BocelliOnline

[Anna in NY]

Ciao a Tutti!
Though today is December 1st, the interview below is dated December 3rd. It's from the Hartford Courant Online.
Enjoy!
Anna

A Few High Notes From Famed Tenor Andrea Bocelli

By DANA ASTMANN
SPECIAL TO THE COURANT

December 3 2006

Andrea Bocelli, an Italian tenor from Tuscany who has achieved worldwide fame for his recordings, which blend opera and pop, is performing at 7:30 tonight at the Mohegan Sun Arena.

His most recent CD/DVD is "Under the Desert Sky," which includes duets with Stevie Wonder, Katharine McPhee and Heather Headley.

Bocelli spoke through an interpreter.

Q: You sing in widely different genres. How do you classify yourself?

A: I leave it up to my public to describe what I am. My passion has always been, and always will be, for classical music and opera in particular.

Q: Your official website points out that your performances have caused classical music to cross over into more mainstream popular culture, and distinguishes between that and being a "crossover" artist. Can you elaborate on how you see this distinction?

A: When I hear the word "crossover," what I think of is an artist that actually mixes the two genres, that contaminates the two genres.

Q: So how does your pop singing influence your classical and opera singing, and vice-versa? Do they interact at all?

A: No, no, no. There is no influence of one over the other. I believe these are two totally separate languages, which must remain separate in order to keep their purity. The only thing they have in common is the heart. In order for someone to sing, [it] has to go through the heart, and that's the only way. Any kind of singing.

Q: So how do you answer critics who claim you are better suited to pop singing than opera singing?

A: I don't answer. I have nothing to tell them. I only have to answer to my conscience, and to my public. And I am respectful toward everybody's opinion.

Q: You have some very ardent fans, and some very vocal critics. How do you balance the different opinions that you hear about your work?

A: I don't try to balance it, because this happened also to Maria Callas, it happened to Beniamino Gigli, it happens to everybody who reaches a certain fame. Many, many years after she died, everybody says that Maria Callas was a great singer. When she was alive, people were not so sure.

Q: So how do you place yourself among the world's great singers, especially the world's great tenors?

A: It's not up to me to position myself. I feel that my only duty is singing the best I can.

Q: Of the world's great singers, whom do you most emulate?

A: I grew up with a very strong sense of admiration toward Franco Corelli, and I still hold him dear in my heart. But of course, I love many great singers of the past century.

Q: What influences your choices of repertoire: Do you consider your audience's tastes? Do you have certain goals you keep in mind?

A: In general, I try to sing things that I like. If, of course, I see that they come out well. Otherwise, I let go.

Q: In a broader sense, how is the decision made to do an opera, or record a compilation of arias, or a selection of love songs?

A: The recording of an opera comes at the end of a long stretch of study, in which you also have to mature. And you decide to make a recording because you want to leave a trace for the public of all of the work that you've done.

The collections, instead, are a mixture of what we like the most, and what we already know that the public loves the most. Choosing the pieces that we love is done in the hope that the public will start loving them as well.

Q: When you say "we," can you elaborate on that?

A: Because there is also a collaboration with my record company, and all of the people that work with me.

Q: Can you talk about the process of putting together one of your albums?

A: Classical, I already told you. Something that I'd like to do in the future is to publish a collection of arias from the operas that I've already recorded fully. In terms of pop, it's more complicated and simpler at the same time. Because we have to find at least a dozen great songs. And it's not an easy task.

Q: How are things put together from the production end? Are you involved in the arrangements?

A: I usually like to leave everybody [to] work by themselves, so that they can develop whatever they think [is] best. And then at the end, I express my opinion. [With humor] Let's say that I make a great effort not to say anything at the beginning, and then at the end I say a lot.

Q: Do you ever want to branch out into different types of repertoire?

A: I think I'm already covering quite a large area of repertoire.

Q: Can you talk a little about the role you play in your own marketing, if any?

A: I don't understand anything about marketing.

Q: Could you talk about a highlight of your career so far?

There have been quite a few. Probably the most representative ones have been the collaborations with great conductors, such as [Lorin] Maazel, [Zubin] Mehta, [Valery] Gergiev, [Myung-Whun] Chung and [Yves] Abel.

Q: Where do you see yourself going in the future?

A: [Laughing] I actually hope that I'm going to have time to spend at home.

Q: Could you talk a little bit about your new album?

A: The new album is an album that speaks of love. And it's an album that physically expresses the most beautiful things that you can tell the person you love.

Q: Of all your activities right now, you record, you perform live, and so on. Is there any you find most fulfilling, or do you enjoy the mix?

A: They are two very different things that give me both great fulfillment and satisfaction.


ANDREA BOCELLI performs tonight at 7:30 at the Mohegan Sun Arena. Tickets are $125, $195 and $275. Information: 860-862-7163.
Copyright 2006, Hartford Courant

Link to article:
http://www.courant.com/hc-bocelli.artdec03,0,3079088,print.story
_________________
Beddu Turridu !!!!!!!!!!!!