I am pleased to confirm that I am going to the February concert of this multi-award winning French composer, and if you are Manchester-based you can book your tickets directly from Bridgewater Hall. The dates for Michel Legrand’s UK February 2009 tour are, as follows:
1 Feb – National Concert Hall, Dublin – 00353 [0] 1417 0000
2 Feb – Symphony Hall, Birmingham – 0121 780 3333
3 Feb – The Bridgewater Hall, Manchester – 0161 907 9000
5 Feb – De Montfort Hall, Leicester – 0116 233 3111
8 Feb – St Davids Hall, Cardiff – 029 2087 8444
9 Feb – Royal & Derngate, Northants – 01604 624811
12-14 Feb – Shaw Theatre, London – 0871 594 3123
17 Feb – Opera House, Buxton – 0845 127 2190
18 Feb – The Sage, Gateshead – 0191 443 4661
22 Feb – The Anvil, Basingstoke – 01256 844244
Michel Legrand (I have no idea why The Bridgewater Hall spelt his name as Le Grand, although I can see an interesting twist to this: Michel Legrand – Michel Le Grand – Michel The Great – so far so true…) was born in March 1932 in Paris, graduated with top grades as both a composer and a pianist, and went to win 3 Oscars (out of 13 nominations), 5 Grammys, and two Palmes d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Accompanying Mr Legrand (his unofficial site) on his UK Tour is Alison Moyet. I will surely tell you more about his concert, but for now – a Last.fm profile for Mr Legrand and a videomontage with the music Legrand composed for The Thomas Crown’s Affair (1968). Windmills of Your Mind was Legrand’s Oscar-winning song for that year. Another of his Oscar hat-trick – Yentl (1983) – should have all Barbra Streisand fans lifting up their heads. And it was Legrand, too, who wrote the score for a James Bond film, Never Say Never Again (1983) and Alain Delon’s The Swimming Pool (1969). In short, this is a must event for all music lovers.