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David's Hall |
Impressions
of Charlotte's Concert at Cardiff
18 September 2001
By
Andrew When I phoned to order my ticket there was a recorded message saying the concert would be filmed, and people would have to be willing to be on the film and willing to dress formally. So the Cradle of Filth T-shirt was out for today, then.... There I was, all posh in my shiny new shoes (and glad they'd worn in at last so I wouldn't be the one with the limp on the video) and my shirt and tie, so well turned out I must have looked like Bampy's stunt-double in the VOA video.
But you probably won't see me on the video anyway. Here's why:
I had to laugh when I came home and saw Steve's comment that we have people at Cardiff in excellent seats. I hope we did, but I wasn't one of them. To be fair, it was a good seat. It was just that they'd put it in a bad place, and fixed it there. I hope this doesn't sound like a gripe. I'm mentioning it first because there may be an issue here, and it also explains some of the difficulties I had reviewing this concert.
Fortunately I have a head for heights, as the ticket I'd been allocated was on level six. In St David's Hall there are six levels. (perhaps the `gods' seemed an appropriate place to hear the voice of an angel, but unfortunately the angel was some distance below).
Actually the view from my seat wasn't as bad as I'd been expecting from my lengthy ascent through the levels of St David's Hall. It seemed a long way from base camp in the foyer, but it speaks well for the design of the hall that I looked down on the stage and felt much closer than I'd been expecting. Also, the sound was excellent even here. But I wonder how seats were allocated? I phoned on the day tickets went on sale (as did the two ladies next to me, I discovered, one of whom regularly goes to concerts at St David's Hall, though she's never before been allocated a seat on level six.) I wonder whether they started allocating seats from the top downwards, just for a change, or whether a lot of seats had already been allocated? A lot of seats? It would have to be most of the seats in the hall.
The good side of this is that when the video comes out I probably won't be in camera, which may be a relief for a few people....
The South Wales Echo review refers to the American video/TV executive who made comments prior to the concert and during the breaks, saying he talked at the audience like an overgrown child. Unfortunately I have to agree, and I hope there's not much of him on the video. None at all would do nicely, maybe? To be fair, he had to fill in spontaneously a couple of times, but one would have thought he's have prepared something for that eventuality?
But enough of negatives (apart from one rather more worrying one that I'll mention later).
The orchestra was the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, ably conducted by Arnie Roth, who has of course conducted orchestras for Charlotte's concerts on several previous occasions. The evening's performance showed orchestra and conductor to be well integrated, and well-rehearsed.
Despite the requirements of filming, the concert proceeded very smoothly. There were longer breaks than would be usual, but it was clear how much work had already gone into rehearsing the camera script for the evening. There was a re-take on Charlotte's spoken introduction to Papa Can You Hear Me, plus a couple of orchestra only re-takes at the end, but that's all. A pity. I'd been hoping someone would come on at the end and say things like `We didn't get A Bit of Earth properly. We'll have to do that again, and Bali Hai, and Suo Gan, and.. and...' But these people are just too professional. They got it right, and we had to be content with the one performance, for the most part. I noticed as well that Charlotte seemed to spot the need for a re-take without being prompted.
This was far from the kind of interminable stopping and starting that sometimes (often?) occurs when filming. If the professionalism of the camera operation is anything to go by, the film should be excellent.
There was a boom-mounted camera (a `technocrane,' as we were informed) to film Charlotte close-up, so her facial expressions should be clear. This also got quite a bit of footage by sweeping through the orchestra. Then there were three cameras at the back of hall, plus hand-held ones for close-ups. So there should be a lot of options to work from when editing. There may have been other cameras I didn't spot.
The first section began with Tonight, with Charlotte dressed in a glittery clingy dress which suited her well. I must say I don't agree with the South Wales Echo critic when she says it would be easy to criticise Charlotte for her dress sense. (Or maybe she just looked fine from where I was? Perhaps everyone looks great from Heaven?) She changed into dark trousers and top, then into a red dress, and finally a low-cut arm-revealing dress that seemed to be appreciated by the audience. To me she seemed elegant and dignified and relaxed, all at the same time. I saw nothing to criticise.
Tonight was followed by If I loved You, then The Water Is Wide, Bali Hai, and Carrickfergus. This was the first section. It proved a bit difficult to note down comments on each song. It isn't just that I lack enough superlatives for Charlotte's singing. It's also the case that when the lights went down the amount of light available for my note-pad, behind the balcony and at my altitude, got so dim that it was rather like trying to make notes on a concert in one of those Welsh coal-pits that were once so abundant in the local valleys. I wrote in the dark, which worked after a fashion, except where I wrote over what I'd previously written.
Of this block of songs in the first section, I think Carrickfergus is likely to be the one of most interest, as it's on the new album and most of us haven't heard it yet. It's brilliant. It's been said before that Charlotte seems to find something especially deep in songs with a Celtic origin, and she certainly did here. The lyrics seemed to differ from the version posted in the forums by Dan. Maybe there's more than one traditional text, or maybe it's been altered. But lyrically it sounded fine to me. One of those songs it's worth buying the album for.
The second section opened with Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man. It was good, but on this performance I felt maybe Charlotte hasn't yet worked herself into the feel of the song. It was certainly a good, competent performance, but I thought she could bring out much more from this song with continued performance. But then again, maybe it just didn't quite reach me, or maybe she didn't quite get it to her finest emotional pitch. The album, and future live performances, will tell.
A Bit of Earth followed, sung wonderfully as always. Charlotte seems to be making this one of the songs she owns. Her diction struck me as remarkably clear - exemplary, in fact. Maybe that stratospheric final note has been a touch better on occasions, but that may have been the mic rather than Charlotte herself? Or possibly the cold she had the other week? But this is quibbling. If she
hadn't sung this song so sublimely before, I'd just say it was wonderful and leave it at that.
For the next song Charlotte introduced the first of her guests, Josh Groban. I expected The Prayer, but in fact they did Somewhere as a duet. Knowing Groban was on the album I was pleased to see him. But then I heard him.
Sorry, I'm not at all impressed with this guy. It will be interesting to see what other people think, and maybe there's a personal preference issue here, but I found him awful. I'm not exaggerating. He's got a trained voice, it seems, but the tone grates. Trained to kill, perhaps? I can't imagine why Charlotte or anyone else wanted him on the album, if he sounds like this. I know that sounds harsh. I just hope he was having an off night. His second appearance was even worse (see below).
During the break the harp was moved to the front of the stage. Rhodri Davies accompanied Charlotte in Suo Gan and My Lagan Love. Both were wonderful. Suo Gan is one of my favourites, but this performance, with skilled use of the hall echo, was particularly effective.
Unfortunately this third section moved rapidly from the sublime to the ridiculous. Josh Groban returned for the song he duets with on the album - The Prayer. Possibly someone will like this. Maybe it's much better on the album, I don't know. But to me this sounded absolutely dreadful. Groban went off-key and seemed to drag Charlotte with him at one point - or maybe she just sounded off-key against his murder of an already poor song. As I said, I bet someone loves this, but from this performance I'd say they're
welcome to it. It's one of those songs that sound like it's being dragged through treacle. You'll know what I mean when you hear it. Thanks God for track selection on CDs.
An interval followed (quite a good idea, at that point). Some percussion had been moved to the front of the stage, and the concert resumed with the addition of two guitarists, Jesse Cook and someone called Kevin. The Little Horses came first, followed by From My First Moment, then Habanera. So by now we were well into the Enchantment album. I'd made a point of clapping especially hard for Carrickfergus, as it's always harder when performing songs that haven't been heard before, and I think Charlotte must appreciate some encouragement on the reception of the new album. But The Prayer had put a big dent in my ability to do that. Fortunately things were picking up again. The Little Horses (Charlotte gave it a slightly fuller title, quoting the song more completely) makes great use of the two guitars, with Jesse Cook's flamenco qualities to the fore. I'm not sure I go for the lyrics, but I think this will grow on me. The instrumental textures worked well under Charlotte's voice, and I expect this will be even more true on the album, as the guitar sound will be more subtly captured than was the case with tonight's live performance.
From My First Moment: this is another track that would be more than worth the price of the album. I'm actually having difficulty typing this, as I've got tears in my eyes from the memory of it. I've actually had this tune in my head for about a week now, and for much of that time the qualities of Charlotte's voice have been hinting how they'll sound in this song. It's one of those song's of Charlotte's where you just melt inside. At least I did. Incidentally I'd expected a piano accompaniment, as it was originally a piano piece, but the guitar took the melody line.
In case we couldn't handle so much emotional richness, the next song provided quite a contrast. Charlotte introduced Habanera, saying she was going to do a bit of a dance on this - and she did, too. She'd used the word `fun' in her comments, and it was. She sang beautifully, the dance was fine, the performance was fine, but I think she was wise to mention the fun side of this. I laughed at times, but I was laughing with her, I think. There's an overblown, exaggerated quality about this - at least in live performance - that makes it hard to take too seriously. How seriously is it supposed to be taken? It's a long time since I've heard Carmen, but I think Bizet meant it to have an edge that's probably lost as soon as you take it out of its context and perform it as a stand-alone piece. I think Charlotte did well not to come on as a serious dancer. She moved well - there was no problem with that (at least from my aerial vantage-point, anyway) - but this wasn't to be taken with solemn, pompous seriousness. But it's an interesting development, and hints at another talent.
The fifth section opened with Papa Can You Hear Me. Charlotte's between-songs talks had been a bit brief for me. I would have liked her to relax and chat a bit more, especially here, on her home ground. The introduction to this song was her standard one, too, now becoming familiar to CC.net members, though fresh to many in the audience, I imagine. She told us how she doesn't sing this as well as Barbra Streisand. Then she had to do a re-take and tell us again how she doesn't sing it as well as Barbra Streisand, and I'm sure it was no more true the second time she said it than it had been the first time. I respect her modesty and her bow to a seasoned performer, but she really brings out the sense of the words and the feel of this song. I can imagine that with a year or two's performance, this will be one of those totally stunning songs where you need all the clichés to describe it, like `electric,' `could hear a pin drop' etc etc. However overused they are, sometimes they're true. So far she's just taken it to the level of a perfectly performed exploration of the feelings in the song. That's usually as much as anyone could hope for. But she could make this song her own.
Bridge Over Troubled Water followed, and the audience were apparently a bit surprised. (Don't they read this site, any of them?) Again, Charlotte gave her usual introduction, commenting on her youth and the possible inappropriateness of tackling a song like this. Of course there's some justification for that - quite a lot of justification. At fifteen you just haven't had the time to experience everything in this song, whatever your personal qualities may be. But the various performances of this song since she started doing it show how she's bringing her experience - and, probably, her understanding of the experiences of others - to the way she interprets the words. This is a song to grow into. It's remarkable, I think, how much Charlotte brings to it already. It's good to hear this song. It says something the world needs.
Especially right now, perhaps. The next song continued the emotional deepening established by Bridge Over Troubled Water. Charlotte spoke about last week's terrorist attack on the United States, to appreciative applause. The introduction to the song had to be extended to give room for the continued applause, while Charlotte waited for the right moment to start singing. It was very well received by the audience as a whole. When she reached the lines
Nothing to kill or die for,
A brotherhood of man
I cried a bit, fairly discreetly. I don't know if I was the only one. Maybe. This was Britain, after all. But it said everything that needs to be said right now.
Imagine may seem like an odd song for Charlotte to be singing, with its opening line `Imagine there's no heaven,' but in my view this was a brilliant and inspired choice. I take it that what's being said here is that we need to reject the divisive use of religious imagery. We need to imagine - and make real - a world in which the focus is upon the unity between people, and not on ideas that divide us.
I hope this song doesn't cause concern for those of Charlotte's fans who value the religious aspect of her work. In these areas it's especially necessary to speak personally - so how does this song feel for me, not only as a fan but also as a writer on spirituality and inter-religious dialogue? Am I just rationalising and trying to find some reason why Charlotte should sing something in clear contradiction to one of the distinguishing features of her earlier repertoire?
For me, the line that Charlotte took with this song is thoroughly consistent with views I've expressed in these forums, where I've expressed the view that people come first, and religion second, and even that religion should be avoided if the effect it has is to create confusion and division. In saying this I'm trying to anticipate a possible unease that some people may have over this song. I can understand that there may be a bit of unease that people don't feel they can express because of the seriousness of the situation.
Before I went to the concert I was already thinking about this, and I wrote `I see Charlotte being able to sing something like Imagine alongside her spiritual music, without problems and without contradiction, so long as the basis of everything is human feeling and mutual love and respect. There are people who want to make the world so simple that it would be impossible to live in. They can't tolerate any ideas but their own, and they hate anyone who doesn't choose their narrow and hateful viewpoint. Those are the kind of people who caused the deaths of many innocent people last week, and caused terrible sorrow for many more. If there seems to be a contradiction in Charlotte's choice of subjects for her songs, then I applaud her for it, because she's putting human sympathy and relationship above narrow and divisive viewpoints, and showing that we can live with contradictions, and that contradictions can in fact enrich our lives. Songs gain from their context, and I think Imagine sung by Charlotte can gain in depth precisely because of the apparent contradiction it may have with some of her other songs.'
That's what I drafted over the weekend, to see how it matched up with what actually happened at the concert. And I feel I was spot-on with that. She even juxtaposed Imagine with Amazing Grace, to make exactly this point. At least, this is the point that seemed to be made when she did that.
So in the sixth section of the concert Charlotte embraced the contradiction by following Imagine with Amazing Grace. She introduced it as `pretty much America's second national anthem.' This is another thing she's said before, but this time the tone seemed quite different. She mentioned that the song is a favourite of her nan's, and it evidently was. I found myself watching her nan during this song, and I'm glad I did. As I said just now, songs gain from their context, and Amazing Grace certainly did, as did Imagine. The two songs together worked remarkably well. It's a juxtaposition you won't hear very often - at least from the same singer - and I'm proud of Charlotte for what she was able to bring to them both.
This was the end of Charlotte's part of the concert. Two re-takes followed, with the orchestra only. The first was rather interesting - Somewhere, which had been sung as a duet with Josh Groban earlier. I wonder, why re-do only the instrumental accompaniment? I'm inclined to conclude that parts of the vocal performance are due to be dubbed over footage of the orchestra when the video's done, to disguise problems with the vocal recordings. And as you can guess from my previous comments, I strongly suspect the intention is to clean up Groban's performance. Maybe I'm wide of the mark. But I can't think of any other explanation. What about The Prayer, though? Perhaps it's unredeemable? Or perhaps it's supposed to sound like that?
The second re-take was the opening part of Tonight, prior to Charlotte's entry.
There are a couple of other points. I was surprised by how low-key the appeal for the childrens' hospital was. When I originally phoned to book my ticket I expected to be told there was a basic rate of twelve pounds, and a further contribution could be made. But instead I was simply told that tickets were twelve pounds. So I expected the opportunity to make further contributions on the night. There could well have been collecting boxes I didn't spot, as the hall was crowded (and I didn't go to the bar, either, and it's just occurred to me they may have been there). As it happens I've already contributed to the appeal, and I'm too short of cash to pledge any more at the moment, so I didn't ask. But I was surprised. Maybe I just missed something?
But there's another thing that comes to my mind, at least. This concert was close to home, literally, for Charlotte. But in the days before the concert I was aware that it's close to home in another way. In the run-up publicity Charlotte mentioned that Wales needs a children's hospital, and she mentioned that she was in hospital for a while when younger. But I think there's a natural association between hospital care for children and maternity care. Charlotte didn't mention it, perhaps because it isn't directly relevant, but as we know from her book, she owes her life to prompt and skilled medical attention at the time of her birth. I can't help thinking of the title Charlotte's new album almost had, before `Enchantment' was chosen: `From My First Moment.' >From Charlotte's first moment she owed her life to the staff at Cardiff Hospital, and I think it was wonderfully appropriate that she should be singing in Cardiff in aid of a children's hospital. I hope the video and the TV broadcasts of this concert are a bit more high profile with this, and make more people aware of the need for a children's hospital in Wales. It's good to give something back, and Charlotte's very definitely done that by giving this concert.
I think all of this says something important about Charlotte. Some singers let success go to their heads. They forget where they come from and who they are. But Charlotte's gained tremendous success while remembering that she's part of something - not just part of her relationship with her fans, though that's important too, but part of Wales, part of the efforts that were made for her and Maria during a difficult and dangerous birth, part of a family and a group of friends. In short, not an ego, like so many singers, but a real person. People get confused, of course, and there are occasionally complaints about what people think Charlotte should or shouldn't do. But Charlotte isn't owned by her fans or her country or by anyone else. She's free to be who she is. But she belongs, which is a very different kind of connection, and this concert showed that in all sorts of ways. It also showed her to be a strong and rapidly maturing performer, capable of developing and extending her range of styles. There's always been a quality about Charlotte that she's able to sing material that simply shouldn't be possible. It's no longer quite so disconcerting as it was. I must admit I find the Voice of an Angel video difficult to watch in a way, because that voice just shouldn't be coming from that little body. Even with a year or two's development she's closed the gap with that, but it still just shouldn't be possible for her to do what she does. But she does it anyway, and does it brilliantly. Thankfully.
- Andrew
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