Street
Theatre, 23rd October 2016.
Reviewed by
Bill Stephens
Those
attending the first of two sold out performances in the Street Theare by Kate Ceberano and Paul
Grabowsky in the expectation of hearing superb music-making by two consummate
artists were not disappointed.
A
mini-mutual admiration society in which Ceberano, flashing her famously
engaging smile, undertook the narration to immediately set an intimate,
informal tone. Grabowsky was content to do his talking through his piano.
It was
obvious that both artists revelled in the talents of the other, as they set
about exploring the possibilities of the songs, often challenging the other, as
inspiration hit. At one point, when Grabowsky appeared engrossed in a series of
brilliant variations, and Ceberano struggled to find her way back into the
song, she laughingly confessed to the audience, “I haven’t a clue where he’s
at!”
Grabowsky of course was quite aware of her plight, and was relishing the
opportunity to tease her.
Kate
Ceberano is a brilliant singer, not afraid to use gestures to heighten an
effect.Grabowsky’s inspired accompaniments provided the opportunity to savour
her ability to go straight to the heart of a lyric, play with timing, or respond
to a moment of vocal inspiration. Grabowsky, for his part clearly inspired by
her imaginative and secure vocalising, provided beautiful settings containing
often dense contrasting chording which might have rattled a less secure singer.
Neither pure
cabaret nor jazz concert , “Love Songs” turned
out to be a hybrid collection of seemingly disparate songs, old and new, chosen
by Ceberano and Grabowsky, to comment on notions of love in all its
manifestations, to which they applied their exquisite interpretive talents to
expose unexpected insights.
Thus when
Ceberano softly crooned Ewan MacColl’s “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face”,
as a parent holding a new-born, the effect was surprisingly powerful and
moving. Equally surprising was her bluesy interpretation of Johnny Mercer’s
“Skylark” as sung by a tipsy mouse.
A romantic medley
of French songs commenced with Ceberano singing Piaf’s “La Vie en Rose”, in
French, through a Sate inspired introduction, before seguing into English
versions of two Michel Legrand songs, written
for the film “The Umbrellas of Cherbough” – “The Windmills of Your Mind”
and “I Will Wait For You”.
Another
medley began with Ceberano's haunting rendition of "Alfie" and then merged two other Burt Bacharach/Hal David songs , “This Girl’s in Love With
You” and “What the World Needs Now” with Joni Mitchell's “Both Sides Now”, to provide an affecting tribute to the late Cilla Black.
A lush, over-
the- top rendition of “Where Do I Begin” became a playful, tongue-in-cheek nod
to Dame Shirley Bassey, and even Streisand was referenced with a cheeky version
of “The Way We Were”.
At ninety
minutes, without interval, the program was generous and among other highlights
in the eclectic repertoire was a sublime version of Leonard Cohen’s “Suzanne”
and a lovely song by Megan Washington. However, their audience was in no hurry
to let them go, demanding, and receiving, three encores.
This review also appears in AUSTRALIAN ARTS REVIEW. www.artsreview.com.au
