction to 007 – watching You Only Live Twice on a 16mm print at a children’s party – as well as his introduction, via Sir George Martin, to Bond supremo John Barry. The two men clearly got on – Arnold referred to numerous other meetings – and Barry explained that there was one key element to a Bond song – cock! Arnold also paid tribute to Chris Cornell, the co-composer and artist featured in the title song, whose vocals were retained for the live version.

In due deference to the few members of the audience who hadn’t seen the film before, Brand and Arnold were circumspect in their descriptions of some of the scenes when talking about the demands of the score, and it was interesting to hear Barbara Broccoli’s note on one key scene that made me rewatch it with new eyes a couple of hours later.

And so into the movie which held up over a decade after its release on the huge screen at the Albert Hall. From the opening monochrome sequence through African Rundown (I can’t think of the scenes other than by their track names on the album!) to Miami International, the first half was packed with action sequences that were performed with full gusto by the orchestra – the last-named getting a well deserved round of applause. The quieter moments, for the introduction of Solange in particular, were balanced well; in fact, I think of all the many films I’ve seen this way at the RAH, this was the best – no subtitles needed because the dialogue/effects track was totally clear even when the RPCO was given their all!

The interval came just before Bond strides into the casino, and it emphasised just how different the second half was tonally. Once again both character moments and action sequences were given due weight by conductor and orchestra… and of course, for the final moment, when Daniel Craig says the immortal words for the first time, we had the composer on stage to play Monty Norman’s James Bond Theme.

I’ll admit to a huge bias in favour of this as a Bond film – it was the only one so far for which I’ve been on set (at Dunsfold for the “Miami” sequence when the luggage bus is destroyed/the “jumbo” aborts landing), and the first Blu-ray I bought – but it felt new seeing it in this way. Now what’s next? Wouldn’t Goldfinger look and sound a treat…?

Verdict: An excellent performance of a major tentpole in the Bond franchise. 10/10

Paul Simpson