Uppsala Nya Tidning 131014
By: Ellinor Skagegård
Helen Sjöholm is not afraid to sing ballads, pop and hard rock. Ellinor Skagegård saw a nice concert but missed the musical songs.
I recall a conversation with a colleague this summer. We talked about how too schooled and perfect voices tend to not quite sparkle enough, arouse emotions. He brought up an exception, someone who despite her professionalism and perfection always manages to touch him; Helen Sjöholm. And I’m inclined to agree.
When she performed at the Concert Hall on Sunday evening, however, it took a while before these feelings appeared. A Swedish interpretation of Joni Mitchell’s Both sides now swept by moderately casually and so did Staffan Hellstrand’s Fanfar. It’s only in the exciting and jazzy ballad medley that Helen’s amazing voice comes to its right, backed by the skillful band. Vårvindar friska, only backed by Ulrik Johanson’s bass and Jojje Wadenius’ tasteful guitar that reminded of sad gull cries, over to Gunnar Wennerberg’s Här är gudagott att vara and the folk catchy Vid vassen av den krökta ström.
Helen Sjöholm promised at the beginning of the evening that she would not talk very much, because “singers shouldn’t do that.” However that was a promise she did not keep, which was good. The small talk was both relaxed and fun. For example, she told us about her first paid performance. She got twenty crowns when she performed at the housewives’ association – and mimed to Lasse Berghagen’s song about the bra collector Knut!
Helen Sjöholm became truly famous to the Swedish people when she at only 25 years of age premiered the role of Kristina, in Björn Ulveus and Benny Andersson’s beloved musical Kristina från Duvemåla. And the emigrant farmer’s wife of course got to join in a bit also this evening. Helen told about the jittery feeling when you perform newly written music for the very first time, something she also will do next year when the musical Livet är en schlager premieres. She will play the pop-loving Mona, and we got to hear a humorous taste of the show.
Otherwise there wasn’t a lot of musical this time. Instead, the pop was given big room, with interpretations of artists like Billy Joel, Tracy Chapman and Tomas Andersson Wij. Maybe she is trying to erase the stamp of musical-Helen. A bit of a pity, for it is in musical format that her emotional voice and own expressions really shine. When Martin Östergren’s piano tinkled the first notes to Du måste finnas, the bravura number of Kristina, I could sense how backs were straightened and ears were spiked. It was fascinating how she could sing this song with so much feeling, although she must have sung it thousands of times before.
Slightly odd but also quite fun was the direct transition to Depeche Mode’s Heaven, where Jojje Wadenius got to shine a bit extra. In the closing song we got to hear Helen Sjöholm at her very best; in Gabriellas sång from the movie As it is in heaven. That I would have liked to hear a little more of.