All you need is love for Classical Mystery Tour concert Saturday

Published 12:01 am Wednesday, May 7, 2014

NATCHEZ — For those who love the Beatles, this weekend is an opportunity they can’t miss, yeah, yeah, yeah.

The Natchez Festival of Music will continue its 2014 season this weekend with a tribute to the 50th anniversary of the Beatles coming to America with the band, Classical Mystery Tour.

Tickets for the 7 p.m. Saturday show are still available, and Festival of Music Chair Mary Lessley said the group is not only a Beatles tribute band, but the best Beatles tribute band.

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“People who are of the age to remember the Beatles, they can close their eyes and they will, when they hear it, think it is the Beatles singing,” she said.

Classical Mystery Tour will be backed by the University of Southern Mississippi’s orchestra.

“This really takes the Beatles music to a more sophisticated level,” Festival Creative Director Jay Dean said. “As far as I know, the Beatles never performed with an orchestra, but a lot of their tunes were done with an orchestra in the studio. What these guys have done is take studio recordings and made it possible to be performed live.”

The show will run approximately two hours with an intermission, and while tickets will be sold at the door it is advised they be bought in advance, Dean said.

Floor seating for the event is $45, while stadium seats are $25.

The festival will also host a tribute to Leontyne Price, the Mississippi soprano who holds the record for the longest standing ovation ever at the Metropolitan Opera.

The performance will be 3 p.m. Sunday at Temple B’Nai Israel. Admission is $30 per person.

The festival will continue with weekend performances throughout May.

Those events will include:

-May 11, Rossini, Puccini and Martinis at the Eola Hotel.

-May 16 at the Eola Hotel Ballroom, “In the Mood,” a big-band performance meant to get people dancing. Admission is $40.

-May 17, the musical “HMS Pinafore” at Margaret Martin Performing Arts Center. Admission is $30.

-May 18, a musical wine tasting at Magnolia Bluffs Casino. Admission is $50.

-May 23, a tribute to internationally acclaimed soprano Maria Callas, one of the last century’s most acclaimed sopranos. The performance is at Waverly Plantation and admission is $35.

-May 24, “Tosca,” Giocamo Puccini’s famed opera, which will be sung in Italian with English subtitles displayed over the stage. The performance is at Margaret Martin Performing Arts Center, and is $35.

“I think we have probably been the best of we have ever done in having a variety of music that will appeal to a broad spectrum of people,” Lessley said.

Tickets for Festival of Music events can be purchased at Natchez Pilgrimage Tours at 601-446-6631.

More information about the festival can be found at natchezfestivalofmusic.com.