- A Glorious Christmas
2010 at MSG
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- It
was not the ceremony at New York’s Rockefeller Center to light
the grand Christmas tree that ushered in the Christmas season this
year, but the soul-light of Andrea’s voice that set the
Christmas candles in our hearts aglow at Madison Square Garden.
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- From
the festive and regal splendor of the Hallelujah
Chorus from Handel’s Messiah
that opened the first U.S. concert of his 2010 My Christmas Tour,
the tone was set. Andrea began with vocal strength and confidence
and never once wavered through the challenging arias and duets of
the classical offerings of the concert’s first half. Smiling at
the warm welcome that greeted his first appearance on stage, he
settled right into one of several arias that he had never before
offered live in concert here in the United States. For Handel’s Where e’er you walk from the opera Semele, Andrea’s tone was graceful and noble, yet wrapped in the
warmth of the lover’s reverent admiration for the beloved that
is expressed in the lyric. Each note of this aria progresses with
beautiful simplicity, the long passages underscoring Andrea’s
impressive breath control. This is our first live introduction to
a piece that will be included in the program for Andrea’s
long-awaited debut at the Metropolitan Opera. But what made this
presentation extraordinary was the projected backdrop of
spectacular images of Andrea astride his striking Friesian
stallion Tieske in the rolling hills surrounding Lajatico.
Certainly the images confirmed that “where e’er you walk” in
that incomparably beautiful countryside, your soul will be
nurtured. Paired with Andrea’s voice and a series of exquisite
photos of him with Veronica strolling cedar-lined country lanes
hand in hand, pausing to bask in the love-light they so obviously
share…well, the effect was emotionally charged to say the least.
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- Andrea’s
voice has aged like fine wine, and this was particularly apparent
in his rendition of Ah, la
paterna mano, MacDuff’s aria from Verdi’s Macbeth.
The aria was from Andrea’s first live staged opera and is
familiar from his early recording Viaggio
Italiano; his treatment of it now is commanding and masterful,
charged with emotion and rich coloring of the words that tell of
the unspeakable loss of children and wife. At one point, as a
stunning image of the tenor in profile flashed on the big screen,
it was impossible to resist a slight intake of breath at this
handsomely noble man who could easily be mistaken for a medieval
prince of the Italian realm.
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- La donna è mobile,
from Verdi’s Rigoletto,
rounded out the first set of arias (all accompanied by the
projected scenes from opera productions of classic vintage with
notable singers of the past that Andrea no doubt knows by heart).
The familiar opening notes never fail to elicit an enthusiastic
audience response, which Andrea smilingly acknowledges and then
rewards with his commanding interpretation, finished off with the
decorative vocal flourish of the final unwritten coda and an easy
(for him) high B.
- Young
Anna Tifu took the stage next, wearing a fiery red dress that
matched her spirit and technique. Playing the Fantasy
from Carmen by Bizet,
she cast a spell on the audience with her virtuoso fingering and
masterful shading of the intoxicating melodies from this opera
that is familiar to nearly everyone. We hardly had time to miss
Andrea, who then returned with another live debut of the
heart-melting M’appari,
tutto amor from the opera Marta.
The compelling beauty of some melodies inevitably leaves you with
a lump in your throat—this is one of them. It is a perfect match
for Andrea’s soulful and richly romantic tones.
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- But
we were jolted from our reverie by the bold opening notes that
introduced Di quella pira from Il
Trovatore. Andrea firmly held the vocal reins of this
headstrong aria with perfect trills and a final high C that
couldn’t possibly have been more solid in his seemingly
effortless delivery. But then, Andrea does it every time he offers
this dramatic aria.
- Ah, je ris from
Gounod’s Faust brought
our first glimpse of Alexia Voulgaridou, the Greek soprano who,
had fate not intervened with the disastrous strike, would have
stood at Andrea’s side onstage as Marguerite to perform this
wonderful opera in Palermo, Italy. (Hearing these Faust
arias on the program for the first time since that major
disappointment brought a tear to my eye in mourning for what might
have been.) Alexia is a dark-haired beauty, vibrant and animated
in her performance, with a lyric coloratura voice that she wields
with powerful ease in this aria also known as “The Jewel
Song.” Her lively offering was quickly followed by the Kermesse
Waltz, also from Faust. Effervescent
and heady, like the effects of champagne, this intoxicating music
sweeps you into the celebratory mood of the evening. In the midst
of the piece, tenor and soprano returned to the stage together for
a tiny gem of a duet wherein Faust begs Marguerite to let him
escort her home, but she refuses. They left the stage, and the
enchanting waltz played to its end. Andrea then continued in the
lyrical vein with Tra voi
belle from Puccini’s
Manon Lescaut.
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- This
being the first of the six concerts on the tour and with a
schedule that allowed little time for rehearsal, there were bound
to be a few glitches. Mostly these involved missed entry cues. At
one point, Andrea stood alone on stage obviously waiting for his
partner to appear and the delay extended to an uncomfortable
silence, whereupon he calmly noted, “We lost the soprano,” a
deadpan no-nonsense explanation that obviously tickled the
audience.
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- When
she finally appeared, Alexia’s arrival was worth the wait. She
and Andrea were wonderfully matched for the love duet from
Puccini’s Madama Butterfly,
Viene
la sera
and Bimba dagli occhi pieni di malia—certainly among the most achingly
beautiful in the repertoire. From the languorous opening,
Andrea crafted the arias to a crescendo of yearning that swept you
in and left the psyche limp with its emotional intensity.
Throughout, he was ably supported by
Alexia’s seemingly effortless outpouring of melody and her
gentle, endearing gestures of affection toward him. This dramatic
offering was presented against the powerful backdrop of
scenes from Andrea’s 2002 performance of Madama
Butterfly at Torre del Lago. It was a tour de force that
closed the first half of the concert to thunderous applause.
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- Apparently
because the evening had started a bit late as traffic-challenged
fans struggled to reach the Garden, the musical interlude that had
been planned to begin the concert’s second half was cut. Instead,
Andrea launched right into Mamma to commence the more relaxed vocal offerings of the night,
appropriately paired with film clips of a varied range of doting
mammas and their irresistible darlings, of course including a
couple of Mamma Edi and her sweet Andrea. From my earliest
experiences of hearing Andrea, Tosti’s sweetly melodic La
Serenata has been a favorite. It seems imbued with the warmth
and sunniness of Italy’s climes and is irresistible when the
liquid gold of Andrea’s voice evokes its simple, romantic charm.
In this case, Anna Tifu used her violin with entrancing effect,
embroidering a lovely counterpart to Andrea’s amiable vocal
interpretation. The jaunty Funiculì,
Funiculà seems our tenor’s plaything, an enjoyably
lighthearted canzone that coaxes an inevitable smile from listeners, particularly
when accompanied by the vintage filmed scenes of Neapolitan life
that aptly capture the essence of the exciting ride to the top of
Vesuvius in the funicular cable car.
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- With
the Little Nutcracker Suite orchestral
interlude, shepherded by the able and enthusiastic conducting of
Maestro Eugene Kohn, the holiday season was officially ushered in.
Andrea came out donned in impeccably tailored white and offered
his first verbal greeting of the evening to the crowd—explaining
that, as we could see, he had changed his jacket. Not because this
new one was better (because it wasn’t, he added), but because
now the mood of the evening would change and he wished to offer us
a Merry Christmas. You can feel the audience melt when Andrea says
something, anything, to them. There is a nearly tangible wish to somehow
communicate with Andrea, to be nearer to him than the vast arenas
of these concerts will allow. But somehow the sheer power of his
voice, filled as it is with all that lies in his heart, manages to
bridge the gap.
- At
this point, Heather Headley joined Andrea for Blue
Christmas. How astonishing that Andrea is equally at home
musically with this blues-tinged melody as he is with the
technically challenging Di quella pira. Heather truly won our hearts by coaxing our tenor to
take a little waltzing turn around the stage, always a winning
moment in his concerts on the rare occasions when it occurs. Then,
the mood shifted.
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- By
my calculations, it is quite possible that in my lifetime I have
heard Silent Night well over 4,000 times. I’m sure others could say the
same. But the way Andrea sang it at this concert was like no other
rendition I have ever heard, even from him. Somehow, as only he
can, he created a universe of sacred stillness with his ethereal
voice that wrapped us round. For those precious moments, more than
17,000 of us were held in thrall as Andrea became the angel of God
himself describing with simple urgency an unparalleled moment when
a small babe changed the course of history. All is calm, all is
bright.
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- However,
we were jolted back to more profane reality when the lively
poppets of the Adderley School Choir spilled out onto the stage
dressed in brightly colored winter togs to sing Santa
Claus Is Coming to Town with that jolly old tenor from Tuscany.
What a delight. There doesn’t seem to be a child alive that
Andrea couldn’t love on sight, and he is at his winsome best
when surrounded by their innocent smiles and brightly infectious
voices. The lively beat of this arrangement had the audience
bobbing their collective heads in time. And when Andrea hit the
cue with his query “Who’s comin’?” he sends the needle of
the cute-meter off the measurement range. It just cracks me
up!
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- Then,
the wistful beauty of the beloved classic White
Christmas once more lulled us into a pensive mood. Despite the
countless celebrated voices like Crosby, Sinatra, Cole, or Como
that have claimed this Christmas favorite, Andrea manages to make
it his own, instilling all the cozy warmth of a crackling fire and
the close-knit love of family gathered together, whether it be in
the heart of Tuscany or a Manhattan high-rise.
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- The
yearning to make the spell of this Christmas magic last forever is
profound indeed. But there is always that point in Andrea’s
concert where a glance at the program reveals the harsh reality
that there are only a few songs left. Now, we were there. Andrea
reaches deep into himself when he offers these classics with their
sacred history for which he has the utmost respect. They have been
steeped in the heart of this man of faith, and his reverence
communicates itself to us. When Andrea, the New York Choral
Society, and the New York City Opera Orchestra combined in full
throttle to sing the final glorious carols Angels
We Have Heard on High and Adeste
Fidelis, it was like the finale of a magnificent fireworks
display! The effect was overflowing with the warmth of every happy
ending memory of every warm-hearted Christmas movie classic you
have ever seen—Miracle on
34th Street, It’s a Wonderful Life, White Christmas, and
Dickens’s A Christmas Carol—all rolled into one. God bless us every one!!
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- Just
as the crescendo of applause for this finale was building to an
encore-commanding peak, a man in a suit made his way to the center
of the stage holding a rather large frame. As the applause slowly
diminished in puzzlement, he introduced himself and announced that
he had a presentation to make on behalf of Decca in recognition of
Andrea Bocelli’s CD My
Christmas going double platinum in the United States. Andrea
was clearly a happy tenor, and the crowd shared his moment of
obvious pride.
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- But
what about our encores? No worries. No one ever wants to part with
Andrea, and the applause quickly rebuilt to a pitch respectful
enough to call him back with Heather Headley for The
Prayer, always a crowd pleaser. The big screen close-ups,
however, revealed a somewhat jet-lagged Andrea and when Con
te partiro came next, I presumed it would be the usual
signature good-bye. Still, there is always hope. We clapped our
hardest, and from the depths of some untapped reserve that only
our lion-hearted tenor understands, he offered one last
magnificent Christmas gift—a Nessun
Dorma of rare splendor, powerful and sure, and ringing with
the pride of a man who does not know the meaning of surrender.
This aria’s jubilant final notes are written in his heart:
“Vincero, vincero!” We clapped ourselves to exhaustion, though
we knew he had given all that was left. Once more, he came to the
stage and waved a final farewell, tired but satisfied.
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- New
York has given us so many Bocelli memories: Andrea’s one and
only performance of the iconic New
York, New York, the challenge of Avery Fisher Hall, the
historic concerts at Carnegie, the record snowfall that greeted XM
radio’s St. Valentine’s interview, an enchanted evening in the
shadow of the Statue of Liberty when the twin towers still stood
tall, a shaken but staunch Andrea at Ground Zero as he mourned
with us an unimaginable loss. Now another concert at the famed
Garden is committed to memory. But, we look ahead to another
milestone—see you at the Met, Maestro!
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- by Cami McNamee
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