BocelliOnline

[Melodie]

Italian favorite melodies conquer Prague

The world's heavenly tenor takes charge

By Johana Elmanova

The soft but powerful sound of the familiar voice hits you with its intesity, filling you with a melancholic joy that makes you cry. With its overwhelmingly penetrating emotions and dreamy romance, it aims straight for your heart.

No one but Andrea Bocelli can make you feel like this.

Prague was recently honored with a performance by the blind tenor who has made the world a brighter place. The privileged place for more than 13,000 people who came to experience this opera master live was a hockey arena transformed into a huge concert hall, with columns of speakers and giant TV screens at opposite ends of the stage. The black suits of the Czech National Symphony Orchestra were a perfect match for the elegant black outfit worn by Bocelli.

The moment the lights went down there was a sudden hush, and you could feel the anticipation in the audience, which filled the stands along the sides and back of the hall, and special VIP seating on the floor. The concert opened with an instrumental - the overture from Verdi's Nabucco - and then Bocelli appeared on the stage. The opening lines of Rodrigo's En Aranjuez con tu Amor drew you immediately into aria, carrying you away into Bocelli's different world. Denza's Occhi di Fata followed, with accompaniment by solo female violinist Ruth Rogers.

Bocelli left the stage after almost every song, on the arm of his conductor Maestro Marcello Rota, without any bows or expectations of applause. His humble manner endeared him to the audience even more.

He sang Verdi's Otelloduet Densa la notte with Maria Luigia Borsi, a young soprano dressed in a romantic, fitted long white and pink dress glittering in the spotlights. Watching the couple singing and standing close side by side, you could tell there was an obvious chemistry between them.

Despite his blindess, the way Bocelli perceived and reciprocated Borsi's moves and gestures made you think that he could see. In the middle of a passionate Puccini aria, his beautiful blue eyes flashed as if he could look at the audience. Every time Borsi looked at Bocelli or turned toward him, he responsed immediately with his eyes wide open and his arm around her waist in the sound of Puccini's heavenly tunes.

Bocelli's performing connected directly with people as he put his heart into the audience. He and Borsi both sang with grace and passion that hit your soul and made you feel part of every note. Lost in the most famous Verdi and Puccini arias, as well as Bizet's Carmen and Denza'a Occhi di Fata, the first half of the concert was over before you even realized it.

In the second half, the lovely melody Tosti's Serenata drew you even closer to Bocelli's spirit, shining through the entire arena and enhanced by his captivating voice. The intensity and uniqueness of Bocelli's performance lies in large part in his body language. When he sings, he expresses his emotions solely through his voice, his face entirely devoted to the mood of the song at the given moment. He stands calmly and peacefully on the stage, singing without the slightest arm movement, evoking a certain sense of modesty and humility.

Among the younger crowd, Bocelli is most famous for his modern music melodies, which have an unusual quality rarely heard in contemporary music. If you came to this concert to hear pop music, the classical opera pieces in the first half probably surprised you. However, the second half started with lighter classical tunes and then segued into modern songs. Even if you weren't an opera fan, there was a good chance that you enjoyed the entire concert.

After the final song, audience members of every age were standing up, smiling and crying in the hope of Bocelli's return to the stage. He came out for three encores, dedicating his popular Con te partiro to the rapturous audience. If Bocelli had kept singing they would have stayed all night, not wanting to wake up from their romantic musical dream.[/b]

[Sarah]

Johana, Thank you so much for this stunning review. I could feel the depth of emotion everyone must have been experiencing. Your beautiful words and writing style convey the intense sensations that flow at every Bocelli concert. I felt transported to Prague and could see and hear the
magnificernt aura which seems to accompany Andrea Bocelli everywhere he performs. Your expressions were so lovely and perfectly descriptive.
I sure it didn't seem like it took any more than his first note for Bocelli to "conquer" Prague.
Again, let me express my gratitude for your concert review and transporting me there.

Sincerely,
Sarah From Down South in Alabama, USA

[Kenzu]

Oh my, someones have the talent to express themselves and bringing the captivating moments in to the reach of readers. Like Sarah said above I too felt transported to the concert reading this wonderful review.

Much obliged Johana Elmanova and Melodie bringing this review to BOL :D

[Iris and Sue]

Dear Johana--Thanks so much for your wonderful review! I also enjoyed your preconcert article in the Prague Post and sent it to my friends who loved it as well. Was your review also published in the Prague Post?

[La Donna e Mobile]

"No one but Andrea Bocelli can make you feel like this."

Yes----that's it exactly. What a beautiful review. I hope the American reviewers/critics will open their ears and hearts like that for the upcoming concerts.
_________________
"To sing, to sing, to sing......." (Andrea revealing his future plans to Classic fm)

[Melodie]

We've received another email from someone who attended the concert in Prague...she asked that I post this for her:

My dream came true when I saw him at the stage, my tears started at this moment and my heart was fully emotional. The concert was "without words"; it was spendorous, magnificient, extraordinary. When I saw him I felt in heaven, the sound of his voice still resounds in my heart and in my ears. I am really impressed and satisfied with the concert...Vicky