Customer Reviews

Olivia Newton-John and the Sydney Symphony: Live at the Sydney Opera House

5 star:		(46)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I had seen some teasers of this concert on PBS and thought it looked pretty tight, so I was hopeful it would be better than the pretty-good concert Olivia put out in limited release from 2002. MY how she has grown in confidence since then! She was really at ease with ALL of her musical styles here, and with the audience, and with her band.

For those who have seen her live in this century (haha, but quite seriously), you know she has stuck with a particular musicians in her band line-up at guitar & backing vocals & a multi-instrumentalist. Well, they have all improved together over the years, and she splits her vocal duets with all of them plus a video with peter allen (RIP) that is quite dramatic instead of what you'd think (cheesy) -- it came off like a beautiful surreal movie. Step back Babs Streisand, theres a superior mature female vocalist with wider musical range of selection and a purer heart! Olivia is just in her finest form!

Not only do the duets remind you what a skilled duets singer she is -- she has an entirely unique ability to blend her voice with others, always giving them the space to excel while quietly creating the whole landscape on which the feeling of the song sits! But its clear she gets on with the band so well, and they ALL clearly LIKE each other and "Get it" about Olivia, and help support her being the best she can be. You are not watching a concert of a group that is just there to get their paycheck and join the next artist's tour. They are ALL on board just for Olivia, and over the last 8 years, their loyalty has turned up real gold in their performances together. I dont say this because "thats nice" but because it makes for great collaborative music. Add in the lush Sydney Symphony Orchestra, and you have a classic.

You also get to feel the genuine gratitude not only for a fellow Aussie music legend, Peter Allen -- who was married for 7 years to Liza Minnelli before coming out gay in 1974, the year he wrote one of Olivia's definitive songs "I Honestly Love You" -- Their "Tenderfield Saddler" duet here was a big payback, and added just another transcendent dimension to this amazing concert.

But I guess the main thing to point out here is that Livvy is in a really good place, as her recent recordings bear proof. Though oddly, I am saying all of this without any representation on this DVD from 3 of my very favorite Newton-John albums in this concert (Totally Hot, Back with a Heart, and Grace & Gratitude), the show is so superb, you can understand the choices perfectly. She didnt need those 3 albums to still spin out this masterpiece.

For someone with 30 (THIRTY!) top 40 hits in their career, it is easy to become a slave to your past success, merely a showcase for your hits. In fact, thats almost the rule among pop/rock performers. But Olivia has turned that around: Her hits are merely showcasing HER. She has emerged - at almost 60 years of age - as an agelessly powerful singer, writer, interpreter & performer, who is still entirely present, and not at all sheepishly digging up the past. This is really really impressive stuff.

So if you're thinking "Maybe" about adding this to your dvd collection, then I can pretty much promise you, the answer is YES ... you should get it.

The greatest test of a singer is how they sing live, and hopefully with no pre-recorded tracks and amplified back-tracking. That said it seems that a number of singers who came of age in the 1970's are the ones who continue to deliver the goods live.

Olivia is a real life survivor, and here she is backed by not only the Sydney Symphony, but her own tight band and real live back-up vocalists. Sometimes artists have the urge to delv into the world of cover songs, or sing a lot of new material, here Olivia stands by the age tested showbiz saying, give the people want they want.

In a very polished, and classy way, she delivers the hits from all phases are her long career. Have You Ever Been Mellow, and a medley of her Country hits, such as Let Me Be There, do justice to her early years, and although the film of Xanadu was not a hit, the soundtrack was, and she shows us why.

Physical, from the album of the same name, and her biggest seller todate, gets a revamp here, but the playfullnes of the song remains, as it does on Make A Move On Me.

Grease is well represented here (as it should be), and these songs never seem to grow old, and I doubt they ever will. A star in his own right, Warren Ham, fills in for John Travolta, and frankly sings better than Mr. Travolta ever could.

Olivia closes the show with the beautiful ballad, I Honesty Love You, a song written by fellow Australian, the late, great, Peter Allen. Like a number of her peers, Ms. Newton-John could just as easily sit home and watch the royalty checks come in, instead she continues to dazzle her fans and gain new ones. A class act indeed!

Ken

I just watched this concert on our local college station broadcast and it was wonderful. She has lost none of her luster over the years, and the new version of lets get physical with her group and the synphony orchestra is stunning. I couldnt help but crank up the surround sound and sit there with my mouth open. I cant wait to buy my copy to keep and watch again. I am also going to get the cd to put on the ipod for sure.

I haven't heard much from Olivia in the past decade or so. That is until I stumbled across a PBS special Live at the Sydney Opera. She not only looks incredible, but sounds exactly the same as she did when I saw Grease. I actually pre-ordered this DVD as a result of seeing this special. GOD she looks and sounds great and thank GOD I saw this, I forgot I was madly in love with her.

I have had the pleasure of getting this DVD early. This DVD is perfect for all Olivia fans! She not only performs her number one hits, she performs songs off of her 2005 release "Stronger Then Before." The behind-the-scenes of Olivia walking around in Sydney are such a joy to see. All in all this DVD is perfect!

I have to admit it's taken me years to warm up to Olivia Newton-John as I originally wrote her off as the most pre-packaged of pop singers with her breathy voice and her Breck-girl prettiness. However, there is no denying her longevity in such an unforgiving business. When I saw the stage version of Xanadu on Broadway in December, it was as much a tribute to her as it was to the surreal travesty the movie is. It's been nearly four decades since her first stateside success, a twangy cover of Bob Dylan's "If Not for You", which she performs here as the lead-off to a sit-down medley of her country hits. Capturing her at the Sydney Opera House in March 2006, this concert DVD gives testament to her enduring career, and at a slightly cosmetically altered 57, her slightly throatier voice may have lost some of the higher notes but still maintains the pop sheen she's always had.

Olivia's set is pretty extensive with 27 songs over the course of its 127-minute running time, long by most concert standards although there is filler in the form of random home-movie video clips of her trip to Sydney. Obviously, she has a wealth of musical material from which to cull, so it's a tribute to her that her repertoire is so varied. Most of the songs remain true to the original arrangements, although a few have been dramatically changed like the anachronistically samba-sized version of "Physical". The only times where Olivia falters is on the songs that require her early-years tremolo like the opener, "Have You Never Been Mellow?", where you can hear the strain. Otherwise, she is quite relaxed, perhaps too much so as her sometimes intimate delivery appears at odds with the cavernous opera house.

As her fans would demand, Olivia and her back-up singers cover the soundtracks of Grease and Xanadu pretty thoroughly, and their good spirits are infectious even if the approach is a bit karaoke (especially with the feather boas). She is candid with her early 1990's bout with breast cancer on the upbeat "Not Gonna Give In to It" and even does a Natalie Cole-style duet with a video of the late Peter Allen on his poignant ballad, "Tenterfield Saddler". Her patter can come across as a bit canned. However, unlike Cher or Celine Dion, who fill their shows with extravagant costume changes, gymnastic dancers and smoky special effects, Olivia relies almost solely on her sincere delivery, which may make this concert a bit of a stretch for non-fans. There is a big-screen behind her to remind people of her career highlights, but it's shown rather incidentally. The 2008 DVD could have provided more extras, but it would be difficult to begrudge a pop princess who doesn't look ready to descend her throne.

I bought this DVD having already seen Olivia perform live a few times before and I wasn't disappointed in the concert. Her voice is still amazing and I've been a fan of hers since I was a child so I have pretty much grown up with her music. The actual concert footage on the DVD is quite good and the sound is excellent. My only problem with this DVD is the fact that the actual video introduction to the concert is now played at the very end, in the corner of the screen during the credits. It would have been nice to have left where it was meant to be (at the start of the show) to at least give the impression you're watching the concert as it was. This brings me to my next quibble with the DVD. It would be nice to be able to listen the music sometimes without actually watching it, however, thanks to footage of Olivia visiting Manly which breaks up the concert at various points, you can't do that. I don't have a problem with the Manly footage itself, just the way it's been inserted into the concert. They could have just made this footage a special feature. However, apart from that, the concert is a definate must have for any serious Olivia fans.

I own 10 different DVD's featuring Olivia Newton John, with more than half of them having a live performance content, but this one is THE best live one! Years only added to her voice and her command of it, musicianship is great, relationship between her, backing vocals and musicians is obviously warm, full of respect and understanding, arrangements ably utilize enormous potential engaged here, sound mixing and recording are superb, picture quality is good and the choice of the songs EXCELLENT! Everyone with the slightest interest in this great singer should have this revelation of a concert on DVD. Can't recommend high enough!

When I was 16 I saw Olivia Newton-John in concert(Physical tour) and instantly became a lifelong fan of hers. I remember at the end of the physical tour being covered with goosebumps and a little teary eyed at the end when she sang "I Honestly Love You". Watching this DVD made me feel the same things and realize what a wonderful career she has had and what a huge positive impact she has had on charities, animals and environment, and has given us a lifetime of positive feelings and memories. This DVD is so well done and tastefully put together that you will truely enjoy it. It contains footage of her behind the scenes with family and cast and lets you see more of the private side of her life. The video looks hi def and the audio is outstanding- like being in the front row. I think this is a great DVD and recommend it to my family, friends, and you too!!

Olivia Newton-John is one sweet, talented, heart-loving singer, actress and human being! The Sydney Opera House performance is at the top of my musical treasures. I have been to Sydney, Australia, three times and the film clips of Manley Beach, Sydney HArbour and elsewhere just add frosting to Olivia's magnificent performance.On my hi-def television this DVD allows me to "be there in Sydney!" Olivia is a mature lady now... yet she radiates charm, confidence and love ! She is still at the top of her game and I'm glad for her. She too has been through tough times and is responding like a real trouper! BRAVO Olivia!