There is something very touching about an artist reinterpreting their own work with decades of time under their belt, and Ferdinand Rennie has captured that in his version of Someone to Remember Me. It is not just a remaster or slight update but a reimagination of a song that obviously has a very special place in the heart of the Austrian born, now Scottish-based vocalist.
Rennie has always had a strong asset in his baritone voice but here it has new dimensions of experience that were not present in the original recording. His emotional performance turns it into a ballad that could have been a simple one but it is theatrical and cinematic. The years of musical theater work can be heard in his style–how he fills the song rather than just singing it.
The staging partnership with longtime producer Alan Vukelic has a contemporary sense of energy that complements the material. The airy, concentrated sound is achieved by an arrangement that uses mainly piano and strings to put into the spotlight every detail of the vocal performance of Rennie. The minimalism is purposeful instead of barebones, leaving room to allow the themes of memory and longing to have time to make their impact.
The theatricalism is perfectly balanced here, and it owes much to Rennie who has a long musical theater history of performances. This sounds like the output of someone who has sung before royalty and on the bigger television shows, but has the vulnerability required to effectively sing ballads. The analogy with aged whisky is appropriate–some songs just require time to mature, and this version is all the better due to the singer having a better sense of himself and the song. Someone to Remember Me is simultaneously a vehicle to show off the considerable vocal talents of Rennie and a commentary on the universality of the need to leave a lasting impression.
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