Sting And Sir Paul Do Classical
By: Kevin Filipski |
Sunday November 19, 2006 |
| Fascinated with classical music and composing, two legendary pop stars try their hand in the classical realm. |
| The music of John Dowland has haunted listeners for 400 years, but it took a rock star to point out the obvious: that the Elizabethan composer's songs were our first taste of what's fashionably become the singer-songwriter tradition.
At least that's how Sting puts it in his liner notes to his new album of Dowland songs, Songs from the Labyrinth (Deutsche Grammophon), the ex-Police leader's first foray into the realm of "art music." It is true that Dowland wrote exquisitely-crafted songs, with flavorful lyrics and haunting musical accompaniments, and Sting was smart to ally himself with a fantastic lute player, Edin Karamazov, to accompany him. But Songs from the Labyrinth suffers from the double affliction of smugness and self-satisfaction that Sting's detractors are always claiming. First, Sting's voice is not up to snuff singing this collection of 16 songs (15 by Dowland, one by an Elizabethan-era contemporary, Robert Johnson), since they're far out of his range: Sting sounds better singing his own songs because he can write them specifically for his voice. Listen to any masterly singer like Peter Pears doing Dowland's "In darkness let me dwell" after hearing Sting's strained attempt, and you'll notice the vast gulf separating the men from the boys. Another conceit that doesn't work is Sting's recitation of excerpts from Dowland's letters scattered among the songs. It tries to bring some autobiography into the mix, but it seems more like a feeble way of making the album slightly longer (there's only 44 minutes of music, not much by classical CD standards). Still, Sting is to be thanked for bringing the music of a composer almost certainly unknown to most rock fans to a wider audience: if only a handful of Sting fans get turned on to Dowland and perhaps move on to other classical composers, then Songs from the Labyrinth will have not been in vain. Paul McCartney has now written three large-scale classical works, and each has had its American premiere at Carnegie Hall. His latest, the choral piece Ecce Cor Meum (Behold My Heart), is in many ways closest to his heart: he's worked on it for the past seven years, inspired by the death of his first wife Linda. At the Carnegie Hall premiere, the first half of the program was given over to smaller-scale McCartney works. First up were six classic McCartney tunes, sung by the exquisite soprano Kate Royal and the sturdy tenor Andrew Staples, in arrangements for string quartet and added bassist (not McCartney). Of these, "My Love" was the obvious hit tune, but the others-"Warm and Beautiful," "Calico Skies," "Golden Earth Girl," "Some Days" and "Junk"-are as richly melodic and tuneful as Paul's best songs, and the added string ensemble texture was a nice change from how these songs sound on McCartney's albums. After an instrumental performance by musicians from the Orchestra of St. Luke of "Nova"-which Sir Paul composed after Linda's death-excerpts from McCartney's previous large-scale works, Liverpool Oratorio and Standing Stone, were performed by Staples, Royal and the chamber orchestra led by conductor Gavin Greenaway. Ecce Cor Meum, performed in its entirety after intermission, is an hour-long choral work as tonal and melodious as Sir Paul's other rock and classical pieces, but like his other large-scale works, could do with some tightening. After all, for nearly half a century, McCartney's penned some of the most memorable pop tunes in history, and his development and juxtaposition of musical themes work better in that shorter context. But if Ecce Cor Meum-an ambitious work for chorus, soprano and orchestra-was shorn of 15-20 minutes, it would emerge as a stronger, more cohesive work. To be sure, the Orchestra of St. Luke's performed with its usual brilliance, along with the luminous-sounding Concert Chorale of New York and American Boychoir. Greenaway's conducting showed a true empathy for the piece, also exemplified by the current EMI Classics recording, which he also conducts. Royal's vocal performance was an ear-opener: having to make herself heard over the orchestra and chorus, she was able to soar effortlessly, to her eternal credit. |
