Zadora, Aznavour captivate
by Ernie Santosuosso, Globe staff
MUSIC REVIEW
Pia Zadora and Charles Aznavour - in concert at the Opera House, Saturday night
Based upon the public reaction to her two albums of American standards, "Pia & Phil" and "I Am What I Am", Pia Zadora need no longer serve as a human dartboard. That statement doesn't mean that she will unseat Streisand, Sarah Vaughan or other superior female singers, but her singing, unlike her moviemaking, does her credit. So, you will read no snipes here at her husband's wealth or her privileged life.
Sharing the Opera House billing Saturday night with veteran French singer-composer Charles Aznavour, Zadora acquitted herself most favorably in her rundown of mainly "cover" versions of popular evergreens. It was not a singularly memorable performance. In fact, her arrangements were so crescendo-saturated that there seemed to be little variety in her presentations. She gives the impression that she is more facile at belting than balladeering. In the former mode, she sustains final notes for several seconds with ease, and her intonation, while parchment-light on certain segnments of love songs, is formidable when she reaches for highs and power.
Assisted by a 34-piece orchestra, led by Vincent Falcone, Zadora took off in a virtual nonstop retrospective of tastefull standards, including "Get Me to the Church on Time," "How About You," "I'm Beginning to See the Light," "Maybe This Time," "The Lady is a Tramp," "All of Me" and recalled the tingling stridence generated by Judy Garland on "The Man That Got Away." She gave exemplary readings of the ballads "How Do You Keep the Music Playing" and a lesser-known tune, "Someone I Used to Love." Before concluding her solo set with "The Party's Over" and declaiming "I Am What I Am," a belter customized for Zadora, her 2 1/2-year-old-daughter, Kady, toddled onstage with a rose for Mommy. Zadora gave a solidly professional performance that can only profit from closer attention to phrasing and dynamics. These observations, notwithstanding, Zadora, as a singer of popular songs, is no joke.
While both received, at least, partial standing ovations, Aznavour's set was the most substantial. Sauntering onto the stage in his customary cabaret black and with his left hand in his pocket, Aznavour, wether in french or English, sang in a strong voice, marinated in emotion, and used his body to complement the lyrics effectively. He is a consumnate actor in song and often resorts to bizarre themes for his most dramatic performances.
In "What Makes a Man a Man," Aznavour sympathetically recounts the poignant social alienation of a transvesite and acts out the part as he steps mincingly about the stage. He also sings about a man in love with a deaf mute and, in a mesmerizing performance, uses sign language to suggest a ballet. "La Boheme" is his ackowledgement of the hand-to-mouth striving of France's artists. |
