Cole Porter Songbook Anniversary Gala, Usher Hall, Review

Submitted by Ken Wilson on Sat, 14 May '16 9.20am
Rating (out of 5)
5
Show details
Performers
Kim Criswell (vocalist), Wayne Marshall (conductor)
Royal Scottish National Orchestra
Running time
150mins

Cole Porter was a genius. A wit, a composer and a wonderful lyricist – his musicals include Kiss Me Kate and Anything Goes. He perfected the laundry list song, had a love of internal rhymes and inserted modern slang and the names of society friends in his songs (now some of these names sound a little arcane). His double entendres often shocked and surprised audiences although many people didn’t understand the references at all.

Porter was promiscuously prodigious, many of his songs are now totally forgotten others have become evergreens. Kim Criswell is the world’s leading exponent of the Porter songbook and has a long and distinguished recording and stage career. The RSNO gala was a triumph. Guest conductor Wayne Marshall put the orchestra through its paces in no uncertain terms. Perhaps the sound was a tad overemphatic in places especially at the start but things soon settled down allowing Miss Criswell full reign. She began with a sublime rendition of I Get a Kick Out of You. Then it was on to the first of Porter’s naughty songs, one which launched the career of Mary Martin in 1938: My Heart Belongs to Daddy.

As Kim pointed out between numbers Porter could write almost anything from dirty ditties to transcendent love songs. The still chill of In the Still of the Night was in the latter camp. Other standards followed – including Night and Day and Begin the Beguine – as well as a good number of lesser-known works like the charming, Latin-inspired I’ve Still Got My Health from the musical Panama Hattie and first sung by Ethel Merman. And Miss Criswell can belt them out just like dear old Ethel (whose version of There’s No Business Like Showbusiness is Broadway’s national anthem.

Edinburgh was lucky to have this wonderful night of song. The rapt audience was transported back to some deco Rainbow Room in Manhattan. So In Love, with a Chopin etude played under, made for a thrilling and hilarious finale. And the encore was Can-can (“If in Cannes ev’ry tan courtesan can/Baby, you can can-can too”). And, oh man, Miss Criswell certainly can too!