London
Monday, October 29, 2007 - Royal Albert Hall
First part : 01- Intro
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Second part : 18- Try to remember |
Nana, Royal at the Albert Hall
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On this morning of October 29, 2007, the London sun imbues the autumn colours of Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens. The famous gray squirrels are busy scurrying around the Peter Pan Statue. Yesterday’s rain is a distant memory (Why worry, there should be sunshine after rain). The monument’s statue set up in the honor of Prince Albert, Queen Victoria’s husband, glitters with all its gilded leaves. In front of it, the polychrome bricks of the Royal Albert Hall adopt their ochre color. The building, entirely round, reminds me of the Cirkusbygningen in Copenhagen where Nana sang in January 2003, but here in London it is more imposing and more majestic.
In the hall in front of the Albert Memorial, like in the box office hall located in the opposite building, there is no visible promotion for this evening's concert. There is only one poster affixed to a panel along Kensington Gore, to the left of the hall. The presence of BBC sound recording trucks confirms the information received through the Fan Club Site which stated that a video of the concert would be recorded.
With Anne-Marie, a French friend I met at the Salle Pleyel Hall in Paris in 1995, I planned on waiting for Nana's arrival at around 4 pm. To pass the time, we decide to visit Kensington Palace, the royal residence of Princess Margaret and Lady Diana, beautiful forever.
On return to the Royal Albert Hall, we run into two longtime English fans who mention that Nana has already arrived, in order to record the TV program of Yvonne Littlewood. It is now necessary for us to be patient until 6:15 pm, when we will meet with Ken Howard, a TV reporter. He set up an appointment with all the people who answered his message posted on the Fan Club Website. He wants everyone to specify where they come from, when they met Nana for the first time and what Nana represents for them. During the meeeting, he interviews and films fans from various countries (Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Greece, Holland, New Zealand, etc), even those that hadn't responded to his message.
Finally, it's time to take our seats. The twelve entries to the concert hall facilitate the access. The hall is splendid, living up to its reputation: There is a circular arena in the center, then steps to the lower cabins which are surmounted by three balconies (two with cabins, one with steps) and to finish the deambulatory, one cannot forget to mention the organ behind the stage. Everywhere, the red color dominates.
Towards 7:30 pm, the hall darkens and the musicians arrive on stage, welcomed by the applause of the public. The composition of the group has changed. We discover two new faces (Christophe on the drums and Marc with the percussions) but Philippe, Hervé, Yannick and Luciano are still there.
After an intro inspired by traditional music of the British Isles, Nana comes on stage, dressed in a black dress entirely covered with a superb transparent tunic of black tone as well. The entire hall offers a standing ovation. Nana must wait until the abounding applause ceases before opening the concert with a stunning "Amazing Grace".
The voice is exceptional, and is well placed for appreciation with the sound quality of the hall. There are no aggressive speakers on either side of the stage, but many acoustic ensembles hung above our heads. Each ensemble is made up of a serie of small speakers juxtapositioned in the shape of an arc of a circle from bottom to top. The sound, eminating in all directions, is rich, just like the hall.
Nana, ambassadress of Honor for Greek music in the whole world, offers "Pefti vrochi" and "I endekati entoli" to us. Then, "Love changes everything" illustrates the importance of Love in the life. She thanks the audience for their long standing fidelity over the many years and wishes that this farewell concert not be tinged with sadness, but to be seen as a Thank You. Nana evokes her youth in Greece, her parents and in particular her mother who had a beautiful voice and sang songs from the European continent like "La paloma", "Lily Marleen", "O sole mio", "Aïde to malono", "Parlez-moi d’amour", "The Bonnie banks o’ Loch Lomond" and "Siboney". "I'll remember you" underscores the affection that she has for her public.
After having thanked the public, Nana has a small lapse of memory. With a lot of humour, she specifies that one day a friend said to her: « My dear, the first 80 years of life are the most difficult ». Before singing "Smoke gets in your eyes", she recalls that her love for jazz caused her to be expelled from the Conservatory of Athens. The musical voyage continues brilliantly with "Odos oniron", "Song for Liberty" and the extraordinary "Le ciel est noir". The second standing ovation greets the end of the first part which lasted approximately one hour.
The hall darkens again, the musicians take their place. From the first notes of the intro, Nana returns to the stage, dressed with a white gown covered with a transparent tunic embroidered with golden motifs. After "Try to remember", "Bridge over troubled water, "When I dream", Nana sings an anthology of her songs from the last century :
Plaisir d’amour
Love me tender
Why worry
Over and over
Cucurrucucu paloma
Ta pedia tou Pirea
Me and Bobby McGee
Turn on the sun
Come on Blue
At one point in the performance, Yannick and Philippe joined her on the apron of the stage.
