The Odyssey
Billy Corgan signed, thirty-one years ago and at the head of The Smashing Pumpkinsan album that is clearly sacred as it is “Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness” (95), forever associated with the 90s imaginary thanks to a monumental batch of songs that marked an entire generation. Now the American musician returned to our country with a tour called “A Night Of Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness Featuring Billy Corgan” which, although it left open interpretation about the content of the show itself, could have hinted at the more or less constant presence of the frontman accompanying the same orchestra.
Be that as it may, the two dates scheduled in Madrid were sold out and it was time to discover – between mystery and emotion; between hope and distrust – in what way would the announced odyssey consisting of transferring those heavy rock songs to the classical level, as sharp and bloody as it is exciting and hopeful, be materialized. In practice, the matter was resolved with a very generous orchestra and a no less numerous choir, in addition to several singers of the genre, developing what would become an opera based on songs of “Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness”while projections of great technical quality (although not so much meaning) accompanied the sequence.
In fact, Corgan himself joined the evening… although on rare (and celebrated) occasions. The American’s broken voice capable of disarming souls thus appeared randomly, like a rationed treasure sprinkled throughout the concert. The overall outcome was somewhat disconcerting, especially beyond those moments in which the one from Chicago saw fit to mix his voice with that of tenors, sopranos and baritones, and/or the impeccable execution of the members of the orchestra. A synergy materialized in valuable interpretations of “Thirty-Three”, “Zero”, “1979”, “To Forgive” or the finale “Tonight Tonight”. The matter became complicated, perhaps unexpectedly, when it mutated into an almost standard classical concert. Magnificent, without a doubt, but far from a justified longing that demanded something as “simple” as the figure of Corgan appropriating, out loud, a catalog passed through an orchestrated sieve.
It is precisely in response to the marked personality that continues to exude “Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness” where the proposal can disorient and even derail the plot of any script. Because there are works of art with such a beastly essence that they do not allow reinterpretation without bleeding. “Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness” It moves between pain and beauty, melancholy and hope, betting on dual consequences, while the orchestral format seems to prioritize appearance over emotions. The ones selected from that 1995 album were, only, the necessary touchstone to find very different textures. It is a titanic work of adaptation on the part of Billy Corgan and his collaborators in the classical section, which on stage shows virtues, but during which it is difficult not to long for the tormented rage that enveloped the original.
Genius, overflowing ego, daring, ostentatious maneuver, magic, epic, crazy, creative imagination far from mortals. Different interpretations with which to calculate the average and that could be used to define what happened in an always cold Vistalegre Palace, of course far from the ideal setting to host a proposal of this type. A series of meanings for “A Night Of Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness Featuring Billy Corgan” which, in any case, are subject to the non-negotiable sentence that last Friday night in Madrid was, above all, a beautiful concert. An amazing curiosity with the shadow of The Smashing Pumpkins in the background and that perhaps gives the true measure of its value over time, sponsored by that crazy genius with the silhouette of Nosferatu.
