Peter Miller goes all in on Bond

The WASO musicians have been hard at work “studying” the film ahead of their two performances of Casino Royale in Concert on Friday 21 and Saturday 22 January.

It can be difficult to pick the most thrilling moment from the film, let alone the score, so we asked Peter Miller, trumpet, to list his top five favourite scenes instead. Spoilers below!

The opening chase scene in Madagascar

This scene is everything that is ‘James Bond’ to me. It involves Bond chasing an African bomb maker through the streets of Madagascar including a particularly memorable fight scene on a work site crane. The music is fast paced with many exciting rhythmic patterns and sets up the movie perfectly.

The petrol tanker chase scene

Another chase scene! This one with the airport and petrol tanker is similarly fast-paced with David Arnold’s score accompanying the action perfectly. There are lots of syncopated rhythms, screaming high brass lines and extended techniques such as flutter-tonging and the use of plunger mutes that create great excitement, ultimately leading to a dramatic climax.

“Shaken, not stirred”

The ‘dirty martini’ scene at the casino where Bond has his dry martini (“shaken not stirred” of course!) spiked and has to administer life-saving backyard defibrillation on himself - in the front seat of his Aston Martin of course is one of the most dramatic scenes in the movie (don’t try this at home)! Strangely enough he survives (with a little help from Vesper Lynd) and returns to the poker table without a hair out of place! Who would have guessed?

‘The Switch’

‘The Switch’ scene is the climax of the movie where Bond discovers that he has been double-crossed by his lover. The lazy $150million that he worked so hard to secure has been withdrawn by Vesper and transferred to a criminal’s account. David Arnold’s score works perfectly with Bond pursuing Vesper through the streets of Venice finally culminating in the sinking of an entire house and Vesper’s untimely but ultimately predictable death.

Roll Credits

The end credits, whilst not providing any exciting action, is the first time we hear 007 utter arguably the most famous words in cinematic history - “The name’s Bond. James Bond”. It is also the first time in the film that we hear the iconic James Bond theme song written by Monty Norman. As a trumpeter, this theme is something that every player looks forward to playing at least once in their career. The fact that it comes right at the end of the movie only makes the wait more worthwhile!

Casino Royale in Concert

Friday 21st & Saturday 22nd January 2022, 7.30pm

Riverside Theatre, Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre