Cynthia Erivo opens the Spring Pops season in style
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With a stage presence steeped in control and deliberateness whether singing or simply speaking to the audience, Erivo delivered strange bedfellows 'Ain't No Way' and 'I Put A Spell On You' as torch songs, and both 'At Last' and 'Stormy Weather' were lush and sweeping, with the singer slightly behind the beat on the latter and playing it for laid-back languidness. But her reserve occasionally made numbers like 'I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You)' and 'I (Who Have Nothing)' a touch too genteel to burn.
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It also gave unexpected moments added electricity. Erivo called for a redo at the start of 'I Can't Stand The Rain,' cuing the xylophone player to the proper tempo with her shoulders, maybe the only time she got the music physically into her body. And a cry of 'Yes!' from the audience immediately before the arrival of the title of 'Feeling Good' made her laugh at length and re-collect herself before diving in and dancing around the melody and rhythm with her voice.
But Erivo was capable of electricity even when all went according to plan. 'The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face' was light and majestic even before Scott Johnson's delicately-plucked folk guitar and the string and horn swells, with Erivo singing the first verse a cappella with a gentle, masterful touch. And as she did, Lockhart slowly turned toward the audience with a knowing smile, as if making sure everyone understood what they were hearing.
THE BOSTON POPS WITH CYNTHIA ERIVO
At: Symphony Hall, Thursday
Marc Hirsh can be reached at officialmarc@gmail.com or on Bluesky @spacecitymarc.bsky.social.
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