Cielo, e Mare, e Andrea—the
Concert in Venice, 2009
We had
left Venice much too early the morning after the enchanted evening with
Andrea in Venice’s Piazza San Marco. Negotiating my way into the water
taxi for the trip to the airport was a major challenge, but the reward
was a farewell to the colorful sights and sounds of Venice through the
network of small canals in the hidden byways of the city that had been
nearly inaccessible to me by land. What an extraordinary way of
life—an existence totally supported by boat! Now, we were departing
for another island, this one off the coast of Maine—a world away from
Venice. But it reminded me yet again of the way that Andrea has bridged
the gap of so many cultures—indeed become the very bridge of
friendship itself, and inspired in so many of us the desire to touch
with him what forms the foundation of his world and all that is so
precious to him in its culture.
Somewhere
high over the Atlantic now, I sit in the 767 jet aircraft and cradle the
memory of yet another incomparable
experience that Andrea has led us to—the timeless melodies of some of
the most precious jewels of the operatic canon echoing within Piazza San
Marco in the shadow of the impossibly ornate Basilica of San Marco, the
gracefully arched façade of the Doge’s Palazzo, and the soaring
Campanile di San Marco whose bells have marked time for centuries in
this once formidable seat of world power known as La
Serenissima.
Despite
our nearly constant concerns about the possibility of rain, the evening
of the concert was perfect, and the famed piazza was bustling with
anticipation, as well as the ubiquitous pigeons! The predominantly
Italian audience assembled slowly throughout the evening’s warm
twilight, mostly in elegant evening attire and chatting animatedly. The
3,500 or so patrons were young and old alike, with a generous
representation of nonnas and nonnos
with their grandchildren. At 9:10, the orchestra was finally onstage and
warming up, but many of the most expensive seats remained unfilled. It
underscored the complex logistics of reaching this place, perched at the
farthest end of the Grand Canal and accessible only by one or another of
the available water transports—vaporetti, water taxis, sleek private
launches, gondolas!
Una
serata incantevole
Few
opening moments of any concert could have been more perfectly wedded to
a setting than Andrea’s choice of the dramatic chorus and then the
superb “Esultate” from the first act of Verdi’s Othello.
Andrea was debuting this brief but glorious aria in his repertoire. The
precisely unified voices of the Coro Lyrico Veneto set the scene—a
ship is spotted on the horizon, its ensign is the winged lion—proud
symbol of Venice—the very one perched dramatically atop the tall
pillar at the water’s edge just steps away from this square! The
chorus continued the narrative of the storm-tossed vessel carrying the
victorious general, the moor of Venice, to shore. At the height of the
music’s cresting wave, Andrea appeared onstage to deliver Othello’s
exultant “Esultate!” (“Rejoice”
in the victory!). Few lines of music have ever been written with more
vocal power word for word than these. Andrea poured himself into the
piece with every ounce of strength, but burnished it as well with his
inimitable tonal beauty. It was a stunningly impressive beginning.
Then,
boldly, he launched into a powerful “Di quella pira,” a vocal
challenge he has handled easily this year in concert after concert (at
Madison Square Garden he even sang it twice!), each time seeming to
bestow effortlessly the final, dramatic high C of “All’armi” in a
breathtaking hold that unfailingly produces chills.
At
this point, Andrea was joined by his musical cohorts: Paoletta Marrocu (soprano)
and Gianfranco Montresor (baritone) maintaining the vocally dramatic
pace with the confrontational trio from Act 1 of Il Trovatore. Andrea, in fine form, seemed to relish the moments of
forceful delivery and blended in close harmony with his comrades in the
complex vocal interweaving, but all the while commanding his own high
profile.
Maestro
Eugene Kohn and the Orchestra Sinfonica Abruzzese answered in kind with
a stirring and electrically charged chorus and “Triumphal march”
from Aida. Both orchestra and
chorus flung themselves without reserve into Verdi’s familiar and
spirited piece that thwarts any descriptive term other than
“triumphal” in the most profound sense of that word!! It was a
definite crowd pleaser. Andrea then returned to offer Mascagni’s
“Brindisi” from Cavalleria
Rusticana, his voice ringing strongly out to fill the storied piazza—now
grown dark, but aglow with the translucent luster of a half moon.
Vicino
a te, Andrea
At
this halfway point in the program (which had no intermission), Andrea
and Paoletta reappeared for one of the evening’s definite highlights,
the stirring, climactic duet from Andrea
Chenier, “Vicino a te.” If ever there was a masterpiece that
exemplifies the distinct signature of Andrea’s timbre, it is this one—he
surrendered himself heart and soul to its sadly triumphant, glorious
beauty, his powerful voice animating this soul-wrenching and timeless
exchange between two lovers in their last moments on earth together. He
drew us close with the yearning in his voice that pierced the very core
of emotion within the music, compelling our response. Yes, Andrea. You
sang this as if it recalled for you (as you have written) the one still
moment in your young universe when a life-changing world opened before
you and you lost yourself to it forever. Here again in this place, you
yielded to the powerful flood of the music of Andrea
Chenier. Surely mine were not the only tears that the resulting
emotion in your voice called forth in those who were gathered before you.
Immediately
after an orchestral interlude of “Dance of the Hours” from la
Gioconda, Andrea departed
from the program to offer “Cielo e mar,” a perfect tribute to this
serenely timeless city wedded to both. Up to this moment, we had only
experienced Ponchielli’s challenging and scintillating masterpiece,
also from La Gioconda, on
Andrea’s earliest opera recording Aria,
the Opera Album. As compellingly beautiful as he sang it then, he
infuses it now with a mature richness and confident force, yet still
spins out an enchanting gossamer thread of melodic gold…“o sogni, o
sogni d’or”…sweetly, sweetly holding that high concluding note.
By
now, we were enwrapped in the velvet darkness of the sea-tinged night
and wrung out with the emotion of this incomparable music. Just when we
were thinking it couldn’t get much better than this, Andrea brought
out the Puccini, that fragile yet incisive beauty of the third act
finale of La Boheme, when Mimi
and Rodolfo lament their inevitable separation, but cannot summon the
will to part and agree to remain together until the sun-warmed
“stagion dei fior.” No
one captures the achingly sweet yearning of this moment—“Addio sogni
d’amor”—the way Andrea does. No one.
The
second soprano who participated in the evening, Inva Mula, was the
spirited Musetta in this scene, and immediately after it she joined
Marrocu in a beautifully harmonized “Barcarolle” from the Tales of Hoffmann. With dismay at that point, I realized there were
only the three canzone from Incanto
remaining on the program. How could this evening have slipped away so
quickly?! In rapid succession Andrea sang
“Voglio vivere cosi,” “Vieni sul mar,” and “Funiculi’
funicula’.” There is a sunny sense of well-being in these Neapolitan
tunes, and happiness seemed to flow naturally from within a very relaxed
Andrea at this point. There is so much life in “Voglio vivere cosi,”
and Andrea let himself yield to it and match its melodic warmth with
that of the naturally rich timbre of his voice. Being married to a
former “sailor” of the U.S. Navy, I admit to a particular soft spot
for “Vieni sul mar.” It is easy to pretend that Andrea sings it only
for me and “mio marinar”! Visions of our previous day’s
island-hopping to Murano and Burano in the sun-dazzled waters of the
Venetian lagoon played through my mind while Andrea’s mellow tones
coaxed with the lyric “come to the sea”! Finally, all too soon,
“Funiculi’ funicula’” closed the evening. There are some tenors
who would find it impossible to let anything as ridiculous as “Jammo,
jammo 'ncoppa jammo jà” escape their classically trained throats, but
Andrea flings himself into it with playful abandon. It was a
delightfully light-hearted way to bring the concert to a close. Before
he left the stage, Andrea bestowed his usual thanks to the orchestra,
chorus, and all of his singing compatriots, and acknowledged with
delight the privilege of singing in this “piazza incredibile” set in
this “grande citta’ singolare”!!!
Time
to say…
Concert
encores are inevitable since no one ever willingly wants to let Andrea
go. First there was the familiar “Libiamo ne lieti calici” from La Traviata with the whole company joining, and Montresor
encouraging the usual audience hand-clapping participation. Then for a
second encore, the strains of “Con te partiro” began, which the
Italians seemed surprisingly slower to recognize at first than American
audiences. Once they realized what was coming, however, they responded
with the appreciative burst of applause, and the sea of telefoninos
went airborne to record this precious oldie but goodie for posterity or
send it home “live” to the waiting ear of mamma! When it concluded,
the applause and shouts would not diminish, and the Italians tried with
all the forza they could muster to coax a third encore from their maestro,
but without success. Although Andrea acknowledged the extended and
energetic response with two returns to the stage, on both occasions he
had his three companions in tow, and neither return yielded the coveted
third encore. Repeated bows were taken, Andrea smiles beamed out across
the crowd, and then the familiar farewell handwave above his head
announced, sadly, the evening’s end.
We
lingered in the piazza as the crowd dispersed, mostly to the cafes that
lined the huge square and adjacent streets, to relive the memories of
this singular experience. Going round to the “stage door,” the
erector-set metal stairway leading up to the main stage, we witnessed a
phenomenon that I have not seen before in Italy. A large crowd of well
over 200 had gathered behind the barriers protecting the area. They were
patiently anticipating one last glimpse of Andrea, and when he finally
appeared at the top of the stairs, Veronica staunchly at his side, they
burst into immediate applause and heartfelt shouts of “Bravo”!
Andrea grinned broadly in obvious pleased response, but below him the
guards were intent on the effort they knew would be needed to clear the
pathway through this throng for Andrea’s quick departure to his nearby
hotel. In the end, the crowd yielded with polite deference to their
clearly well-loved tenore.
Nostro Leone
In
this first decade and a half of his career, Andrea has sung in the
shadow of the Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty; filled the
Coliseum of Rome, Arena di Verona, London’s Hyde Park, and
now this venerable piazza of Venice with his distinctive voice;
serenaded crowds at the foot of the ancient pyramids and before the
ruins of the city of Petra, not to mention appearances in the more
modern icons like the Hollywood Bowl, Madison Square Garden, Avery
Fisher Hall, as well as the private domains of presidents, kings, queens,
popes, and countless celebrities.
There
seems to be no limit to the beauty the world yearns to absorb from
Andrea’s voice. His is a rare gift of nature, to be sure, but it
represents so much more—the careful crafting of his sensitive art
through the disciplined strength of a noble will, inspired and tempered
in the heart and soul of his unique life experience, and bestowed to us
with humility, yes, but also, senza dubbio, with the pride of a lion worthy of the Venetian
tradition!
by Cami McNamee
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- Martedì
sera 1° luglio 2009, Venezia – Piazza San Marco
Una serata davvero splendida ed indimenticabile con la meravigliosa,
limpida, dolce e carezzevole voce di Andrea a riscaldare una delle
città più belle al mondo! E’ stata la realizzazione di un sogno:
il connubio di questi due unici e singolari elementi era davvero
perfetto!
Piazza San Marco era veramente gremita di persone; il pubblico era
davvero numerosissimo, credo che i posti a sedere fossero al
completo e in più c'erano tantissime persone all'esterno delle
transenne: i giornali parlano di 3.000 persone, io so solo che si
vedeva gente ovunque, la Piazza era super affollata.
Il concerto è iniziato puntuale e si è articolato secondo il
seguente programma:
- “Una vela …. è l’alato leone” da Otello - Verdi
- “Esultate” da Otello – Verdi
- “Di quella pira” da Il Trovatore – Verdi
- “Non m’inganno ….. di geloso amor” da Il Trovatore –
Verdi
- “Coro e marcia trionfale” da Aida – Verdi
- “Brindisi” da Cavalleria rusticana – Mascagni
- “Vicino a Te ….” Da Andrea Chenier – Giordano
- “La danza delle ore” da La Gioconda – Pomchielli
- “Dunque è proprio finita …” da La Boheme – Puccini
- “Barcarola” da I racconti di Hoffmann
- “Voglio vivere così” da Incanto – D’Anzi
- “Vieni sul mar” da Incanto - Aniello
- “Funiculì funiculà” da Incanto - Denza
Direttore d'orchestra: Eugene KOHN
Soprani: Inva MULA e Paoletta MARROCU
Baritono: Gianfranco MONTRESOR
Orchestra sinfonica abruzzese e coro lirico veneto.
E’ da qualche mese che cerco di imparare a conoscere un po'
l'opera, ascoltando anche le grandi voci dei tenori del passato,
come ad esempio Caruso, Gigli, Del Monaco, Di Stefano, Lanza ….. e
quindi, questa volta, mi sono trovata molto meglio della precedente
in cui ho ascoltato Andrea cantare dal vivo arie d’opera in Piazza
del Duomo a Milano, lo scorso anno in occasione della Festa della
Repubblica. Quella volta mi sembrava tutto così strano perchè non
avevo assolutamente idea di cosa fosse in realtà l'opera, a Venezia
invece mi sono orientata un po' meglio, anche se devo dire che
alcune arie non le conoscevo, come le due tratte da Otello e quelle
tratte da Andrea Chenier e da La Gioconda: comunque anche queste
sono state una piacevolissima sorpresa!
E' stata un'esperienza davvero bellissima, di cui conserverò sempre
il prezioso ricordo nel mio cuore.
Andrea è stato meraviglioso, sensazionale, straordinario: la sua
voce è davvero unica, chiara, completa per estensione, il suo
fraseggio così chiaro: sembra essere nato per comunicare attraverso
il canto! Ancora una volta è riuscito a regalare emozioni forti ed
intense al pubblico, grazie alla sua capacità di calarsi nel
personaggio, cantando con molto trasporto, coinvolgimento e passione.
Sono state quasi due ore di ottima musica, con un repertorio che
sono sicura abbia accontentato un po’ tutti i gusti, spaziando
dalle arie d’opera al classico bel canto.
Credo che Andrea svolga l'importantissima funzione di avvicinare le
persone all'opera, facendosi in un certo qual modo "ambasciatore"
di questo meraviglioso genere di musica - un'autentica fabbrica di
emozioni - con il portarla anche fuori dalla classiche mura di un
teatro!
Personalmente, anche se mi piacciono tantissimo le canzoni del cd
Incanto, adesso l'amore per l'opera pare proprio ed
irreversibilmente avuto la meglio: ieri sera mi hanno completamente
conquistato "Di quella pira", "Brindisi" e
"Dunque è proprio finita"!
I colleghi di Andrea sono stati davvero molti bravi: trovo che le
voci si accompagnassero molto bene e ne scaturisse un risultato
stupefacente, con una perfetta unione e commistione di musica e
suoni! Se dipendesse da me, però, organizzerei un concerto tutto di
arie d'opera, in cui Andrea canti quasi sempre da solo, e poi per
tanto, tantissimo tempo: quando lo sento cantare, soprattuto dal
vivo, vorrei che il tempo si fermasse lì per sempre, con la voce
del mio tenore preferito!
Il pubblico ha applaudito tantissimo, si sentivano tanti "bravo
Andrea!"; abbiamo richiamato Andrea sul palco con applausi
lunghissimi e scroscianti e lui è tornato due volte, reglandoci
l'aria più conosciuta della Traviata e Con te partirò, ma noi non
lo avremmo mai lasciato andare via, dico sul serio!
Credevo che la mia piccola fotocamera si sarebbe fusa: ho scattato
tantissime fotografie, stile “servizio fotografico” e ho anche
girato tre brevissimi video: purtroppo però ero seduta oltre la metà
della piazza e quindi l’immagine di Andrea, nella maggior parte
delle foto è davvero piccolissima, quando addirittura non è mossa
…..! Un gran peccato, egoisticamente parlando, che non ci fossero
dei maxi schermi per poter anche vedere Andrea, oltre ad ascoltare
la sua magica voce: lo zoom della mia macchinetta ha dato davvero il
massimo ma purtroppo i risultati sono piuttosto deludenti!
Al termine del concerto mi sono messa ad ascoltare, o meglio quasi
spiare, i commenti dei miei vicini; in realtà mi sono anche
spostata per curiosare un po' tra il pubblico: c'erano tantissimi
stranieri, molti turisti che hanno colto l'occasione per ascoltare
live la voce italiana più famosa al mondo e tanti altri stranieri
che sono venuti a Venezia appositamente per il concerto di Andrea!
Commenti bellissimi sulla sua voce e capacità artistiche,
apprezzamenti sulla sua carriera e fama mondiale, complimenti per il
fatto che è una persona molto gentile, disponibile, che non si dà
arie .... Quante persone poi che si sono affollate all'uscita dal
palco per potergli scattare una fotografia e magari stringergli la
mano: tutti a urlargli ancora "bravo" e fargli mille
complimenti e lui sempre gentilissimo, sorridente, disponibile!
Che altro dire? Potrei continuare all’infinito, tessendo lodi ad
Andrea e inondandolo di complimenti: adoro la sua voce e lo stimo
davvero tantissimo come artista e come uomo! Sono molto felice del
fatto che senta in modo concreto e tangibile tutto l’affetto del
pubblico e dei fans!
Ad Andrea dico: è stata una delle serate più belle e ricche di
emozioni della mia vita e non vedo l’ora di poterTi riascoltare
dal vivo; Ti ringrazio dal più pronfondo del cuore per questa
bellissima ed indimenticabile esperienza: sei unico, eccezionale, il
migliore, il numero uno .... io sono così fiera ed orgogliosa di
Te! In altre parole, sono una Bocelliana sempre più convinta,
militante ed affezionata!
by Claudia'70 (forum italiano)
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