Rufus Wainwright

There was great anticipation for Rufus Wainwright's concert. First, because the new album marks, for better or worse, a new stage in the brilliant New York artist's career; second, because this tour features Wainwright working solo, without the band that had accompanied him on the tour for his previous album "Release The Stars".

It has to be said right away that the choice of venue was spot on: the Teatro Comunale in Florence, the first Italian date of the tour, is the ideal stage for an artist who has always been meticulous about detail and attentive to the visual side of performance. A notice posted in the entrance hall warns that the concert will be split into two halves: a speaker announces that during the first set, at Wainwright's request, applause and photos will be forbidden. The lights go down. Silence falls.

First Half

Wainwright walks on stage in a long black cloak, his pose theatrical, his steps silent. He doesn't greet the audience, which he'll avoid looking at throughout the entire first part of the show. The piano energetically hammers out the notes of "Who Are You New York", while a screen simultaneously projects the image of a giant eye against a black background, an image that echoes the album cover and symbolizes a new phase in the American artist's life. By the second song it's already clear that the first half of the concert is devoted entirely to performing his latest effort, "All Days All Nights: Songs For Lulu". Wainwright loads his performance with pathos, delivers a flawless "So Sad With What I Have" and injects tenderness into "Martha", the song dedicated to his beloved sister. He takes a brief breather but immediately picks up again with the brilliant piano swing of "Give Me What I Want And Give It To Me Now". But it's only a moment's respite, as the whispers of "True Loves" demand full attention, as does the delicate "When Most I Wink".

"Shame" and "The Dream" are a raging river of troubled emotions and serve as a prelude to the closing songs, which are decidedly more linear, among them the standout "Zeboulon", with its funereal piano touches. Rufus leaves the stage just as he arrived, without looking at anyone and without speaking. Alone with his music.

This is how the first half ends: not a concert but a sonic funeral for his late mother, staged by Wainwright with obsessive attention to detail. The concentration he brings to the performance is astonishing. The stage takes on a dark atmosphere that pairs perfectly with Wainwright's glam touch. His fidelity to every single note on the record is total, confirming the initial impression one gets listening to "All Days All Nights": a valuable album, at times precious and not always easy to digest, one that demands full attention to be appreciated. And a stage as fitting as this one.

Second Half

Greeted by a long round of applause, Wainwright returns to the stage and, true to glam form, appears transformed. Gone is the long black gown and the dark backdrop; color takes over. "Grey Gardens" is just the right way to break the ice with the audience. Rufus now turns to cabaret, talks about the Uffizi, plays to the crowd, almost as if apologizing for the earlier coldness. The audience plays along, getting swept up in "Nobody Of The Hook" and turning serious again when Wainwright pays tribute to Jeff Buckley. "Waiting For Paris n.2" is interrupted three times by the New York artist's uncontrollable laughter, before he returns to form, paying tribute (as he will do several more times) to his sister Martha with a wonderful rendition of "Dinner At Eight", a track from one of his finest albums, "Want One".

Wainwright sets up the finale in grand style with the inevitable "Cigarette And Chocolate Milk". He rises from the piano, warmly greets the audience, but makes it clear he's eager to get straight back on stage, which he promptly does, delivering an extraordinary "Poses". The mood turns sparkling, but Rufus bows out with the melancholic "Going To A Town". A (well-deserved) standing ovation.

Both in the first and second half, Wainwright confirmed, if there was ever any need to, his crystalline talent. His eclecticism and artistic gifts make him one of the few contemporary musicians who rarely gets an album wrong. That said, a doubt remains, highlighted once again by this concert: how to reconcile the classical side of his repertoire with its purely pop side. "Release The Stars" had pushed hard on the latter, coming across at times as overblown and excessive. "All Days All Nights: Songs For Lulu" is its polar opposite, an album where mannerism sometimes wins out over ideas. "Poses", a true gem, was the perfect synthesis of Wainwright's two musical sides, but it dates back to 2001. All that's left is to wait for an album of that caliber, trusting in the still-untapped potential of the New York artist.

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