Michael Bolton’s first performance since pandemic is with Columbus Symphony Saturday night
Michael Bolton #MichaelBolton
In recent weeks, Grammy Award-winning singer Michael Bolton has spent much of his time tuning up what is undoubtedly his greatest asset: his voice.
That singularly smooth and soothing voice — the one that has distinguished countless classic hits, from “When a Man Loves a Woman” to “How Am I Supposed to Live Without You” — has been largely at rest during the coronavirus pandemic: Apart from some private concerts, Bolton and his band have been idle.
Now, with the 68-year-old singer ramping up for a return to touring, he is making sure he sounds his best.
“I’ve been warming up my voice and getting ready,” said Bolton, whose first live, full-scale concert since the start of the pandemic will take place at 8 p.m. Saturday in the John F. Wolfe Columbus Commons. The Columbus Symphony will join the singer in the next-to-last Picnic With the Pops concert of the season.
“I work with a vocal coach, and I’m basically doing scales and stretching and strengthening the chords — getting them ready for high C and E-flats, occasionally, and stupid notes that I still want to sing,” Bolton said in a recent phone interview with The Dispatch. “I’m stubborn.”
Bolton, who will tour England in September and October, describes himself as both excited and a little nervous about stepping back onstage after the long, pandemic-necessitated layoff.
“We’re all a little anxious to get into rehearsal and have it all come back and then, dare I say, it’s like riding a bike,” Bolton said. “It’s like riding a complicated bike.”
The “complicated” part comes from the addition of the symphony, which will perform orchestral arrangements of songs associated with Bolton as well as R&B tunes and selections from their classical repertoire.
Even so, guest conductor Laurence Loh describes Bolton’s music as ideally suited for the symphony.
“I grew up in the ’80s, so I grew up listening to him,” said Loh, 50, the music director of Symphoria in Syracuse, New York. “I always love the translation of popular music to symphonic sound, especially music from the Michael Bolton-era of music — because they used a lot of orchestral sounds in those original tracks anyway.”
In fact, Bolton said that he has been intrigued with blending popular music with symphonic backing since first teaming with the late tenor Luciano Pavarotti in the mid-1990s.
“I just didn’t want to embarrass myself, and I wanted to let him know what a huge fan I was of his, so I started studying opera,” Bolton said. “I fell in love with having a 60-, 65-piece orchestra behind me. And, since then, I’ve recorded quite a few events, performed quite a few times, with symphony orchestras all over the world.”
One fruit of those labors was the 2019 album “A Symphony of Hits,” which Bolton recorded with classical musicians in Perth, Australia.
“It’s a conspiracy of melody going on underneath your voice and underneath the chords,” Bolton said. “I love it, and I welcome every opportunity to perform with an orchestra.”
Although he hasn’t been performing concerts, Bolton has been keeping busy. In June, ABC premiered “The Celebrity Dating Game,” the point of which is to pair assorted single stars with their ideal mate. Bolton co-hosts the program with actress-singer Zooey Deschanel.
“The chemistry has been great because we really legitimately get along and have a similar sense of humor,” said Bolton, who showed a willingness to spoof his earnest persona in a 2011 “Saturday Night Live” digital short with the comedy trio Lonely Island, the viral “Pirates of the Caribbean” parody “Jack Sparrow.”
“It kind of gave me permission to expand and have fun,” said Bolton, who said he becomes invested in the outcomes on “The Celebrity Dating Game.”
“You want the celebrity to make a good decision,” he said.
One thing is clear: Bolton regards returning to performing in the company of a major symphony as the right move for him right now.
“It’s a challenge I embrace,” said Bolton, adding that he hopes to feed off of those in attendance on Saturday.
“The level of response, the responsiveness, from a live audience makes the night,” he said. “The louder they are, the greater the whole evening is.”
tonguetteauthor2@aol.com
Michael Bolton and the Columbus Symphony will perform at 8 p.m. Saturday at the John F. Wolfe Columbus Commons, East Rich and South High streets. Tickets cost $36.75 for lawn seating, or $10.50 for ages 3 to 12, free for age 2 and younger. Table seating costs $231 to $893. For more information, visit www.columbussymphony.com.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Michael Bolton’s first performance since pandemic is with Columbus Symphony Saturday night