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Michael Feinstein

Published Monday 2 November 2009 at 14:45 by Sheila Tracy

Carnegie Hall, the Hollywood Bowl and now the London Palladium, where he took a standing ovation from a near capacity audience. Michael Feinstein, having collected five Grammy Nominations, has come a long way from his days as research assistant to Ira Gershwin which began his love affair with the Great American Songbook.

From the moment he walks on stage swinging into Luck Be a Lady Tonight, you know this has very little to do with luck. Here is an extraordinary talent, not just vocally but with an ability to work an audience of a couple of thousand as individuals.

In cabaret, Feinstein accompanies himself on piano, but on this occasion was backed by a 17 piece band of London’s top session musicians, who were never going to suffer from lip fatigue as the star of the show took to the piano stool now and again, achieving a degree of intimacy with his audience before showing off his considerable keyboard technique when the band joined him for Brazil.

His amazing vocal range, together with the ability to go from a purring pianissimo to a thundering fortissimo puts Feinstein in a class of his own. Add to that the many showbiz stories with which he regales the audience and it is no surprise he had them on their feet, resulting in three encores.

John Barrowman was the special guest in the first half providing an excellent foil to the more intimate style of Feinstein.

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