STRING ALONG WITH ELVIS

[johnfoyle]

http://www.nypost.com/entertainment/25232.htm

STRING ALONG WITH ELVIS

By BARBARA HOFFMAN



July 17, 2004 -- Paul McCartney tried it, and Joe Jackson did, too.
So did the artist known as William Joel (Billy, to you). But none of them have crossed over to the classical side quite as successfully as Elvis Costello, if his first full-length symphonic work, "Il Sogno," is any indication.

Judge for yourself when the piece - rife with echoes of folk, swing, Gershwin and jazz - has its North American premiere tonight at the Lincoln Center Festival.

"I like everything about it," says Brad Lubman, who'll conduct the Brooklyn Philharmonic in the work. "Whenever anyone does a crossover, people are skeptical. What I'm so impressed with is how well-written, how well-orchestrated it is, especially by someone who didn't spend an entire life in this world."

"Il Sogno" was commissioned four years ago by an Italian dance company for its adaptation of "A Midsummer Night's Dream." Costello composed it in 10 weeks, writing it out painstakingly in pencil across 200 pages, without computers or collaborators.

"You do hear things that might sound familiar, but it's not pastiche," Lubman says. "There are bits that sound as if they might be out of 'West Side Story.'''

Costello didn't score a part for himself - though he did write in saxophones, a drum set and a cimbalom, a kind of dulcimer.



He will, however, perform in the concert's second half, when the orchestra will back him up on his regular turf, including cuts from his recent CD, "North." Once again, his aim is true.

8 p.m. tonight at Avery Fisher Hall, 66th Street and Columbus Avenue; (212) 721-6500; $50-$65.

[Sour Milk Cow]

How wonderful to know that his aim is still true.

Thank you, Barbara Hoffman, for your clever turn of phrase! You are an inspiration to other journalists, who I hope will pick up on this line and use it in future profiles of Elvis Costello.

[bobster]

So there's some possibility that this thing might actually be good!