*****

MAKING his annual visit to Brighton, John Wilson – along with his 80-piece orchestra – provided two hours of glorious music.

The title may have led to an expectation of hit numbers from the golden era of film musicals but this would have been way off the mark.

What Wilson served up was a rich feast – themed as Academy Awarded works – taken from film scores, along with lesser-known songs.

The suite from Gone With The Wind drew wild acclamation from the packed audience as it highlighted the orchestra’s magnificence as it leapt from lush lyricism to soaring grandeur. By contrast they showed their comic side in Tom and Jerry at M-G-M with quirky percussion effects.

Guest soloist, Matt Ford, delighted with his relaxed style in If Ever I would Leave You and Days of Wine and Roses while Kim Criswell delivered up a storm as she took on the persona of Streisand in numbers from Funny Girl, Yentl and Hello, Dolly!

The latter allowed her to show off her sense of comedy.

For the finale with Ford, she took on the Merman role with the classic counter sung duet from Call Me Madam.

Once again Wilson’s research and commitment provided gold.