Songs From The Labyrinth: 2006/07

The Renaissance revived...

Just a few lights, two lutes, and a small choir were enough for Sting to transport Victorian England into the minds of the Nuremberg audience. He made the centuries-old music of the bard John Dowland almost tangible.

There wasn't much to see. A few lights illuminated the imposing built-in organ in the Meistersingerhalle, then they focused on a small man in a red jacket who strolled to the centre of the stage. Edin Karamazov, the world-famous lute player, sat down on a chair, surrounded by two bar stools, music stands, and lutes—the bards' guitars. That was all. No Victorian pomp, no Robin Hood costume, no ornate stage decorations, or dancing women in giant white dresses.

In fact, not even Sting was to be seen. Only the small man in the red jacket, who now soloed for almost twenty minutes, excelling on the lute and trying not to let his medium-length black hair fly onto the fingerboard. The stage had the look of a frugal life. Just like the one led by John Dowland, whose bardic music from some 400 years ago was about to be played for almost an hour and a half.

Two long songs later, the Nuremberg crowd applauded loudly for the first time. Sting, in his black suit, waddled over to Edin Karamazov, sat down on one of the stools, and read aloud. In addition to John Dowland's music, the evening also included his words, especially letters he wrote from Nuremberg to the Virgin Queen Elizabeth I.

Then Sting began to sing: crystal-clear, haunting, and emotional. Edin Karamazov joined in. With his eyes closed, hearing only the singing and the lute, the Renaissance was suddenly there, in his imagination. Dancing kings, bouncing drunkards in the pub, even Robin Hood. The magic lasted for almost an hour, created by nothing but words and sounds. A small choir joined in every now and then, taking Sting's singing a few notches higher, toward angelic.

At the end of the performance, the blond "Englishman" had a few extras in store. On the lute, he first intoned his own hit "Fields of Gold," then a blues by Robert Johnson, and, as the climax, the Police classic "Message in a Bottle."

That was the final thrill for Nuremberg. After an hour and a half, it was unfortunately over, but the long, well-deserved applause was received. Then, when the applause just wouldn't die down, Sting was called back on stage one last time. He sang a piece by John Dowland a cappella and politely said goodbye with a "Goodbye" in broken German.

(c) Lottaleben.net by Frank Schmauser