The Dresden Soul Symphony

The Dresden Soul Symphony is a German concert show. The musicians reinterpret soul hits and combine them with classical music. The musical ensemble contains the singers Joy Denalane, Bilal, Tweet and Dwele; the radio orchestra of the Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk; four backing vocalists; the MDR children's choir and four instrumentalists, who do not belong to the orchestra. The performance venue of the show is Dresden, Germany. The premiere was on April 26, 2008.

Project history

The idea of The Dresden Soul Symphony had Reinhard Bärenz, the music chief of the German radio station MDR Sputnik. Bärenz had some experience with classical music, because he played professionally violin in a symphony orchestra in the 1980s. Someday Bärenz decided to found a crossover project that combines classical music with another music genre. But at this point in time Bärenz wasn't committed to a certain genre. Then Bärenz sought for the support of Johann Michael Möller, the radio director of the MDR. Möller was enthusiastic about Bärenz's idea. So he entered the MDR Symphony Orchestra into a contract. After that Bärenz started with contacting various musicians. At first the German soul singer Joy Denalane got into the project. Bärenz thought that soul and classic goes well together. For that reason the American soul musicians Bilal, Tweet and Dwele joined the ensemble. Bärenz could engage Larry Gold (former cellist of MFSB) and Daniel Felsenfeld (composer of classical music and Gold's son-in-law) as arrangers.

The show was performed on April 26 and April 27, 2008 at 08:00 pm (CET) in the concert hall Alter Schlachthof in Dresden, Germany. The radio stations MDR Sputnik and MDR Figaro broadcasted the concert live on April 27 from 9 pm (CET). Both a CD and DVD were released in October 2008.

Discography

• The Dresden Soul Symphony

Songs

Movement I: Sonata-Allegro

• "Prelude"
• "Midnight Train to Georgia" by Gladys Knight & the Pips
• "I Thank You" by Sam & Dave
• "Take Me to the River" by Al Green
• "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" by Aretha Franklin
• "I Got a Woman" by Ray Charles
• "Lovin' You" by Minnie Riperton
• "Midnight Train to Georgia" (Reprise)

Movement II: Adagio

• "A Song for You" by Leon Russell
• "You're All I Need to Get By" by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell
• "Let's Stay Together" by Al Green
• "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" by James Brown
• "Me and Mrs. Jones" by Billy Paul
• "Betcha by Golly Wow!" by The Stylistics

Movement III: Scherzo

• "I'll Take You There" by The Staple Singers
• "ABC" by The Jackson 5
• "Sir Duke" by Stevie Wonder
• "Everything Is Everything" by Lauryn Hill

Movement IV: Finale

• "Prelude"
• "Master Blaster (Jammin)" by Stevie Wonder
• "Love's Theme" by Love Unlimited Orchestra
• "The Sound of Philadelphia" by MFSB
• "Love Train" by The O'Jays
• "Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now" by McFadden & Whitehead
• "Midnight Train to Georgia" (Finale)

References

plusz-magazin, issue date: April 24, 2008; page 2 / 3

External links

• Interviews with Larry Gold, Joy Denalane and Dwele (German)