Classic Albums Live gets immaculate with Madonna
Madonna has never been an artist associated with restraint. Across more than four decades, pop’s consummate provocateur has pushed the boundaries in fashion, sex, religion, controversy and reinvention, often all at once. Even now, as Madonna continues to top charts and collect accolades with her latest album Confessions II, the conversation around her can feel strangely preoccupied with whether she should still be doing it at all. At 68, every new appearance inspires another round of commentary about her age, her body or when she should retire. It’s a scrutiny rarely applied with the same intensity to the male rock stars of her generation, who continue to tour well into their seventies and eighties.
It makes revisiting The Immaculate Collection feel particularly timely. Because beneath everything Madonna taught pop stars about image, provocation and reinvention, she remained an extraordinarily ambitious musician, vocalist and songwriter.
Classic Albums Live will bring The Immaculate Collection to Calgary’s Jack Singer Concert Hall at Werklund Centre, aiming to strip away much of the controversy and return to what was underneath it all: the music.
“Typically, a CAL show is closer to an evening at the symphony than a traditional ‘tribute’ act,” explains vocalist Katey Morley. “It’s a bunch of world-class musicians delivering a complete piece of music (the album), plus some favourites in the second set. We don’t dress up or do theatrics—we’re not trying to be anybody.”
Madonna, however, has proven difficult to keep seated. “I have never seen a CAL audience be so animated—they are up dancing almost right away,” Morley says. “It’s hard not to when it’s Madonna.”
Released in 1990, The Immaculate Collection distilled Madonna’s extraordinary first decade into a collection spanning “Holiday,” “Like a Virgin,” “Material Girl,” “Papa Don’t Preach,” “Like a Prayer,” “Express Yourself” and “Vogue,” among others. It would become her best-selling album and one of the best-selling albums of all time.
For Morley, it also captures an artist moving at an almost impossible speed. “She already had four huge albums and was working on the fifth,” she says. “This compilation was like a gift to her fans and the world, so they could catch up with her.”
Classic Albums Live’s approach digs deep into the origins of the albums, reproducing the songs “note for note, cut for cut,” without impersonators or elaborate attempts to recreate their original tours. For The Immaculate Collection, the technology behind Madonna’s recordings is essential to authenticating the work. Music director Antonio Exposito contacted one of Madonna’s former collaborators to track down the electronic patches and gear originally used.
Studying the record at such a granular level left Morley particularly struck by something that has sometimes been lost amid decades of conversations about Madonna’s image.
“When you take away the glitz, you have to give her credit for being an EXCELLENT singer and songwriter,” Morley says. “That’s been so debated and understated over the years.”
Morley spent hours listening to isolated vocal tracks while preparing for the show, studying Madonna’s range, arrangements and emotional delivery.
“People get so mean when you have an artist who is incredibly successful—like you’re not allowed to be both insanely successful and also insanely talented,” she says. “I can tell you: she’s the real deal. She was rebelling against the institution, and against society’s expectations, for herself AND for her fans,” Morley says. “Artists like Cher, Bowie, Aretha Franklin, Janis Joplin and Marilyn Monroe cracked the door open, but she came charging through it.”
That door has remained open. Morley draws the lineage simply: “Madonna to Britney to Lady Gaga to Dua Lipa to Sabrina Carpenter… and forever onward!”
Calgary will get the full Immaculate Collection before Classic Albums Live expands the second half of the evening with more of Madonna’s catalogue, including some newly added selections Morley is keeping deliberately mysterious.
“There are a few heavy hitters that were obvious choices, and one or two deep cuts that we are hoping are going to make the Madonna fans—and us, the band—extremely happy.”
And despite Classic Albums Live’s usual symphonic sensibility, audiences shouldn't feel obligated to quietly admire all that meticulous musicianship from their seats. Werklund Centre is kicking things off with a pre-show dance party featuring DJ Goodword and dancers from Decidedly Jazz Danceworks.
“I sure hope so!” Morley says when asked whether Calgary should come ready to dance. “I know we will all be dancing on the stage!”
Classic Albums Live: Madonna – The Immaculate Collection comes to the Jack Singer Concert Hall at Werklund Centre on October 23. Find tickets here.
