Symphonicity: 2010/11

Sting successfully overcomes his challenge with orchestral music - The former Policeman seduces Sant Jordi with a reinterpretation of his hits...

Sting, one of the great pop-rock stars of the eighties and nineties who continues to be in the front row for the sheer pleasure of it, returned to Barcelona last night to offer yet another example of his chameleon-like music. Like Peter Gabriel a few months ago, Sting turned to the orchestral format to demonstrate, and to himself, the perfect viability of his creativity in formats that differ from those of his musical beginnings. The memory of Gabriel's concert hovered over Sant Jordi when the audience saw how, at the beginning of the concert, the clear tones were noticeable. In the end, the crowd warmed up, and it's estimated that around 7,000 fans made the climb to Montjuïc last night, many of them clearly veterans. The youngest crowd was in their thirties, all the seats on the dance floor were occupied, and the dreaded curtain at the back made an appearance again, drastically reducing the potential capacity.

The experience culminated in the predictable technical perfection that has accompanied Sting's performances since the days of 'Bring On The Night': impeccable sound—lower than usual for a pop or rock evening—smooth stage design, and chromatically schematic yet effective lighting. Sting, elegant in his dark attire, served as the absolute protagonist of the evening, of the very long night (three hours of performance, including a twenty-minute break), both in his musical performance and as the impeccable master of ceremonies: from the initial "bona nit" to the sporadic forays into exemplary Spanish. As if anything were missing, the cameras and spotlights underscored the stagecraft of the "Roxanne" author.

The orchestral reinterpretation of these greatest hits, initially composed with a rock vocabulary, never squeaked, demonstrating the rapid adaptation of this Royal Philharmonic (conducted, incidentally, by a Steven Mercurio as picturesque as he was bouncy) to a repertoire that was unfamiliar to it just over a year ago.

But the result didn't raise many eyebrows for anyone who wasn't a Sting fan, because almost everything went smoothly, harmonic or melodic. The path taken by all the protagonists of this pleasant and enjoyable adventure is that of minimal risk. Only on very rare occasions was any transgressive spirit discernible in this stylistic encounter, as in the beautiful version of "Roxanne" or the spirited adaptation of "This Cowboy Song," where the orchestra followed the rhythmic pulse of Sting's musicians, with an impeccable Dominic Miller on electric guitar.

The more than twenty-five songs with which he delighted the delighted and complicit audience demonstrated, however, the enormous versatility of the compositions written by the almost sixty-year-old musician: the cinematic "Tomorrow We'll See," the always moving "Why Should I Cry?", the politically militant "Russians"... Several hits, such as "Hung My Head."

In excellent physical shape, the singer's voice demonstrated good form. In short, a real treat for a devoted audience, who largely grew up with him and who showed greater acceptance of well-known songs from the past such as 'King Of Pain', the spirited version of 'If I Ever Lose My Faith In You' or the infallible 'Every Breath You Take'.

© La Vanguardia by Esteban Linés