Bocelli opens Athens Festival with concert for worthy cause
Posted by
Melodie @ 6:44PM PDT
Andrea Bocelli in Tuscany, where he was interviewed by ERT, the Greek state media, for an interview in advance of his appearance at the Herod Atticus Theater on June 2 in aid of the Elpida Foundation.
On Monday, June 2, the Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli will open the summer series of performances at Athens’s ancient Herod Atticus amphitheater. Eight years ago, Bocelli burst onto the world recording scene with his song “Con te partiro.” We Athenians will welcome him at a concert in aid of the Elpida Foundation for Children with Cancer, whose president is Marianna Vardinoyianni. Bocelli was born in Pisa on September 22, 1958, and studied classical singing with the famous Spanish tenor Franco Corelli. Critics are divided over his talent — some see him as the ideal interpreter of the new age of opera and others dismiss him as a “pop tenor.” The fact is that after the success of his first CD, young people began flocking to the world’s opera houses as much as they did to rock concerts in stadiums. Bocelli sings without the help of a microphone and has won dozens of gold and platinum discs in Germany, Britain, Belgium, Argentina, Canada, the Czech Republic, Australia and of course his native Italy, where he is beloved as a star. Four years ago, when Luciano Pavarotti came to sing at the Herod Atticus Theater, his voice could be heard clearly right to the top row of seats. He was given a standing ovation. Now it is the turn of the charming, slim Bocelli. “It is a great challenge, and an honor, to sing where Maria Callas once sang,” Bocelli told Maria Frezadou, director of Forum, which is bringing him to Greece. Bocelli lives in Tuscany, in a mansion that once belonged to Paola, now queen of Belgium. As we await the opportunity to hear him and to form our own opinion, we note what his mother once said about the child “born in the dark” who stopped crying “only when he heard opera.” Tickets for the performance — at 500, 200 and 60 euros — are available from the Elpida Foundation, tel 210.795.7153.
http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/news/civ__3307145KathiLev&xml;/&aspKath;/civ.asp?fdate=24/05/2003
SENTIMENTO WINS ALBUM OF THE YEAR!
Posted by
Melodie @ 4:52PM PDT
BOCELLI WINS ALBUM PRIZE AT CLASSICAL BRITS
Tenor Andrea Bocelli has ended Russell Watson's stranglehold on one of the top titles at the Classical Brits.
The Italian star took the album of the year title for his most recent release, Sentimento.
Watson had picked up the album prize in the two previous years and had been nominated for a third time, but was beaten this time round.
Bocelli landed a double honour for Sentimento when he was rewarded with the prize for the biggest selling classical album of the year.
Conductor Sir Simon Rattle was also a double winner at the ceremony in London's Royal Albert Hall.
The Berlin-based British star was named male artist of the year and his performance of Mahler's Symphony No 5 was named orchestral album of the year.
The top female artist was Grammy-winning US soprano Renie Fleming.
World famous mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli was honoured for her outstanding contribution to classical music.
Other performers included glamorous all-girl string quartet Bond, who had been in the running for album of the year.
Sting became the first mainstream pop act to play at the event when he appeared with virtuoso guitarist Dominic Miller.
The Classical Brit Awards, which were established in 2000, are to be broadcast on ITV1 on June 1.
Story filed: 20:19 Thursday 22nd May 2003
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_784062.html
TOSCA: REVIEW BY RICHARD DYER
Posted by
Melodie @ 3:41AM PDT
EXCERPT:
Decca certainly knows that one way to market its greatest asset, Andrea Bocelli, is to keep 'em waiting.
Bocelli is primarily interested in singing opera; many around him are primarily interested in getting additional pop hits out of him. It has taken more than two years for Decca to release the performance of Puccini's ''Tosca'' that Bocelli recorded in March 2001; it reaches the stores Tuesday. Still awaiting release are recordings of Verdi's ''Il Trovatore,'' Mascagni's ''Cavalleria Rusticana,'' and Leoncavallo's ''Pagliacci.''
''Tosca'' is better than Bocelli's first complete opera recording, ''La Boheme'' -- and it might have been better still if had been recorded more recently, because Bocelli is a singer who works hard and continues to improve. He sings the romantic, doomed hero Cavaradossi with ardor, shapely phrasing, clear diction, and the tear-in-the-voice quality of tone that has endeared him to millions.
He's particularly good in the second aria, ''E lucevan le stelle,'' which he has often sung in concert -- the best of many beautiful mezza-voce passages in the recording comes here, and at the end he avoids the traditional shouting and sobbing. What he lacks is much in the way of individual characterization; it's all a bit abstractly correct. One wishes he had waited until he had sung some performances of ''Tosca'' before tackling this recording. Even so, he vocalizes the role more skillfully -- and certainly sings it with more heart -- than several other Cavaradossis on record.
He is well partnered by an outstanding young Italian soprano, Fiorenza Cedolins, as the Roman diva, and baritone Carlo Guelfi as the evil and lustful police chief, Scarpia; even the bit part of the escaped prisoner Angelotti goes to a major singer, Ildebrando D'Arcangelo. Cedolins is a find -- a strong lyric soprano with beautifully poised soft high notes, feisty chest tones, and the breath control to sustain a long line. She takes the two-octave phrase about the murder of Scarpia on one breath, which few Toscas can manage. Occasionally, when she puts the pressure on, the voice can turn thick and even wobbly, but the basic sound is cherishable, and she creates character and drama by singing off the words, in the great, almost vanished Puccini tradition.
When all else fails, Guelfi will resort to shouting, but much of his singing is insinuatingly and imaginatively suave. Zubin Mehta allows some coarse playing from the orchestra of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, but superintends a musically scrupulous performance that is also passionate and exciting.
Decca's booklet may prove particularly helpful to the operatic neophyte: Sections of the score are given unusual verbal titles, like the movie chapters on a DVD. The main episodes in Act II are ''Scarpia the sadist,'' ''On the rack,'' ''Betrayed,'' and ''A terrible choice.''
This story ran on page C18 of the Boston Globe on 5/2/2003.
� Copyright 2003 Globe Newspaper Company.
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