Sting doesn't just become a classic...

No show ballet and fireworks (Lionel Richie), no winks (Paul de Leeuw), no endless stage hugs (Marco Borsato), or burlesque fashion extravaganza (Diana Ross). Fans of Symphonica in Rosso, recognizable in Arnhem's Gelredome by their matching red attire, experienced a more understated edition on Friday and Saturday, after the spectacles of previous years.

Now, the brains behind this concept didn't have to sit down with Sting to discuss crazy ideas. Sting is on a world tour with the English Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra performing his album 'Symphonicities' ('The big hits in new symphonic arrangements'), and to be presented in Rosso gift wrapping, the former Police singer only had to tolerate a single 'special guest' beside him and a red gerbera in his buttonhole.

Sting got a lot in return: a brilliantly lit stage and a football stadium bathed in red glow, twice sold out.

It's nice to see that Sting and the orchestra—which seems to have been formed specifically for Proms and pop gigs—didn't just classicalise some songs, add some violins, and that's it.

Sting has entered the classical world with sincere intentions, having already released an album on the Deutsche Grammophon label featuring renditions of John Dowland's late medieval songs. His "Symphonicities" are also meticulously arranged works of song, the compositions of which have been deconstructed and rebuilt from the ground up.

In "Roxanne," the sharp Police tune is barely recognizable; it floats solemnly, in a minor key and with a bossa nova rhythm, through the stadium and is guided to the dressing room by a lyrical clarinet. Harp and flute introduce "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic," after which the violins are allowed to work up a sweat to make up for the lack of guitars.

This works well with "Next To You," another Police hit, which, thanks to its wild strings in a staccato panic, almost manages to generate the same excitement as the original, the opening track from the first Police album, "Outlandos d'Amour" (1978). The stadium jumps to its feet just before halftime.

Now it really needed an energy boost. Because despite all the sincerity and dedication—Symphonica in Rosso 2010 runs for two and a half hours and twenty-five songs—classic Sting can be a bit dull at times, especially with the hits-but-different. Oh yes, that's how it can be, you think with the opening bars of "Every Breath You Take," and then you have to sit through the rest.

More captivating is the orchestration of the lesser-known work, songs like "All Would Envy" and "You Will Be My Ain True Love," which, without any accompanying top-hundred-minute vibe, sound like fresh pieces of song art, with Sting's husky and pinched voice warmed up by Australian jazz singer Jo Lawry.

The guests are quickly ushered in and then waved off. First, Sting's singing son, Joe Sumner of the band Fiction Plane—he gets to perform a whole song. Then, the inevitable bandoneonist Carel Kraayenhof ('Moon Over Bourbon Street'), and trumpeter Colin Benders, aka Kyteman, who gets to colour a minute of "All Would Envy" with brass. The audience makes it clear with enthusiastic applause that this could have been a bit more generous. But Sting must move on, with six more songs to go.

He makes Symphonica in Rosso a long, drawn-out affair. The fact that the shuttle buses for the Gelredome are already filling up before the encores even begin is, of course, rude and ungrateful, but understandable. Sting's gesture, a final lick of Kyteman during "Desert Rose," is for the die-hards.

© De Volkskrant by Robert van Gijssel