Sting has surrendered to his pop talent - The ambitious and maximalist musician is no more. And that's okay: the concert we saw yesterday at the Assago Forum was simply (so to speak) a journey through great songs, with and without the Police...

Sting the vain man in love with himself (well, that's still a little), Sting who isn't content with being a pop star and wants to be recognized as a cultured musician who records baroque music for Deutsche Grammophon, Sting and the legend of tantric sex for hours, Sting the champion of the Amazon. The Sting who wanted to shake off the formidable rock trajectory of the Police seems to be gone. At 72, he's not ashamed of his graying hair but still shows off a sculpted physique, accentuated by a casually worn T-shirt. For a few years now, the Newcastle-born artist has been touring the world with his My Songs tour, proud to offer his audience the masterpieces of the band that made him a global star, alternating with his solo hits. These, aside from the more mainstream fare, still include at least two or three all-time pop classics (at best).

Sting appears at the Assago Forum for his only Italian date, in what has now become his adopted homeland, at 8:45 pm. A perfect Englishman in Chiantishire, to put it in the most Sting-esque of clichés, he spends much of the year at his Palagio estate, in the hills south of Florence, where he produces Chianti, Sangiovese, and organic olive oil. And the song that opens the concert is named after one of his wines, Message in a Bottle… The opening sequence is simply perfect, with "Englishman in New York," "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic," "If You Love Somebody Set Them Free," and "Spirits in the Material World," the latter a heart-stopping hit for Police fans.

The band is going full steam ahead, with trusted guitarist Dominic Miller and drummer Zach Jones backing up Sting on bass, with a sound somewhere between the Police and The Dream of the Blue Turtles tour, with soul-jazz undertones but without losing the English trio's edge. Sting, incidentally, sings beautifully, effortlessly, in the high registers characteristic of his songs. And incredibly, the Forum delivers a clean sound, rarely heard in the arena on the outskirts of Milan. The middle section is a bit weaker; "If I Ever Lose My Faith in You" is the Sting we don't like, but "Fields of Gold" and "Shape of My Heart" remain two unchallenged songs. Sting then pays homage to Italy with a duet with former Amici star Giordana Angi, who has become a fixture in his career and is invited on stage for a duet in Italian on "Her Love," which becomes "Amore," sung in Italian.

But Sting still has more bullets to fire. And they're bullets that knock you out. "Walking on the Moon" and "So Lonely" arrive, which becomes a long jam with room for a Bob Marley reference in "No Woman No Cry," a fitting reminder of who mixed reggae with rock in the late '70s. Then comes the Middle Eastern foray of "Desert Rose" and the gem from Synchronicity, "King of Pain." "Every Breath You Take" is accelerated and has a delightful rock edge, followed by another classic, perhaps the Police classic par excellence, "Roxanne," with Sting abandoning his trademark aplomb and transforming the chorus into a "Milan, Milan" chant, as if he were Springsteen or Bono.

The old charmer (said with affection) closes, as always, on a romantic note, with the Andalusian-tinged arpeggio of "Fragile." And at that point, all we can do is applaud a splendid seventy-year-old who has learned to throw his talent and coolness in our faces without the arrogance of the past.

(c) Rolling Stone by Niccolò Borella