Olivia Newton-John And The Sydney Symphony: Live At The Sydney... [DVD] [2008] [NTSC]

I was at the Sydney Opera House and saw this show Live, she just sounds fantastic, Sydney Siders forget how good the opera House is for live music. The Sydney Symphony and her voice just work!

There where a few surprises like her duet with Peter Allen (He died in 1992).

Well worth getting both!!The DVD and CD - A great memory in Sound!

John

A concert at the Sydney Opera House with a full symphony and twenty-seven songs is a sure fire hit. Even if Olivia's gold sequined pant-suit is questionable, she looks and sounds great. Only a few times were those high notes a bit of a stretch, but for someone her age, the vocals were more than satisfying and the show was absolutely professional.

"Have You Never Been Mellow" opens the act and proceeds with songs from `Xanadu' before Olivia does a series of her country-flavored songs, including her first big hit, "If Not For You". A slow version of "Psychical" is extremely interesting and her own penned song, "Not Gonna Give In To It", a response from her battle with breast cancer. Mixing slow ballads ("Cry Me A River") with faster numbers ("Twist Of Fate"), the show completely entertains. The symphony adds an enormous element of power to the show with several symphonic song introductions.

"Tenterfield Saddler", a song written by Peter Allen is sung with pure emotion, as is the other Allen song, "I Honestly Love You". Of course, towards the end of the concert, Olivia plays with the audience and her band members by going through some of the bigger hits from "Grease" with a great rousing rendition of, "You're The One That I Want" and a fun, "Summer Nights". Concluding with the song version of the `Serenity' prayer, Olivia Newton-John brings home the goods.

The concert is a five-star, but this DVD I have to give less to. More than often, DVD Concerts mix interviews' in between concert songs, interrupting the excitement or mood of the entire experience. In between every song, we are witness to Olivia giving us a tour of Sydney, meeting fans and having fun, but this should have been a separate `extra' on the DVD. Still, this is a great experience and is in 5.1 surround for that feeling of "being there".

Recorded in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, this is a quality production with a rich and vibrant sound recording (probably sourced from a HD recording). Backed by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Olivia sings many of her best known songs from her long career in what is an outstanding performance.
Olivia's voice has always been better suited to the soft ballad style songs that she sang in the 70s and has returned to in recent years, much more so than the 80's style pop that followed the 'Physical' era. I feel she has recognised this in this performance. All eras are covered, though the less desireable years are abbreviated (a full version of the Rumour would have been nice though).
Olivia continues to grow in the strength of her performance, especially on a vocal level. Olivia clearly works hard to make the most of her voice and I feel has added more depth to her range, especially in tackling the lower notes.
A lot of time and effort has gone into the orchestration, with carefully introduced accompaniment to songs like Physical, re-arranged into a superb modern piece, much more sophisticated and appropriate for Olivia's age. The backing vocalists overlap to produce a rich and highly polished performance as do the band.
There are some interesting clips of Olivia out and about with the band around Sydney. I would have preferred that these had been seperate from the main concert rather than inserts. However, that said the whole 2 hour DVD is superb. I just hope that we don't have to wait anything like another 25 years before we see a video release of another solo performance and of course how about a UK tour !!