Mark Vincent – Best So Far

Mark Vincent fans were out in force for this concert by the Queensland Pops Orchestra, their first for the year. Vincent, who’s the only classical artist in Australian history to have released six albums before he was twenty (he’s only 23 now), has a legion of followers who can’t get enough of his signature brand of Neopolitan love songs, opera arias, and musical theatre power-ballads.

Standing ovations were the order of the day. The concert selection of songs was mostly taken from his newest album The Best So Far, which mixed “Climb Ev’ry Mountain” (The Sound of Music), “The Impossible Dream” (Man of La Mancha) and “Music Of the Night” (The Phantom of the Opera), with “La Donne Mobile” (Rigoletto), “Nella Fantasia” (The Mission) and “The Prayer” (Quest for Camelot), all popular and enduring favourites.

Vincent’s microphone technique was brilliant and as a gimmick mid-way through the concert he threw the mike away and filled the hall with glorious colla-voce sound.

In terrific voice throughout, if a little restrained emotionally, there was no denying his passion. “Granada”, with its English lyric by Australian composer Dorothy Dodd, was a welcome splash of Spanish, as was his forays in Italian, “Funiculi Funicula” and “O Sole Mio”.  He closed the concert with the inspirational “You raise me Up”, and encored with every tenor’s favourite “Nessun Dorma” (Turandot).

Accompaniment by the orchestra was firey and sensitive. This year the orchestra is featuring soloists from within its ranks - Cellist Christine Wang played Saint-Saens exquisite “The Swan”, Chris Williams showed his virtuosity on trumpet with Jean-Joseph Mouret’s “Fanfare Rondeau”, and percussionist David Adelt had fun with Leroy Anderson’s “The Typewriter”, tapping out a rhythm on an old-fashioned typewriter (Wherever did they find it?).

The success of the concert not only rested on the shoulders of Mark Vincent, but also on the ebullient Queensland Pops conductor Patrick Pickett and his irresistible joie de vivre. With jokes, puns, and his outsized personality, he was the glue that held it all together with panache!

Peter Pinne