Tony Bennett is not 90 years old. Oh, sure, he was born nine decades ago as of Aug. 3. But the man who sang from memory roughly two dozen songs — depending on how you count medleys — with hardly a pause Saturday night at the Ravinia Festival looked and sounded like an artist just beginning the autumn of his years.

As for his energy level, rhythmic vigor, breath control, accuracy of pitch and soft-shoe dance steps: timeless. In effect, two perspectives converged in this performance: the buoyancy of youth and the wisdom of the ages. No other vocalist in Bennett's jazz/classic pop idiom ever has achieved such a feat to this degree, if only because none of his peers has lived so long or sung so well after so many decades in the spotlight.

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