Carpenters honored at Hollywood Bowl on June 18th

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JAZZ4JEFF said:
He could perform this type of concert with symphonies across the country.
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But instead, these types of shows are always glued to the west coast. Let's see, I've missed the Julius Wechter tribute, the Sergio Mendes tribute, untold Herb Alpert shows out there, and now this.

I understand that this is where these people live, but there are fans all around this world.

Harry
...a bit envious, online...
 
There are dozens of photos from the evening online at http://www.wireimage.com/

In the left corner, go to the search box and type Hollywood Bowl.

Then, look under "Hollywood Bowl-opening night gala"

This is a professional picture site used by newspapers and magazines. . Enjoy.
 
Thanks so much for this link, Jeff! Great pictures of Richard! I'm glad he gets the appreciation he deserves ( and Karen, too).

Richard and Herb Alpert sure have grown old. But so have we, too!

Now all that's missing is the induction into the Rock'n Roll Hall Of Fame.....

Bruno
 
Harry is correct, if your not in Ca, you just don,t see this stuff and worst than that it never comes to video to purchase and gets lost in archives. There are a lot of fans that just miss out. If not for the reviews here and heads up, I would never have known this took place.

Thanks for the link, you can also search Richard Carpenter and at the bottom all photos for this event.
 
I agree, Richard could certainly take this act on the road, and I'll venture one step further - he and Donna Summer did a such great job on Superstar last night that for one fleeting moment I wondered what a Richard Carpenter produced Donna Summer album would sound like - she spared no words in speaking of her admiration of their music and she is still in great form at 62! At one point she performed a version of the Nat King Cole classic Nature Boy and it was a wonderful interpretation - I never considered her a ballad singer because she's so well known as the Disco Queen.

But I think we've been wondering why Richard hasn't produced other artists for years now; perhaps he's just happy being retired. I'm sure the 5 kids keep him and Mary hopping.

At the festivities last night my mind wandered from time to time and it was not too hard to imagine Karen on that stage singing to the still adoring masses - what would she have sounded like at 60?
 
I certainly understand that a Hollywood Bowl tribute is something that should take place at the Hollywood Bowl. That's a given.

It's just frustrating that so many events like this take place out there, leaving the great rest-of-the-country out of it. In Richard's case, it's either been the greater Los Angeles area or Japan where he makes any kind of appearances, yet his fanbase is spread worldwide.

As Chris suggests, a solution would be the releasing of DVD's of this stuff, but here we are, years after the Julius Wechter tribute, and two albums past the Sergio Mendes tribute, but no mention of any DVD's for the fanbase.

Now we're a couple of years removed from Lani and Herb's first small concert tour, where we heard rumors of a possible DVD, and yet still nothing has surfaced.

I'm happy for Richard, and it sounds like it was a wonderful night for the fans who could make it, but I feel someone has to speak up for those of us who couldn't.

Harry
 
I agree with you 100% - and there were several cameras recording everything -you'd think someone would get busy making DVD's of these tributes; last night was a fundraiser - all artists donated their fees, they could certainly raise a lot more money with DVD releases.
 
Just learned, from my sister, that videos of last night's Bowl concert are available on youtube - haven't checked them out, can't vouch for the quality, but they have all of Richard's performance plus Donna Summer's version of Superstar - type in "hollywood bowl carpenters" at youtube and enjoy.
 
I'm so happy to see that Richard has received this honor! Thanks to those who attended for the info on what took place.

For Richard to do a show on the road like this one would be so very emotionally draining, that I can't really foresee a time when it would happen.

This would be a perfect occasion for them to post some pictures on the official Carpenters website. One can only hope!

Marilyn
 
I have a feeling these won't last on youtube but I just watched them all. I plan to audio this out for my car. WOW, this was an amazing event. This really must get released officially on DVD, maybe it will come to PBS as a fundraiser to purchase.

I have to say I really enjoyed listening to Iced Tea, that was a real treat to hear this piece all these years later and it really sounded amazing. Karen should have been a participant, she should be here. :sad:

Donna Summer's version of Superstar was such a highlight. I have never heard anyone sing this even close to Karen but Donna really did a excellent job, so glad they kept the original arrangement. Her voice sounded perfect for this song, what a great choice of song for her voice. I agree Karen would be proud.

I sincerely hope someone puts a bug in Richard's ear that this could be a tour across the nation, Richard is a performer it's in his blood, it's what he does well. It could really work with a full orchestra like this, introducing songs and how they became to be, he could incorporate video pieces like this and even release some never before seen photos/video of Karen. It's personal and could be draining for him but if he limited it to a smaller tour it could work. He is a performer and was meant to be on stage even at his age. It could be a chance for him to touch the fans in a whole new level he (nor us) has ever known before.
 
I watched though these too, and wish that the uploader had gotten better seats!

Harry
 
L.A Times review of the event:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2010/06/hollywood-bowl-opening-night-review.html

People don’t come to the annual Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame and Opening Night concert expecting to hear, say, an entire symphony or a complete set by their favorite pop star. Or at least they shouldn’t by now.

The Hall of Fame concert is supposed to be like a platter of musical hors d’oeuvres, an event that anticipates the diversity of the Bowl season ahead as best it can in a couple of hours. A little something for everyone, while accepting the risk of satisfying no one. Those in the lower boxes dine lavishly on culinary creations from Patina, while others picnic as usual. Fireworks polish off the evening. And it’s all for a good cause, a benefit for the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Music Matters music-education programs.

Lately, one notices that there has been some narrowing of the range of the music; it doesn’t fly off in as many directions as in the past. Also, the amount of talk from the stage was tightened Friday night, which made the presentation flow better.

But the streamlining went so far that Brahms’s not-unreasonably-long “Academic Festival” Overture was edited to half its length. Normally, it takes 10 minutes and change to perform the piece; Thomas Wilkins and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra did it in five. The music sounded boomy and canned, like an ancient recording (the sound quality improved later on in the night).

The first of the Hall of Fame honorees, pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet, sailed through Gershwin’s delicious “I Got Rhythm” Variations – overly genteel and not quite in sync with the orchestra at first but gradually working in some spiky glitter and friskiness. He then rattled off the finale from Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G with driving energy at a bracing, breakneck tempo. Neither piece was identified in the program or announced to the audience – which did no one any good.

The next two new Hall of Famers, the Carpenters and Donna Summer, were essentially escapist bookends to the 1970s – the former as a soothing, romantic antidote to the residual turbulence of the early-'70s, and the latter coming in near the end of the decade as the very symbol of the disco era.

Richard Carpenter is the surviving member of the brother-and-sister team. (Karen died in 1983 at age 32 from cardiac arrest related to anorexia.) He has kept a relatively low profile since their heyday; indeed, he had not performed at the Bowl since the Carpenters sold out the place in the 1970s. Carpenter led the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra rather gracefully in a symphonically conceived medley of Carpenters hits before turning the baton over to Wilkins. Songs sung by Karen on video screens from vintage TV shows, “For All We Know” and “We’ve Only Just Begun,” were synced remarkably well with Richard’s piano and the orchestra. Carpenter also revived a precocious souvenir of his band that won the Bowl’s 1966 Battle of the Bands – a jazz waltz, “Iced Tea,” for piano, bass, drums and tuba.

Summer, still every inch the diva, reprised some of her cannily structured hits from the height of the disco fad – “On The Radio,” “MacArthur Park,” “No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)” and to close, of course, “Last Dance” – as the Bowl lighted up in a dazzling display of gaudy lights and flash. But evidently Summer wants to be recognized for more than just disco, taking care to include credible renditions of “Nature Boy” – backed by a lush-sounding arrangement that resembled the original one on Nat King Cole’s hit record – and, in tandem with Carpenter, “Superstar.”

The most satisfying performance of the evening was by an orchestra and choir of the Renaissance Arts Academy, an L.A. Phil partner school and Fidelity FutureStage participant. Crowded onto the front of the stage, the kids sang and played the opening chorus of Orff’s “Carmina Burana,” “O Fortuna,” marvelously as flames and special effects leaped from the screens at the back of the
shell. It was a great commercial for Music Matters.

-- Richard S. Ginell
Click to expand...
 
Hi All,

Still in LA ...catching up Film passions as for first time I am here when LA Film Festival is screening .....we could do with Hollywood Bowl concert film or new Carpenters music or Bio films being shown 2011 /2012....:cool:

Absolutely agree that my first experience of HB live concert combined with Carpenters induction into Hall of Fame plus Richard's spellbinding performances & delightful surprise with Richard & Donna Superstar was one of the most memorable evenings ever & one for Carpenters music lovers to remember .....always ...... :D

Will update with more thoughts when back in UK & emotions more together ....some initial thoughts

Someday & Look To Your Dreams were performed in wonderful opening RC / Ochestra medley .....more like PACC Album medley revised with Yesterday Once More & Top Of The World topping & tailing.....RC has not conducted full Orchestra for some time & yet it all flowed naturally ....a great opening to remind even those non-Carpenters fans the range & styles of Carpenters music

Emotions flowed from Riohard back at the Bowl with his memories of 1966 Battle Of the Bands contest success to Carpenters 1970's headliner concerts....to Herb Alpert with fulsome praise for Carpenters music legacy :)

Each time Herb reflects on Carpenters either in documentaries or at this event : always states that Richard is the key bebind Carpenters music legacy as he announced : RC my friend & the driving force behind the Carpenters .......

Richard was clearly enjoying & loving being back at huge concert event & like Jeff & Mike & many others here that it is possible Richard could perform some similar concerts with full Orchestra & probably several guest vocalists ( Mindi now nearly 18 & Coiln Paul 16 this summer at more adult ages could assist Dad & provide family support with being back on the road & travelling )

Really Richard needs to focus on completing either long overdue Christmas Album ( *Albums ....there are enough new songs & recordings for three Albums at least since 2002 :wink: ) or other non -seasonal tracks / songs for late 2010 ....this would give direction to future music projects..

Richard could perform perhaps 10 major concerts this coming Thanksgiving / Christmas period : several at Carpenter Center & in Thousand Oaks plus ideally some on East Coast in New Haven & New York ....with Carpenters musicians ( sadly no Tony Peluso reunion) , CSULB Choir , guest vocalists & mini Orchestra as required ....these could ease RC back into concerts before full tour with Orchestra in 2011 .....that would be ideal ....:cool:

Even better RC could finally perform live in UK ....London at some mid -size venues ...still waiting since 1980's plans were discussed :wink:

Sure Richard will consider more Orchestra concerts / tour now that children are no longer too young & realising that fans are just as committed as ever ..... :)

Herb Alpert took long period out with no new Albums or tours ....& has returned renewed with both recently ....Richard can do the same & keep concerts / travelling to more reasonable level & far away from Carpenters over booked hectic tours & Vegas seasons ...we should be quietly optimistic about new music & concerts over next two years ..... :o

Friday was wonderful evening , full of great music .....more Carpenters magic .....

PETER UK ( in LA )
 
I was listening to this in my car on the way home of the concert uploaded to youtube and it is really cool to hear the responses of the audience to Richard and Karen. I have never been to a Carpenters concert before and I got the feeling of being there. I like the person in the audience that said wow when superstar started.
 
Just watched the You Tube Richard Carpenter and Donna Summer take on "Superstar". Terrific!~ Bring on a Donna album produced by Richard. Please!
 
That is absolutely good for the group, Carpenters. They deserve to receive awards. That night was really a fantastic moment for me and for my friends. It has been a very memorable bonding for us.
 
"the driving force behind the Carpenters" May I add to that, which would have gone nowhere without Karen.
 
Why is there not a professional video of the entire night of performances?
History in the making.
Here is another review/with nice photo( http://thescoopla.com/1675/the-hollywood-bowl-kicks-off-its-season-in-splendid-fashion):
"A&M Records President Herb Albert addressed the audience and Richard Carpenter, the surviving member of The Carpenters, next graced The Bowl stage and he took the audience down memory lane. Clips of siren-voiced Karen Carpenter were displayed and The Bowl Orchestra, along with Richard Carpenter, played along with the clips, a modern marvel of technology. Many in the audience, who loved Karen Carpenter’s voice, were visibly moved by the performance. Richard Carpenter presented the audience with a history of The Carpenters, telling delightful stories. One of the stories detailed how Karen Carpenter, known to be one of the best vocalists of her time, never considered herself as a singer, but a drummer. It was a poignant and wonderful segment of the show."
 
Donna Summer and Richard Carpenter performing together....all the more reason to get this night out on DVD
 
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