This has to have been one of the most enjoyable concerts I've seen Elvis perform. It was a splendid mix of the entertaining and the challenging. Continuously engaging , it also served to show an artist content with his ability and confident in his intentions to explore it's limitations. That some of those efforts didn't work made the majority that did all the more thrilling.
None of the pieces were , of course , entirely knew to me. Having been listening to recordings of the 'Il Sogno' shows for the last few years it would be up to this Orchestra's take on them to make them fresh. This they did, in spades. 'Green Shirt' was an especial highlight, the strings being particularly vibrant. 'Detectives was similarly refreshed, just about improving on the Metropole Orkest airings in Holland in '06. If anything , the relative lack of rehearsal served to give an edge to the proceedings, requiring a very concentrated effort by all concerned .
The conceit behind including the Secret Songs was audacious in the extreme. The fact that it has drawn some of the more ignorant reactions ( 'Opera bint' ?!?!) shows Elvis anticipated and probably delights in getting that effect. Having been lucky enough to see the workshop versions of these songs back in '05 , it was a delight to see them finally getting the full orchestral treatment. How Deep Is The Red and She Handed Me A Mirror are still as achingly beautiful . He Has Forgotten Me Completely was less successful. It still shows it's origin as a plot device and will only ever work when delivered by by a more competent stage performer within a drama. By the third performance in '05 Elvis had just about the right pitch for the the line ' Though your voice is so endearing and so tender, you have confused the gender ' ; it was lacking this week. Try as she might Gisela Stille ( still as stunning as she was in '05) just couldn't save it.
The inclusion of them indicates that the 'Songs are still an ongoing project . Elvis' journal reference to them being from an 'unfinished work' suggests he still has hopes for a proper production of the show , as opposed to the atrocity that was presented last year. Great. The songs are there - it just needs a more capable hand at adding in the dialogue and all the other requirements of stage drama.
The casual and understated way Ms Stille's was presented this week was puzzling. Perhaps Elvis decided that to be more detailed in his comments would be tiresome. It would be more effective to merely get on with the performances. It worked. That it irked some people is all the more satisfying. To not expect something as provocative from Elvis is to show a lack of awareness of his basic technique.
In short , this was a show by an artist on the top of his form - it bodes well for anything else he should choose to approach with such vigour.
I'll tell all later this weekend about my other adventures in Liverpool, including a rather eerie and tragicomic few hours I spent in a particularly desolate part of north Birkenhead.
