There can’t have been many trumpet players more nervous about their solo at the Albert Hall than the one who opened the performance there last night. His orchestral colleagues surrounding him on stage, a huge cinema screen hanging directly over his head, a full house waiting as the credits began to roll – and then he has to play the eight most famous notes in movie history. He utterly nailed them, five thousand spines tingled, and we were off.
Showing The Godfather with a live musical accompaniment could feel like a gimmick, but actually it’s a wonderful way of refreshing a classic. We all know the film backwards, right down to its tiny imperfections: James Caan’s punch, for instance, several inches of daylight visible between his fist and the victim’s chin. We know that the baby being christened at the end is Sofia Coppola, that the horse’s head in the bed is real (the producers got it from a dog food factory) … we know this movie like Clemenza knows cannoli.
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