IS IT REALLY FIFTY YEARS OF THE BEATLES THIS YEAR?

February 07, 2009 — by Pete York

In the past some of my musical highlights have been with orchestras of one kind or another. Back in 1973 I was part of Jon Lord’s Rock Meets Classic concerts. Brave onslaughts against the entrenched conservatism of some European orchestral audiences. I still remember sensitive violinists rushing weeping with horror and pain from the stage when the guitars made their first entry with a deafening KERRANNGGG.

They were French and it was in Luxembourg so perhaps it was only to be expected.

Since then there have been happier meetings of musical styles. The best for me have been my shows with the Bayerischer Kammerorchester. This year we’ll be together again for a „Beatles Go Baroque“ evening.

Along with the orchestra we will have Sandy Patton singing with Stephan Holstein, Martin Schrack, myself and others doing the group bits.

It’s scheduled for July 17 in Bad Brückenau in the Open Air and July 18 in Fürth, also Open Air. It should be fun musically and otherwise and I hope I’ll be allowed to tell some first-hand Beatles anecdotes.

Is it really fifty years of the Beatles this year?