Darren DeVivo and Paul McCartney at Carnegie Hall!

I just returned from Carnegie Hall where I attended the North American premier performance of Paul McCartney's new classical work Ecce Cor Meum. This was the second performance of the piece, which made it's world premier last week in London at Royal Albert Hall. As many of you know, Paul has numerous classical works already under his belt - 1991 saw the release of Paul McCartney's Liverpool Oratorio. That was followed by Paul McCartney's Standing Stone in 1997. The album Working Classical from 1999 was a collection of shorter pieces and "classical renditions" of some of his pop songs. (Also, check out the benefit/tribute album A Garland For Linda from 2000.)

This was a really special evening at Carnegie Hall. Yes, I shaved and left my sneakers at home!!

First, the program. The evening was split into two parts. The first half of the show featured a selection of Paul McCartney compositions from his pop work and earlier classical works. The second half of the show was Ecce Cor Meum (Behold My Heart) performed in it's entirety. The first half featured the following songs:
1) My Love (the Wings song from the 1973 album Red Rose Speedway)
2) Warm And Beautiful (a Wings song from the 1976 album Wings At The Speed Of Sound)
3) Calico Skies (from Paul's 1997 album Flaming Pie)
4) Golden Earth Girl (from Paul's 1993 album Off The Ground)
5) Somedays (from Flaming Pie)
6) Junk (from Paul's first solo album McCartney from 1970)
7) Nova (a classical composition of Paul's from A Garland For Linda)
8) The World You're Coming Into (from Paul McCartney's Liverpool Oratorio)
9) Ghost Suite (also from Paul McCartney's Liverpool Oratorio)
10) Celebration (from Paul McCartney's Standing Stone)
The perfomers during this half were: soprano Kate Royal, tenor Andrew Staples, the Loma Mar Quartet and a chamber orchestra.
The second half was Ecce Cor Meum in it's entirety - first movement "Spiritus", second movement "Gratia", Interlude (Lament), third movement "Musica", fourth movement "Ecce Cor Meum".
The performers were soprano Kate Royal, the Orchestra of St. Luke's conducted by Gavin Greenaway, the Concert Chorale of New York, the American Boychoir and organist Colm Carey.

I am not an expert when it comes to classical music, but I can tell when something is pretty outstanding, and tonight's performance was outstanding! It amazes me that someone who has written some of the most important mainstream popular music of our time can also compose credible work in the classical field. But, knowing Paul's talents, maybe it shouldn't amaze me. Despite this, there were a couple of areas that I thought were a bit weak. It was slightly awkward to have a classical soprano and classical tenor tackle pop lyrics, like those in "My Love", for example. If a pop singer, like Paul, were singing to a string quartet's accompaniment, that might have sounded a bit more natural. That said, the strong melodies in Paul's pop songs allow them to work in a "classical" setting. In regards to the entire Ecce Cor Meum, there are moments when Paul's lyrics are a bit on the simple side, an occasional fault of some of Paul's pop material. Other than these minor critical observations, Ecce Cor Meum is a special work and tonight's entire performance was wonderful.

It was obvious by the entire program that this show was one for and inspired by Linda McCartney. Almost all of the pop songs that were performed in the first half were songs about and for Linda. Also, Ecce Cor Meum was composed during Linda's illness and completed after her death, so her spirit, and Paul's grieving, is very prominent in the piece.

Being that it was the only North American performance of this new McCartney work, it was no surprise that the evening was a star studded event. Spotted in Carnegie Hall's Isaac Stern Auditorium was Alec Baldwin, Woody Harrelson, Steve Buscemi, Elvis Costello and a VERY pregnant Diana Krall, the wonderful concert promoter Sid Bernstein and others. Actually, it was my wife who spotted Elvis Costello and Diana Krall leaving the Hall after the show. I was chatting with WAXQ's (Q104.3) Ken Dashow in the lobby and missed them. My wife was blown away with how pregnant Diana Krall is (she's due to have twins real soon)! She said Diana looked real uncomfortable. As we were walking into the lobby before the show, we walked right past Alec Baldwin!!

It goes without saying, but Sir Paul McCartney was in attendence as well! Now you have to imagine the scene. I am sitting with my wife on the floor...uhh, we were in seats, but the seats were on the floor in the orchestra (the parquet). We are sitting dead center, in the back of the orchestra (uhh, parquet)...three rows from the very back. They were outstanding seats. Directly over our heads, about 15-20 feet above us, is the first tier. Guess who is sitting DIRECTLY ABOVE ME? PAUL HIMSELF!! He is merely 20-25 feet above me. When he leans forward, I can see his face. He's right there!!!! As my wife said, "So close and yet so far away!". Alec Baldwin was sitting to his right and Woody Harrelson and Steve Buscemi were to his left. Needless to say, the crowd went nuts when he arrived at his seat just minutes before the show began. I have to admit, I yelled up to him, "Hey Paul! Look down!". He didn't. After the show was over and the performers were taking their bows, Paul arrived on stage. He intoduced the performers and thanked them. And then the heavens opened...a blizzard of confetti blasted into the hall, snowing down on us. As it fell, we realized that the confetti were pieces of white tissue paper in the shape of hearts..."Behold My Heart"!

DDD
11/14-15/06