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Leonard Cohen (Canada)
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October 07, 19:00
The State Kremlin Palace 
For four decades, Leonard Cohen has been one of the most important and influential songwriters of our time, a figure whose body of work achieves greater depths of mystery and meaning as time goes on. 2008 was a landmark year for Leonard Cohen and marked a return to the live stage. Cohen travelled across the world, delivering three-hour concerts to sold-out audiences who offered standing ovations to the poet with over 40 years worth of repertoire. His latest offering, the 2 CD and DVD "Live In London", beautifully captures the passion and energy Cohen brought to London’s 02 Arena and the love affair he’s had with his fans for over four decades. His first album, Songs of Leonard Cohen (1967), announced him as an undeniable major talent. It includes such songs as “Suzanne,” “Sisters of Mercy,” “So Long, Marianne” and “Hey, That’s No Way to Say Goodbye,” all now longstanding classics. If Cohen had never recorded another album, his daunting reputation would have been assured by this one alone. However, the two extraordinary albums that followed, Songs From a Room (1969), which includes his classic song, “Bird on the Wire,” and Songs of Love and Hate (1971), provided whatever proof anyone may have required that that the greatness of his debut was not a fluke. Part of the reason why Cohen’s early work revealed such a high degree of achievement is that he was an accomplished literary figure before he ever began to record. His collections of poetry and his novels had already brought him considerable recognition. His dual careers in music and literature have continued feeding each other over the decades. One of the most revered figures of the singer-songwriter movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s, Cohen soon developed a desire to move beyond the folk trappings of that genre. Cohen’s 1974 album "New Skin for the Old Ceremony" found him making bolder use of orchestration, a contrast to the more stripped-down sound he earlier preferred. This was followed by "Death of a Ladies’ Man", his 1977 collaboration with Phil Spector, and constitutes his most extreme experiment.
"Recent Songs" (1979) and "Various Positions" (1984) returned Cohen to more recognizable sonic terrain. Though not initially released in the U.S., "Various Positions" includes “Hallelujah,” which has since become one of Cohen’s best-known, best-loved songs and has been covered by over 150 artists including Jeff Buckley, Willie Nelson and Bono. As the 1980s and their garishness began to wane, Cohen’s star began to rise once again. The listeners that had grown up with him had reached an age at which they wanted to re-examine the music of their past.
In the new millennium Cohen has released the albums "Ten New Songs" (2001) which includes the songs “Boogie Nights” and “In My Secret Life”, and "Dear Heather" (2004), as well as "Blue Alert" (2006), a collaboration on which Cohen produced and co-wrote songs with his former background singer Anjani Thomas, who provides the vocals. All three albums have only solidified his place in the pantheon of contemporary songwriters.
Leonard Cohen has been inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame. In 1991, Cohen was made an Officer of the Order of Canada and in 2003, a Companion to the Order of Canada - the latter of which is Canada's highest civilian honor recognizing a lifetime of outstanding achievement, dedication to the community and service to the nation. In June 2008, he was made a Grand Officer of the National Order of Quebec.
More info
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