Having first pricked up some ears with his 2001 album Poses, Rufus Wainwright really arrived as a consummate songwriter and performer with his ambitious, audacious albums Want One and Want Two in 2003/4, featuring songs which are still among his most cherished.
Given the classical inspiration for some of the compositions, Wainwright is celebrating the albums coming of age with the occasional orchestral flourish. Glasgow was next to be blessed with a Want Symphonic show, featuring special guests the Scottish Symphony Orchestra under the enthusiastic baton of conductor Lee Mills, clad in spangly jacket for the occasion.
Following a twinkling, romantic overture, Wainwright ranged freely across both the albums, his tight-but -loose playing style and delicious legato notes complemented by an orchestra in delighted flight. I Don’t Know What It Is demonstrated his signature blend of melodrama and wistfulness, Vibrate his melancholic romantic tendencies and Gay Messiah his irreverent impishness, with the soaring vocals of Beautiful Child and Waiting for a Dream a first half highlight.
He opened the second half with the exultant, devotional Agnes Dei. His own personal requiem mass was followed by the operatic This Love Affair and the minimalist piano patterns of The Art Teacher, an enduring jewel of unrequited love. Go Or Go Ahead played to his folk roots but the orchestra really displayed their chops as the song built to a crescendo, then added punchy brass and pretty pizzicato to the swagger of 14th Street and beefy tuba to the closing Oh What A World, while Going To a Town was plucked from elsewhere in its catalogue for its ongoing relevance and cathartic lamentation.
