* * * * * * * kdm

Yesterday evening Julia and I were listening to the radio again, "Kulturradio".

We heard a concert "live" from Hamburg, with a big band and a (classical trained) singer, who "features selections that highlight the classic music of Frank Sinatra."
It was absurd. Today, as a music lover I had to write a letter to the singer's management:

... By accident, on 21 July 2015 I've heard the Hamburg "live" concert with Mister Hampson on radio.

This singer Thomas Hampson is maybe/surely excellent in the "classical" field, ...but Sinatra? ...but Swing? ...but Jazz?

It was a disaster.
I wonder why the audience clapped hands instead of booing and throwing tomatoes. Maybe they were just happy to recognize the (well-known) evergreens?

This baritone had neither charme, coolness, nor a sense for swing; things that are NECESSARY if we speak about Sinatra and the songs he represents (and presented so wonderful). Also, Mister Hampson's singing sounded - not just once - off-key.

My wife and I, while we were listening, flabbergasted, we had the same opinion about this more than strange "Sinatra" concert: it's not serious, or? Maybe it's a joke? A silly parody? In parts we were laughing loud, when Hampson was so off-key, and off-Sinatra, and off-swing, and off-cool, and off-everything.

Someone had to tell him. Why not we, two listeners with four ears. With a love for music, many kinds of music.

Kind regards,
Klaus D. Mueller