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The Boston Pops plan to "Pump It Up" this season, beginning Opening Night when Elvis Costello will share the stage with conductor Keith Lockhart. Landing the critically acclaimed singer-songwriter is a major coup for Lockhart, who's struggled in recent years to attract A-list acts for Opening Night of Pops. (Unless you consider Lou Rawls, Art Garfunkel, Patti Austin, Al Jarreau, and Elaine Paige big names.) Contacted yesterday, the Pops' press people wouldn't confirm the deal with Mr. Diana Krall, but the artist's website leaves no doubt that the author of such classic LPs as My Aim Is True and Imperial Bedroom will be at Symphony Hall on May 10. (Tickets, we're told, go on sale March 13.)
Why would Costello be interested in the gig? Just so happens the bespectacled Brit's embarking on a US tour in support of his full-length orchestral work, Il Sogno, and he'll be performing with symphonies in San Francisco, Houston, Atlanta, Baltimore, and, yes, Boston. According to Costello's website, he'll also be playing a collection of his pop and rock hits. Lockhart was in Utah yesterday, and couldn't be reached for comment, but the conductor has made no secret of his desire to get younger, hipper crowds into Symphony Hall. Last season, he enlisted the scruffy pop band Guster to play with the Pops, and the two shows sold out in a matter of hours.
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