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John Aizlewood's rating
, A Grecian goodbye
By
John Aizlewood
30 Oct 2007
Now a venerable 73-year-old with suspiciously jet-black hair and a wardrobe of sparkly tent dresses seemingly designed by Dame Edna Everage, Ioanna "Nana" Mouskouri has bowed to the inevitable and last night marked her final London appearance. That the film projectionist's daughter from Crete couldn't quite fill the Albert Hall, despite selling a staggering 350 million albums, suggests she's wise to go now.
However, the former MEP was departing neither quietly nor quickly, hence two sets, lasting nearly three hours. Backed by a bouzouki-free sextet, before an audience predominantly comprised of heterosexual Greeks and homosexual British, she sang in Greek, German, Italian, French (a fabulously dramatic version of Bob Dylan's A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall) and even English.
If reduced vocal capacity meant she never quite got to grips with Bridge Over Troubled Water, her opening assault on Amazing Grace was a showstopper before the show had really started. Attempting Kris Kristofferson's Me And Bobby McGee was endearingly bonkers, although not as endearingly bonkers as singing most of her signature White Rose Of Athens in German.
More eccentric still, in between accepting gifts of flowers (by the encore, the front of the stage looked like a roadside shrine to a recent traffic accident victim), she told a somewhat downbeat version of her life story, concentrating on her "years of sorrow". And, at the end, she tackled My Way, forgot most of the verses, flashed a well-turned calf and tottered into the twilight. We cannot possibly see her like again.
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
Reader views (6)
I thought the concert at the RAH, was a fantastic night! Nana was brilliant, full of emotion and gratitude, from both the audience and the stage. Nana is unique, having given so much pleasure to her millions of fans around the world! No-one else comes close to her phenomenal career, spanning five decades!
The majority of the fans, from many countries, were there to pay their respects to Nana and to say THANK YOU!
- G. Neale, Herefordshire, UK, 13/11/2007 00:28
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I also was terribly disappointed with this concert. It was too self-indulgent and all the way through there was this feeling of remembering what she used to be. I agree with the person who said that it was like a funeral. It make me very sad. But for most of the audience it was different because they completely adore her. With Nana Mouskouri it has become too much like I love you if you love me and somehow she makes the people who come feel that they are loved by her. I did not go to this concert for this but to hear her sing. Unfortunately, though I like the songs she sang I could not like her voice. But at least it was a good thing to witness the last London performance. I am disappointed not to see her sing when she was young.
- Edwardo, London, 07/11/2007 14:13
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It is easy to pick fault with notes that didn't quite hit the mark but where is the praise for the thousands of notes that did. If she has a fault it is the perfection she has delivered to audiences over the last 50 years which leaves her wide open to attack now. Nana was there to say farewell to the people who have bought her records and concert tickets over the years and have welcomed her into their homes and hearts. She did this in the only way she knows how, by singing one last song. I was in the audience in Birmingham, if there wasn't a dry eye in the house, mine included, it wasn't because she had delivered a concert that was less than perfect. It was because this was the last concert in the UK. She hadn't left the stage and the audience were already missing her. Nana knows without the people she would be nothing. There is no point being a singer if there is no one to sing the songs to. Nana has always thanked her audience for their support and their love. She is 100% genuine.
- Jean Wilson, Atherstone, UK., 07/11/2007 00:18
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I was at the show and it was a great concert by a unique singer. During the show she covered a wide range of what she has recorded over the years, Nana Mouskouri is a world star and her international shows have always featured mainly the language and particular repertoire of the countries she performs in, yes there were Greek songs but I was really happy to here the songs in English. Considering the emotions, which must be flowing through any artist on a farewell tour she sang remarkably well, and as the earlier reviewer, pointed out, the audience loved every minute of it!
- Fred O'Neil, London, UK, 05/11/2007 22:29
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Excellent show, very moving! Yes she was emotional at the beginning of the concert but later her divine voice could be heard once again.
90% were English and the rest Greek, French and even Japanese.
It seems the English public most of whom were couples and family people unlike Aizlewood's comment, loved her and gave her a standing ovation many times... during the show.
- Mary Theodorides, London UK, 31/10/2007 00:33
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What a massive disappointment this concert was. I have very varied musical tastes but, this was a concert I was tempted to leave before the end.
Songs selected were a strange mixture, without sufficient reference to the artist's Greek roots and the beauty of its native music. That Nana "sold out" so completely to other languages and uninspiring covers of other people's songs must have been desperately disappointing for the large Greek contingent in the audience who should have expected better. This was clearly demonstrated by the way in which the audience was momentarily enlivened by a very brief extract from "Never on a Sunday" in a medley of songs.
The concert started in a promising way and I was looking forward to what I thought would be a journey of music and words through Nana's life. However, this quickly descended into incoherent and repetitive ramblings, barely touching on, for example, her more radical side.
I could hardly believe the complete absence of bouzouki music from her performance and the terrible rendition of "My Way" at the end left me feeling just depressed. There were no smiling faces leaving the hall, no "feelgood" factor or chatter, which is the hallmark of a good concert.
My friend (who is Greek) commented that she felt that she had been to a funeral, rather than a concert, the icon of her childhood reduced to a shadow of her former self.
- Sally, West Sussex, 30/10/2007 13:22
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