In a career full of firsts, Elvis Costello can safely add another.
Sure, other rockers Paul McCartney and Billy Joel, for example — have successfully composed classical music, but Costello may be one of the only punks to do it.
But Costello has to be the first to ever lead a this-section vs. that-section sing-along with the Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra in the Brooklyn Academy of Music's Howard Gilman Opera House. And he accomplished it during an unamplified version of "Couldn't Call It Unexpected No. 4," with a charming flair.
It was one of his ways of making a crowd heavy on the rockers comfortable in unfamiliar surroundings. ("If you hear something you like, take your clothes off or set fire to your hair," he said, explaining proper etiquette to the crowd.)
Of course, that was probably the least of his accomplishments in his eclectic, at times stunning, two-hour collaboration with the Brooklyn Philharmonic.
The Friday night concert was one of a handful he is doing with orchestras around the world to celebrate the release of My Flame Burns Blue (Deutsche Grammophon), his live collaboration with the Metropole Orkest.
The program opened with the Brooklyn Philharmonic performing a suite from Costello's "Il Sogno," his score for a ballet based on Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream," which featured some of the same strong melody lines and staccato rhythms that fill his more pop-leaning work, while also showing how many of his popular songs could be enhanced by more dramatic orchestration.
He followed the suite with the unveiling of "The River in Reverse," the life-at-a-crossroads title track from his forthcoming album with the New Orleans great Allen Toussaint, and a new arrangement of "All This Useless Beauty" that ended with an impressive vocal run.
In the second half of the concert, Costello gathered together some of his songs that were most-suited for an orchestra the grand "God Give Me Strength," the haunting ballad "Almost Blue" and the restrained, jazzy cool of "My Flame Burns Blue."
However, it was his surprises that worked best. The frenzied "Hora Decubitus," a Charles Mingus instrumental that Costello wrote lyrics for, was even more frantic in concert speeding along like a sleek race car before skidding to a stop for some powerful blues riffs and then taking off again.
The rowdy, guitar-driven "Veronica" picked up a challenging piano counterpoint from Steve Nieve.
The reggae feel of "Watching the Detectives" was replaced with an upbeat, jazz-fueled arrangement. And "Alison" received a grand orchestral entrance and a swell of strings before turning into the classic lament.
Yet, "Alison" as well as "She," which Costello said fit him like Peter Lorre playing the George Clooney role in a movie, and the stunning beauty of "I Still Have That Other Girl" guarantees that Costello has a bright future as a crooner if he wants it.
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