Page 699 - Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Coverage Book 2023-24

While the Queen City did not get the breathlessly hoped-for drop-in

from pop royalty on Thursday night (July 18) at the world premiere

of the Cincinnati Opera‘s take on Sir Paul McCartney‘s Liverpool

Oratorio, they did get a very special message from the night’s absent

guest of honor.

“Hello, Cincinnati! Good evening. I’m so excited to hear that the

Cincinnati Opera is putting on my Liverpool Oratorio,” McCartney

said in a pre-taped message that played for the capacity crowd in

Cincinnati Music Hall’s 2,300-capacity Springer Auditorium before

the opening night of the fresh take on his first classical composition.

“This work is really special for me because it was the first large scale

thing like this that I’d done, and it’s largely based on a lot of events

from my childhood. The school I went to… the teacher, Miss Inkley,

who was the only female teacher in a school of a thousand boys. So

it’s really true, as it says in the opera, where she says, ‘Hello, boys.

You can call me, ‘Sir,'” McCartney continued. “Well, as 11-year-olds,

it’s a little difficult to make sense of that. But anyway, I love the

piece, and I love that you’re doing it there in Cincinnati. So I hope

you have a great evening. Thank you very much for putting it on. I

wish I was there with you, but I can’t be there. So I’m here. So have a

great one. Thank you.”

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