Rock star Elvis Costello made an incongruous figure on stage.
As he stood in a grey, loosely-fitting draped suit, with bow-tie and rimmed dark spectacles before the magnificence of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, he looked more like a stand-up comedian.
"I'm absolutely speechless with fear," admitted Costello, as he faced the prospect of singing with an onslaught of 75 classical instruments.
But the audience of 6,000 left little doubt that Costello should not have been so worried.
With his doleful, foggy voice, he sailed through what turned into a spectacular experiment, with the array of guitars, strings, brass and drums giving momentum to the simplicity of the songs.
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