RLPO

I have been asked to describe the concert the Liverpool Phil that I did on board the QM2. It was different, in that we portrayed in words and music the history of the QM2and intertwined it with Cunard: we were after all moored opposite the last Liverpool headquarters of Cunard, the middle of the Three Graces. The concert was devised by Eric Flounders, Michael Gallagher and myself, the first two, two of the brilliant PR execs at Cunard. Cut either one of them in half and they would have Cunard written through their bodies; rather like a stick of Blackpool rock! They know more about Cunard and the shipping industry than is possible. They are just two of the passionate people that make up Cunard. Remind me to tell you the story of how I became involved with the company. It is indicative of the caring and human side of Cunard. Anyway, we opened the concert with The Queen (of course). Then a brief paragraph on the shipbuilding industry on the River Clyde where the majority of Cunard's ships (even now) have been built. The music that went with it was The Song of The Clyde in an arrangement I had done and brilliantly sung by Jon Christos. Jon really can sing everything! We then followed it with Offenbach's Overture to Orpheus in the Underworld (or as Michael called it Orpheus on the Underground) as of course QM2 was built in St. Nazaire a French shipyard. Then, music associated with the spiritual home of Cunard, Liverpool and You'll Never Walk Alone (close your ears all Everton supporters) wonderfully sung by one of my favourite sopranos Helen Williams. On to a song I suggested as I had remembered it from the QM2 Naming Ceremony: written by Horatio Nicholls it was called Queen of The Sea (Queen Mary) and was performed for the first Atlantic crossing of The original Queen Mary in 1934. I had trawled the Internet looking for a copy and eventually found the one and only one left in existence! Then it was a matter of doing another arrangement and getting Jon to sing it. It brought back a few memories for some people who knew the song but had not heard it for decades! We stuck with the words "I'm happy and gay 'cos I'm sailing away"!! Another era! On to the American connection and The Battle Hymn of The Republic followed by Happy Birthday QM2, finishing with some fun and Rule Britannia, Jerusalem and Land of Hope and Glory. The whole concert lasted some 50 minutes and the passengers gave us a feedback rating of 98.5% the highest ever for any entertainment on any ship.