I recently had the privilege of attending my first Andrea
Bocelli concert in Buffalo New York. I've admired Mr.Bocelli and
his music for over three years now, so this was a great thrill
for me. I asked for this as my Christmas gift this year, and in
a family with three boys, my husband gladly agreed with me on my
"chance of a lifetime" night out!
Living in Southern Ontario, our closest scheduled concert
opening was in Buffalo New York. A friend of mine spoke of a
previous concert two years ago in Toronto, but not hearing of
anything in our area, we decided this year to attend the concert
at the HSBC arena. Our excitement built as the day approached
and it is only a two and a half hour drive. It was a blistery,
cold night so we tried to arrive early enough to have a chance
to get our seats in case the building was "packed."
The HSBC arena was a very fancy "hockey" stadium which converted
nicely into a concert hall! I was amazed to see a concession
area with popcorn and drinks, yet finding our seats, we passed
through a lovely restaurant above the stadium. I have never seen
a nicer stadium with multipurposes! Our seats were in the 200"s
and slightly disappointing with a distance to the stage, but my
husband and I both brought decent binoculars. I was happy to
notice the overhead projecting screen above.
I had no idea what to expect at this concert, but being familiar
with Andrea's music caused me some excitement with its near
approach. The air seemed charged with expectation by those
around me. Suddenly the lights went down and all stood to sing
the National Anthem with a giant flag on the overhead screen.
Following that, the World Festival Symphony Orchestra, and
conductor Steven Mercurio performed an overture from La Forza
del Destino, beautifully done and a prelude to a wonderful
night! The overhead screen showed Mr. Mercurio's excitement and
emotion which was evident to all! Another nice feature was the
intoductions to each song on what appeared to be song sheets
with each title projected above.
Mr. Bocelli with Lidia Baich (violinist) accompanying him
entered, and began "Aranjuez" from the Sentimento album. His
voice seemed to send shivers amongst the audience as his clear
strong notes rang out. There was no shred of apprehension in his
voice, or any sign of stage fright. It was clear he enjoyed
himself and that was evident by his wide smile!
Not knowing what to expect, I was swept up into this amazing
performance! I truly love the beauty of this song, almost a
baroque style, and Ms. Baich performed beautifully on the
violin, while Andrea did a perfect job of capturing its strength
and intensity to perfection! I was utterly amazed at the power
in his voice which was noticeably stronger than I ever heard
before. He puts his heart and soul into each song! I was also
happy that they wore wireless mic's to project the sound due to
my distance from the stage, as I'm sure others were too. We had
the ability to see fairly well with our binoculars, but when
tired, we could gaze at the overhead screen which showed many
closeups of the performers capturing their facial expressions
and emotion. Andrea then performed "Sogno d' Amore" with Ms.
Baich to absolute perfection. Its music is hauntingly beautiful,
and extra special because Andrea has re-written it with more
suitable words. It was very moving.
Andrea was dressed in a charcoal-black suit and shirt, tailored,
simple. His hair was like many newer pictures show...longer and
curly, slightly grey, but nice. He seemed relaxed with his hands
at his side most of the night and none of the previous
nervousness appeared. His voice seemed to ring with power and
control, sending a thrill amongst the crowd! Lidia Baich
(violinist) was dressed in a pretty, sparkly fitted purple gown,
her light blond hair down, striking beside Andrea's dark
appearance. She's a very talented violinist, and I was thrilled
to be sitting there, competely enraptured and wishing the night
would never end as they exited. The whole experience seemed
surreal!
Next, Ms.Maria Borsi (soprano) entered, wearing a pretty, black
fitted gown, and began to perform "O Mio Babbino Caro" to
perfection. I had never heard her perform previously, so I was
excited and happy to hear how well suited her voice is to
Andrea's style. Her voice was lovely, high notes flawless, and
her face showed much expression.Her radiance was completely
captured in the overhead screen. She drew much applause, well
deserved.
Andrea then entered and began to perform one of my favorites,
"Panis Angelicus." In the beginning of the piece, he was
clasping his hands together as if in prayer, not terribly
noticable, but at this my tears started to fall! He sang to
absolute perfection, his voice full of depth, and easy to see
from my overplay of video, "A Night in Tuscany" much improved
(if that were possible!) The next song...another favorite of
mine, "E Lucevan le Stelle," was performed by Andrea. I think a
pin could be heard to drop in the arena. It was almost deathly
quiet except for the strong notes of Andrea's smooth beautiful
timre. He seemed to carry emotion which was captured overhead,
and completely sang with his heart which caused many sighs among
us! The whole building seemed to shake with this rendition!
Intermezzo was a nice "breather" between songs and exits. The
orchestra and Mr. Mercurio was a class act and wonderful to
watch. My husband took pleasure in giving me a running
commentary through his binoculars which I thought was great! I
couldnt focus on the musicians other that those wonderful top
performers in front of me! I was thankful for the presence of
the screen and even from the distance I was in, I could clearly
make out the expression on the performers faces, and the
capturing of Lidia's beautiful violin playing.
Andrea and Ms.Borsi then appeared and began "Gia nella notte
densa" from Otello. This was one of the most moving
performances of the evening, almost transporting us all to an
opera. Maria's (Ms. Borsi) and Andrea's voices melded perfectly
in harmony, strong at first, almost scolding, then soft, ending
in a beautiful, romantic climax. Maria slowly inched to Andrea,
and as he gently touched her arm, she came to him, taken into
Andrea's arms, her head and hand on his chest. Lifting her head,
they were both singing in each others arms, faces together,
almost close enough to kiss, so sweetly finishing the final
notes. It was
breathtaking, and again, gasps could be heard! The whole house
reacted to the beauty of this song, all on their feet! After Ms.
Borsi departed, Andrea apologised for his english and began
"Because." I vaguely remember this somewhere from my childhood,
and enjoyed Andrea's clear english. He shouldnt worry, for he is
easy to understand. It was beautiful! Lastly, the first part was
finished with "O soave fanciulla," another beautiful moving
piece, voices again melded in perfection.This was finished with
their high notes seemingly hanging in mid air, then holding each
others hands, it slowly ended. Another wild applause form the
audience! I began to wonder if they were now totally spent, but
I think we needed a break to come back to reality!
The intermission started, with 15 minutes to give my husband and
I time to try to get better seats! I think my husband wanted to
try to make my evening more wonderful, so he attempted a few
times to plead with ushers for better seats. Due to the weather,
there were many empty seats on the floor, but I guess the ushers
wouldn't budge for fear of others wanting the same treatment. We
gave up quickly and went back to where we started,content to
continue on as we were. I was still greatful for the screen and
when tired of the binoculars, could watch alot of expression and
closeups. There was nothing like the sound, sending shivers up
my spine, and a complimenting light show. But, it was truly a
wonderful show in every way and we couldnt wait for the second
part!
The second show was just as wonderful, starting with the
Mercurial Overture. Mr. Mercurio has a way of moving the
crowd and his musicians! As Andrea and Lidia (Ms.Borsi) entered,
he introduced Lidia stating that "It is her birthday, and she is
now legal drinking age!" Andrea began to sing happy birthday to
her, and all of us as well, turning Lidia into complete shyness.
They began to perform another one of my favorites..."Occhi di
fata," with its beautiful haunting melody, Andrea's lovely voice
and Lidia's talented violin. There is nothing like the
combination of this talented tenor and the sweetness of the
strings. It is hard to hold the tears back listening to the soft
ending of this song! Listening to the sweet sound on the stage
almost transported me to another world! Then, together, they
performed "Musica proibita," which was just as lovely. I bought
Sentimento weeks previous to this concert and am happy I
did, so they weren't foreign to my ears.I appreciate how Andrea
has a variety of music, yet each piece is distinctively his own,
seemingly carrying his heart and soul!
As Andrea exited, Ms. Borsi appeared and performed "Je veux
vivre," another stunning piece, her beautiful high notes
flawless. Following a perfect rendition, Andrea appeared on his
own and began "Marechiare," of which I am not familiar. It was
again perfect and I wondered how he could continue at the pace
he was going without being totally spent, holding notes, even
high ones so long! He carried every emotion to the full which
was captured overhead, and could project every word to the
listener. Following this, Mr. Mercurio and the orchestra
performed the fantastic overture from William Tell. This
was done again with perfection, my husband enjoying the variety
in this song, as Mr. Mercurio jumped around with (the sound of
faded Bugs bunny memories)! Another standing ovation!
Andrea appeared again and performed a moving "Core' n grato,"
his voice again strong and again powerful. He didnt seem to show
too much strain with the breaks between his performance and was
so moving to hear. He seemed to sing effortlessly, yet with
emotion flowing though him. Next he performed another favourite,
"O' Sole Mio," I think better than ever recorded! The crowd went
crazy again! This was followed by "Brindisi" with Andrea and
Ms.Borsi, and the wild clapping of the crowd encouraged by Mr.
Mercurio! I think at one point we even managed to almost throw
off their notes! Somewhere before the end, Andrea performed "The
Prayer" in Italian...but I cant remember where and when. He did
a flawless job as usual, and cutely said "Guide us by Your
grace" between Italian words! .
At this point, the crowd was on their feet, wanting more and and
none wanted an end! I know exactly what it feels like! It
appeared the show was over and flowers were brought out for all.
While appearing to exit, as the others did, Andrea suddenly
produced a flute from behind the flowers and began to perform
"Melodramma." At this my tears started to fall again because its
one of my favourites! I was thrilled to hear him bring out an
"older" piece with a beautiful intro between words on the flute,
and I think he captured every heart. The sound of his flute
playing was sweet and flawless. I was amazed that Andrea is so
musically gifted and plays everything whether voice or
instrument with stunning perfection! His voice continued as
strong as at the beginning of the performance.
Speaking of the next encore, I was so taken up that I dont know
what it was! I Remember it being something from Romanza,
but I can't recall its title...only it was beautiful! Following
this, with all on their feet, the stadium was dark and only the
thunderous clapping could be heard. I began to make out the
appearance of a keyboard being wheeled in, and when the lights
were on, we saw Andrea seated at it, playing "My Way." He sang
in perfect english and I was amazed at how much his voice
sounded like "ole blue eyes", except with an accent! The house
was reeling with the beautiful sound of his voice following that
perfect rendition,and all jumped to their feet to cry for
another encore! Finally, all came out to finish with "Time to
Say Goodbye," and Andrea sang the
majority of the verses with Maria Borsi accompanying him on the
final verses. This was the last emotion we would capture in
Andrea's voice and Maria's face, and all came to an end.
The thunderous clapping continued, but there was to be no more.
As the lights went on, I could hear a women gasping to her
friends,"Oh my, oh my, so beautiful" as she stood to leave. It
became quiet again, and as I went to use the washroom before
leaving, women were still sighing in the line! I have been to
concerts and many ballets in the past, but this experience was
truly the "night of nights"...far beyond compare! Andrea gives a
top performance, and all involved put on a show that reaches the
heart of every music lover! I would have only one wish, that a
video could be made of this concert series,so that others can
share this wonderful experience!
Elizabeth Schnell
Kitchener, Ontario |
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