View source for Mpls St Paul Magazine, September 15, 2007

From The Elvis Costello Wiki
← Mpls St Paul Magazine, September 15, 2007
You do not have permission to edit this page, for the following reason:
The action you have requested is limited to users in one of the groups: Users, Administrators.
You can view and copy the source of this page.
{{Bibliography header}}
{{:Bibliography index}}
{{:Mpls St Paul Magazine index}}
{{:Minnesota publications index}}
{{:US publications by state index}}
{{Bibliography article header}}
<center><h3> Elvis Costello at Orchestra Hall </h3></center>
----
<center> Megan Wiley </center>
----
{{Bibliography text}}
Elvis Costello only arrived in Minneapolis yesterday for his two-night stand at Orchestra Hall, which started last night and finishes tonight. This means he and the orchestra didn't rehearse together until yesterday afternoon, which may account for the lack of cohesion between Costello and the orchestra, as well as the uncomfortable feeling that this experiment in crossover music-making wasn’t working out quite as well as the audience, or the performers, might have hoped.

The concept of seeing a rock icon venture into classical composition is undeniably exciting. Costello is a Grammy-winning, Oscar-nominated legend who has conquered punk, pop, and alt-country, and dabbled in many other genres in his thirty-year music career. In 2004, he released his ''Il Sogno'' album, an orchestral piece originally written as a ballet score.

Last night, Costello appeared on Orchestra Hall's stage to introduce a suite from ''Il Sogno''. Clad in a classic black suit, trademark black-framed eyeglasses and bolo tie, he said, "In my version of ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'', Puck is a jazz fairy." Then he exited stage right, and the acclaimed jazz pianist Alan Broadbent conducted the Minnesota Orchestra in several selections from ''Il Sogno'', jumping from a stately court bravado one minute to a funky peasant swagger the next.

Costello told ''Rolling Stone'' in 2004 that, "Structure should be liberating, not confining," a comment that sounds ironic given that last night’s structure felt so restrictive and forced.

After about twenty minutes of ''Il Sogno'', Costello re-emerged and opened the next part of the show with "All This Useless Beauty," singing loudly—too loudly—while strumming an acoustic guitar. From there in on out, the majority of the show was pop songs arranged for orchestra. When the soft strings backed him, it was almost operatic, but the continual trade-off between Costello's solo work and an entire orchestra was jarring.

During the second song, "Still Too Soon to Know," it was apparent that Costello’s voice was off-pitch at times (he later commented on having a "croaky" voice due to spending time in a snowstorm in Buffalo, New York). Without a rock band behind him, Costello was exposed. And without a rock audience reflecting his energy, he seemed self-conscious and even a little anxious at times.

That doesn't necessarily mean the audience didn't appreciate the music, however. This was an Orchestra Hall audience — refined, respectful, awaiting their time to applaud. And the crowd did applaud, often. Costello even received a couple standing ovations after the last song and during the encore.

The Costello arrangements for the performance — including that of his wife Diana Krall's song "The Girl in the Other Room," (which Costello co-wrote) — should have been moving. Instead, Costello struck awkward poses — hand extended with palm facing the audience, eyebrows raised, staring at the ceiling — that appeared to trivialize the work of the orchestra seated behind him. Which raises the question: If he's not buying it, why should we?

In contrast, the final song of the first set was a cohesive, moving arrangement by Richard Harvey that was actually written for an orchestra.

The second half brought the arrival of pianist Steve Nieve, a longtime Costello collaborator. Nieve's energetic playing brought a much-needed jolt to the show right away during their first tune, "Veronica."

Costello's song "Scarlet Tide," which was nominated for an Oscar for Alison Krauss's performance of it on the movie ''Cold Mountain'', brought the most intense moment of the evening. During his introduction to the song, Costello explained that it is a song of a war widow, and proclaimed that questioning authority is the act of a patriot, not a traitor. This provoked huge applause and hollers, and when he sang, "and bring the boys back home," another round of applause rolled through the concert hall.

To close the second set, and to open the encore, Costello performed two selections from his ''Painted From Memory'' collaboration with Burt Bacharach — "God Give Me Strength" and "I Still Have That Other Girl." These were easily the highlights of the evening. If the ''Il Sogno'' pieces were anticlimactic, the Bacharach pieces were cathartic.

After encore song No. 2, "Accidents Will Happen," Costello sang his final tune. Singing all night into a microphone that amplified his already-loud voice to volumes that overshadowed an entire orchestra (a problem amplified performers often have in Orchestra Hall), Costello went mic-less for "Couldn't Call It Unexpected No. 4." It was during this last song that he walked offstage and into the aisles, prompting the crowd to hum along with him. "Just the ladies," he instructed. Then, "Just the boys."

In that same ''Rolling Stone'' interview from 2004, David Fricke asked Costello who he is making records for. His answer was simple: "Anyone who will listen." That may be a respectable, unpretentious attitude, but it raises more questions than it answers, and I definitely felt that same confused message last night.

{{cx}}
'''Elvis Costello performs again [[Concert 2007-09-15 Minneapolis|Saturday]] with the Minnesota Orchestra at Orchestra Hall. 

{{tags}}[[Concert 2007-09-14 Minneapolis|Orchestra Hall]] {{-}} [[Minneapolis]] {{-}} [[MN|Minnesota]] {{-}} [[Alan Broadbent]] {{-}} [[Steve Nieve]] {{-}} [[Minnesota Orchestra]] {{-}} [[Il Sogno]] {{-}} [[A Midsummer Night's Dream]] {{-}} [[Puck 1|Puck]] {{-}} [[All This Useless Beauty (song)|All This Useless Beauty]] {{-}} [[Still Too Soon To Know]] {{-}} [[Concert 2007-09-07 Buffalo|Buffalo]] {{-}} [[Diana Krall]] {{-}} [[The Girl In The Other Room (song)|The Girl In The Other Room]] {{-}} [[Richard Harvey]] {{-}} [[Veronica]] {{-}} [[The Scarlet Tide]] {{-}} [[Alison Krauss]] {{-}} [[Cold Mountain: Music From The Miramax Motion Picture|Cold Mountain]] {{-}} [[Bring The Boys Home]] {{-}} [[Painted From Memory]] {{-}} [[Burt Bacharach]] {{-}} [[God Give Me Strength]] {{-}} [[I Still Have That Other Girl]] {{-}} [[Accidents Will Happen]] {{-}} [[Couldn't Call It Unexpected No. 4]] {{-}} [[Rolling Stone, October 14, 2004|Rolling Stone]]
{{cx}}

© 2007 MSP Communications, Inc. All rights reserved

{{Bibliography notes header}}

{{Bibliography notes}}
{{Bibliography next
|prev = Mpls St Paul Magazine, May 9, 2007
|next = Mpls St Paul Magazine, June 10, 2014
}}
'''Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, September 15, 2007
----
[[Megan Wiley]] reviews Elvis Costello with [[Steve Nieve]] and the [[Minnesota Orchestra]], Friday, [[Concert 2007-09-14 Minneapolis|September 14, 2007]], Orchestra Hall, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

{{Bibliography no images}}

{{Bibliography notes footer}}

{{Bibliography footer}}

==External links==
*[http://mspmag.com/Blogs/The-Morning-After/November-2013/91407_elvis_costello_at_orches/ MSPmag.com]
*[http://www.elviscostellofans.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=6484 Elvis Costello Fan Forum]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mpls St Paul Magazine 2007-09-15}}
[[Category:Bibliography]]
[[Category:Bibliography 2007]]
[[Category:Mpls St Paul Magazine| Mpls St Paul Magazine 2007-09-15]]
[[Category:Magazine articles]]
[[Category:2007 concert reviews]]
[[Category:2007 Symphony Tour|~Mpls St Paul Magazine 2007-09-15]]
Return to Mpls St Paul Magazine, September 15, 2007.
Retrieved from "http://elviscostello.info//wiki/index.php?title=Mpls_St_Paul_Magazine,_September_15,_2007"
View source for Mpls St Paul Magazine, September 15, 2007

Navigation menu

Page actions

Page actions

Personal tools

Main

Search

New

Live

Also

Wiki

Tools
