REVIEW: Renée Fleming, Patrizio Buanne, Elton John in NJ

Photo: Renée Fleming’s new album is called Broadway and showcases her continued interest in musical theater. Photo courtesy of Decca / Timothy White / Provided by the artist with permission.

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NEW JERSEY — The Garden State has hosted a number of high-profile musical acts in recent weeks. The concerts ranged from operatic recitals (Renée Fleming with accompanist Gerald Martin Moore at the State Theatre) to Italian love songs (Patrizio Buanne at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center’s Victoria Theater) to Elton John’s final stop in New Jersey ever (Prudential Center).

Renée Fleming offered a brilliantly diverse and poignant evening recently at the State. Accompanied by Gerald Martin Moore on piano, the world-famous opera singer (who was recently profiled by Hollywood Soapbox) sang numerous selections, both old and new.

She opened the two-hour program with the work of Johannes Brahms and then easily transitioned into Letters From Georgia by Kevin Puts. This latter segment of the evening had Fleming offering emotion and passion to Georgia O’Keefe’s letters. The recitation was interesting and revealing, allowing audience members to not only delve deeper into O’Keefe’s words but also Fleming’s interpretive skills.

The singer then dove into her recent cinematic work. Operatic selections from Bel Canto; Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri; and The Shape of Water were featured, each fittingly atmospheric and wonderfully brought to life by Moore and Fleming.

After an intermission, Fleming stuck closer to the opera world, with a few Broadway tunes thrown in for good measure (her most recent album is called Broadway, after all). There was “Signore, ascolta” from Turandot and “Musette svaria sulla bocce viva” from La Bohème, plus songs from The Music Man (the highlight of the concert), Nine, The Visit and A Little Night Music.

Fleming, whose focus nowadays is on recording, Broadway, recitals and master classes, may not have had the Metropolitan Opera’s chorus behind her or the operatic costumes of that big venue across the river, but she transported the audience to places near and far, recent and past.

Patrizio Buanne began his NJPAC concert right on time, diving into Italian selections that had the audience at the Victoria Theater up and dancing. He has a palpable energy to his performance style — one part Massimo Ranieri, one part Elvis Presley, one part Frank Sinatra.

Buanne entertained the crowd with songs from his own songbook and the great songbook from Naples, Italy. In between the musical selections he offered stories and commentary.

Improvisation was obviously a large part of the evening, which kept the 90-minute concert fresh and constantly morphing. There were times it felt like a rock show and other times a lounge act.

Buanne is an original, through and through.

Elton John is on a multi-year farewell tour dubbed Farewell Yellow Brick Road, and he made his final stop in New Jersey recently. The piano maestro started at approximately 8:10 p.m. and did not stop until a few minutes shy of 11 p.m. This adieu was thorough and crowd-pleasing.

The singer’s tunes are so well known that only a few notes on the piano were needed for the audience to erupt into applause and cheers. Case in point: His opening number was “Bennie and the Jets,” and each time John struck the ivories, the artistically designed stage lit up with colorful images.

All of the hits were there, from “I Guess That’s Why They Call Them the Blues” to “Tiny Dancer” to “Philadelphia Freedom.” John sat at his piano, and in between songs walked down to the stage’s edge and tried to elicit some enthusiasm from the ticket buyers. He didn’t have to try hard because the sold-out crowd was with him for every note, every lyric, ever trip down memory lane.

“Rocket Man (I Think It’s Going to Be a Long, Long Time),” “Levon,” “Candle in the Wind” and “Daniel” were spot-on renditions. “Take Me to the Pilot” could have been better, with some of the lyrics getting garbled by the frenetic nature of the tune. “Burn Down the Mission” was the highlight of the evening.

The final tunes in this expansive show were gifts to an adoring public who have stood by John for decades: “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me,” “I’m Still Standing,” “Crocodile Rock” and “Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting.” The two-show encore of “Your Song” and the appropriate “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” gave the singer one last chance to say goodbye, and then he ascended the stage and walked on those yellow bricks one last time.

He will be missed from the road.

By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com