My fears, expressed on Facebook yesterday, that going to see Johnny Mathis last night and worrying that he may have lost his touch at age 76-soon-to-be-77 proved, happily, to be unfounded. He looked great, sounded great, and in a one hour and fifteen minute set, backed by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, sang everything that the audience wanted to hear. No new material for Johnny Mathis, just all his classic standards (with the exception, as noted above, of "Wonderful, Wonderful"), which is exactly what his audience wanted to hear.
My only gripe with the show, and it is a small one, is that at times the music from the Orchestra drowned out Mathis' vocals. Was this poor acoustics (not likely at Heinz, Hall). or a sign that maybe Johnny can't his all the notes that he used to? Who knows, and who cares. It was a fabulous show.
Did I mention that he looks great? He had on this absolutely beautiful suit on that was gray with shoes that matched the color of the suit exactly and a white open necked dress shirt. The suit, I am sure, cost more than any ten suits that I ever bought in my life. Man, did it look great!
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThe soundmen have the difficult challenge of trying to balance the sound of the orchestra with the soloist. I am not aware of the number of the musicians in the Pittsburgh Symphony, nor how they were miked (many symphonic musicians do not like having a microphone attached directly to their acoustic instruments), but it is always a challenge for ensembles of any size to tone down their sound when they are accompanying a soloist. Mr. Mathis should not be expected to try to 'out-shout' the orchestra. From many sources I am hearing that it was all beautiful, as always.
ReplyDeleteI meant to add that Mr. Mathis often says that if he doesn't do the "Holy Trinity" (meaning his early hits, "Chances Are," "It's Not For Me To Say" and "Wonderful, Wonderful") often some in the audience are left disappointed. But there are recordings available, thank goodness!
ReplyDelete