Tina Arena and the Queensland Symphony Orchestra
Lyric Theatre, QPAC
06.07.2012
For a time there, in the early to mid-90s, Melbourne-born songstress Tina Arena was the closest thing Australian music had had to a female pop superstar since Kylie Minogue. Her wildly successful album Don’t Ask was released in late 1995 and went on to become the biggest selling album of the following year, yielding a string of Top Ten singles that included ‘Chains,’ ‘Heaven Help My Heart’ and ‘Sorrento Moon (I Remember).’
She sold out shows in the nation’s cavernous entertainment centres and then, in 1997, released a follow-up album, In Deep. It emulated the success of its predecessor, producing yet more hit singles, the most memorable of which were ‘Burn,’ ‘If I Didn’t Love You’ and ‘Now I Can Dance.’
Though the album debuted at number one in Australia, it went on to become an unexpected smash hit in France, where it was one of the highest selling records of 1997. She went on to record a single in French that sold more than one million copies and, eventually, decamped to France, where she’s enjoyed a buoyant career, recording and releasing albums in both French and English, as well as regularly embarking on sold-out tours.
Arena’s much-hyped return to Australia, to play a series of shows with each state’s symphony orchestra, was billed as Arena performing all the songs you know and love, as well as “some of her favourites,” a description that alluded to a setlist that would presumably include the adult contemporary pop songs with which she enjoyed her greatest successes and made her name.
As it transpired, the show couldn’t have been more different, consisting as it did of only a rather perfunctory medley of some of her greatest hits and, otherwise, songs that had particular personal significance or meaning for Arena.
Dressed in an array of stunning, floor-length custom made haute couture gowns, there was no doubting that Arena commanded the Lyric Theatre’s large stage and made full use of both her remarkably strong, supple voice and the Queensland Symphony Orchestra. What was more puzzling was the format of the show itself. As tends to be customary with such performances nowadays, the evening consisted of two sets, divided by an intermission.
The first set largely comprised of Arena singing songs drawn from musical theatre or films. Given the conversations I heard taking place around me, I know I wasn’t alone in making the assumption that the show’s second set would focus more heavily on Arena’s own music. But the closest we got to hearing anything much from her own songbook was an acoustic medley of several of her biggest hits and only one rendition of one of her French recordings, ‘Je m’appelle Baghdad.’ The rest of the show was again dedicated to various songs that Arena herself considered integral to her musical journey and evolution as an artist.
While her impressive voice never faltered, some song choices worked better than others. Frankly, nobody should attempt to cover Kate Bush’s ‘The Man With The Child In His Eyes’ and Arena’s attempt fell flat. She was a little more successful with covers of Lulu’s ‘Oh Me Oh My’ and Dusty Springfield’s ‘I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself’ but really only hit her stride with stripped back, understated renditions of legendary jazz ballad ‘Cry Me A River’ and Joni Mitchell’s ‘Clouds.’
In terms of the musical theatre or film soundtrack selections, Arena’s cover of ‘Goldeneye’ felt like a misstep, as did the mawkish, sentimental ‘Maybe This Time.’ Her performance of ‘My Husband Makes Movies’ was affecting, beautifully performed and easily the highlight of the evening. Taken from the musical based on a film by Federico Fellini and most recently adapted for the screen by Rob Marshall in 2009, the song was performed to stunning effect in the latter by Marion Cotillard. Arena’s rendition was different in both tone and execution, but possessed the same sense of emotional investment and wounded authenticity.
Less impressive was the moment she trotted out former Australian Idol contestant Anthony Callea to duet on Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli’s ‘The Prayer.’ Though Callea has recently only landed himself in the public eye by publicly slandering Brisbane songstress Kate Miller-Heidke on Twitter, the audience lapped it up, whooping and hollering.
But the performance felt not only contrived but also overwrought. Both Arena and Callea can sing, sure, but it felt over-the-top, soulless and utterly melodramatic. Similarly overwrought was their second duet on ‘I Want To Spend My Life Loving You,’ a song Arena recorded with Marc Anthony for the soundtrack of the Antonio Banderas film, The Mask of Zorro, back in 1998.
While the idea behind the evening’s song choices was an interesting one, it nonetheless might have left many punters feeling a little cheated. What we got was a show exceptionally light on her own hits and heavy as lead with her own favourites. Though she was clearly shooting more for a cabaret vibe than that of a cheesy musical, there were only moments where Arena truly succeeded in not teetering on the cusp of parody.
She’d regale the sold-out crowd with anecdotes about why she felt connected to or fond of a particular song before then launching into it. The patter felt rehearsed, sure, but the insights she offered were mostly interesting and she seemed sincere. There was, however, something off-kilter about the whole affair, despite her stellar voice and obvious fondness for her musical selections.When, at the very end, she finally launched into ‘Chains,’ arguably her best known and most popular song, she gave over half the performance to re-working the lyrics to thank the musicians who backed her onstage and the friends and family in the audience before disappearing and returning for an encore that consisted of an ill-conceived cover of Blondie’s ‘Call Me.’Again, the crowd rose to its feet and gave her a lengthy standing ovation, but the song choice felt wrong and her interpretation struck me as more than slightly cringeworthy. Still, if nothing else, we were reminded of one thing: Tina Arena has a powerhouse voice and when she hits her marks, she hits them with forcefulness and verve.
Heidi Maier.
