You might call it inflation. But since we're dealing with Sting, maybe the proper notion is conflation.

Last time Sting visited Xcel Energy Center, in 2007, he was accompanied by his two colleagues in the highly anticipated reunion of the Police. On Monday night in his return trip to St. Paul, the Stingmeister was joined by a five-member rock band and a 45-piece orchestra for his Symphonicity Tour. He inflated the arrangements of Sting and Police songs by playing with a conflation of his band and the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra.

But, frankly, Sting seemed deflated. Although he clearly relished being surrounded by the Queen of England's royal musicians, he seemed a bit naked as a standup singer. Watching Sting perform without an instrument in his hand is like watching Dean Martin without sipping his cocktail, Rodney Dangerfield without tugging at his tie or Lady Gaga without pushing up her bustier.

Long the Renaissance man, Sting is profoundly serious (he always aims for high art) and restlessly adventurous (he's not afraid to tread in new territory). But attempting to create orchestrations for material that's usually more rhythmic than melodic presents an inherent conceptual challenge. Working with 10 arrangers, including Michel Legrand and Steven Mercurio (Sting's hyper conductor), the chief of Police recast 26 songs with varying success over 2 1/2 hours.

Sting with Strings worked when the orchestration complemented the vocals, notably on "The Shape of My Heart" (when the swelling strings followed a big note from Sting), the understated "Why Should I Cry for You," "Fragile" and "My Ain True Love," the breezy bossa nova of "All Would Envy" (an unreleased Sting tune), and the boldly dramatic, red-lit "Russians" (with orchestral echoes of Prokofiev and Mussorgsky).

Other times, however, the music sounded like a collision between art songs, movie soundtracks and Mantovani. "Roxanne" inexplicably transformed from slow and moody to richly romantic. The usually jazzy "Moon over Bourbon Street" had creepy strings suggesting Nightmare on Elm Street, not boozy New Orleans. "Fields of Gold" was diluted into a meadow of Muzak, and "Desert Rose" blossomed into -- go figure -- a Greek wedding dance in Bollywood.

Dressed casually in jodhpur pants, a newfangled waiter's jacket and combat boots, Sting, 58, was in good voice throughout, though he wasn't as passionate as in previous Twin Cities performances when he was playing guitar or bass. (He did briefly play a small acoustic guitar, a tambourine and a harmonica on Monday. He apparently left his lute, heard on his recent discs for Deutsche Grammophon, at his castle in England.) But looking out into the half-full arena (maybe 6,000 delighted people) had to be a recession reality-check for the Rock Hall of Famer who'd played to 17,500 screaming Police fans a mere three years ago.

For set list, go to www.startribune.com/artcetera. Jon Bream • 612-673-1719