Andrea Bocelli returns to Southern California in time for the holidays

Opera purists often turn their noses up at Andrea Bocelli. But for a great many people, he is opera. For better or for worse, Bocelli -- who has made a career out of moving between classical and pop -- represents the closest thing to opera that most people will ever experience.

No stranger to Southern California, Bocelli is in town this weekend to appear at the Honda Center in Anaheim on Sunday evening. The Italian tenor will perform a set of holiday music from his latest album, "My Christmas," which was released in November. He is also expected to perform operatic arias and duets.

Bocelli, 51, agreed to an interview via e-mail. His representatives explained that he was trying to conserve his vocal power for his tour, which in addition to Southern California has taken him to Toronto, northern New Jersey, Las Vegas and Fresno.

What is your favorite Christmas carol?

In reality I have no favorite songs but there are some pieces that evoke unforgettable moments from my family life: For example, “Tu scendi dalle stelle” (a traditional Italian Christmas song) is the song which more than any other brings back memories of Christmas, the Christmas of my early childhood, but in recording this album, there are songs I have discovered which do not belong to our tradition but have really blown me away like “The Lord’s Prayer” or “Santa Claus [Is Coming to Town]” or “The Christmas Song” ... and many others too.

Christmas concerts can seem awfully repetitive for musicians. How do you keep it fresh?

My concerts are not entirely dedicated to Christmas songs, which I do however find extraordinarily gentle and soothing.  There are always some very fine operatic pieces, unforgettable duets, in order to add variety and in accordance with the principles I adopted from the very start of my career.

What is the most tedious part of touring?

There are undoubtedly many aspects which do not make the life of the concert performer exactly a holiday: One of the worst aspects of my artistic life is that it involves so many long journeys by air during which, aside from the underlying feelings of anxiety flying still causes me, mean many long hours of unremitting boredom.

Then there are the hours spent waiting in theater dressing rooms or in the green room of TV studios, the makeup and the journalists’ questions, which are frequently always the same.... But then there is the music and at that point all the rest fades into the background.

You've performed with many of the world's great opera and pop stars. Are there any artists/musicians whom you haven't had the chance to work with yet and would like to?

The world is full of great artists and extraordinary voices and I love to share the stage with other artists from whom there is always something to learn or at least to receive some positive stimulus.

Are there any pieces / songs that are not in your repertoire and would like to perform one day?
 
Whoever loves music is hungry for music every day.  This is why I am always on the lookout for pieces which I have never sung, always hunting for new emotions with which to move my audiences.

Classical music purists tend to look down on artists who blend opera and pop. What do you have to say to them? 

What do I have to say to them?  That they are right.  When it comes to classical music, and opera in particular, there is no one who is more of a purist than I am.  I have never mixed the two.  I have instead drawn out a precise dividing line so that the two languages in question might never have to suffer cross-contamination through any cause of my making.

Where will you be spending your holiday vacation?
 
I will be celebrating Christmas Day at home with all my family as I do every year.  We will all go to church together and then have Christmas lunch.  I will then be leaving for Brazil for a big concert in Florianopolis and eventually, after that, I will have a few days holiday on a nearby island.

-- David Ng

Photo: Andrea Bocelli. Credit: Peter Kramer / Associated Press

Comments

[Erick]

Bocelli sounds like a nice man, but he is an appalling singer. He has no sense of musicality, phrasing, tempo or dynamics. He does not sing, he bleats. His voice is essentially ugly and harsh.

A few years ago he had one or two good notes, his high, falsetto tones. They are gone. Now his voice is like fingernails on a blackboard. He has learned nothing after singing all these years. How people can sit through that screeching is beyond me. As a pop singer he is awful, as an opera singer...well, he can't sing opera at all, so there is no need to elaborate.

[Cate]

I wish I could speak two languages. I suppose it's never too late to learn a new tongue. Ciao bella.

[Beth]

Erick-you know what? What is the point of your post? If you don't have anything nice, or anything reasonably interesting to say, then your comment is just showing off what passes for critique. But really you're just a blowhard. I don't know Bocelli's work well, but I do know he makes many, many people happy with his music, so that's good enough for me.

[Neil]

His concerts are obscenely overpriced. Doesn't he have enuf money yet? Is he a music lover or a money lover?

[Cami McNamee]

Alas, Erick, I wonder what has driven you to write such words? Your critique is a perfect antithesis of the truth about Bocelli’s voice. Anyone who has seriously listened to him with an open mind, or even those who are stopped in their tracks at the first hearing of his voice by the beautiful qualities he innately possesses, will merely smile and shake their head at such nonsense.

I appreciated this opportunity to learn a little more about a fascinating man and his relationship with the music that has opened the door for me and for many others to the operatic repertoire he loves so ardently, not to mention the countless hours of pleasure and inspiration he has provided me through his many musical offerings. Both as a human being, through his many charitable efforts, and through his art, he is truly an antidote to the brutality and losses so commonly encountered in our world.

Thank you for this interview.

[Maria Nockin]

I wish people would stop associating Bocelli with opera. He does some music FROM opera, but because he is blind there is no way he can act out a part on the opera stage. He also uses a microphone. Normally, opera singers do not use amplification unless they are singing in a stadium instead of an opera house. there is nothing wrong with Bocelli, it's just that he is in no way an opera singer and should not allow himself to be billed as such.

[Deborah Roberts]

Erick, what a sad and pathetic man you sound like!
BOCELLI FOREVER!

[Janice]

What *I* wish, Maria, is that people who know nothing about Bocelli would stop making uninformed comments about him and stating them as if they were facts. Blindness does not prevent Bocelli from appearing in staged operas. I have personally seen him perform on the opera stage 5 times. He has been in at least 7 that I can think of right now. He does full performances in them as well, the same as any other actor on the stage. When he is singing in the opera houses, he is NOT using a microphone--again, the same as any other operatic performers on the stage. The ONLY time he sings with amplification is when he does stadium and arena concerts. And, guess what? That is again the SAME thing any other opera singer does. Andrea Bocelli is billed as an opera singer because that is exactly what he is.

[Mary]

I am afraid I must disagree with Maria Nockin.Yes, Andrea IS blind but this has certainly NOT stopped him from appearing in live opera. His debut was in Verdi's Macbeth in 1994.In 1998 he played Rodolfo in a production of La bohème. He has since taken leads in Madame Butterfly, Werther,Tosca, Carmen (in Rome last year) to name but a few.

[idonna]

I wouldn't post if I hadn't done my homework Maria. Bocelli has performed on stage in several operas--La Boheme, Tosca, Madame Butterfly, Carmen, Werther to name a few. Mostly in Italy which is probably why you weren't aware of the fact. The directors says he has an uncanny knack for memorizing stage set up and timing. By and large he manages quite well and he's not a bad actor! I've only seen him in La Boheme and I was quite amazed by his performance. Although I love his voice I respect those who don't. We like who we like. But I do feel you should be able to backup critiques with facts. He is by all definitions an opera singer.

[idonna]

Oh I forgot to mention he only uses microphones in his concert appearances as did The Three Tenors. He sang without microphones in full length operas as is the tradition.

[Tim]

I think Erick has been listening to too much P Diddy, if someone would loan him the money to go see the performance I am sure he would change his mind.

[Carolyn]

Maria---YOU are uninformed on Andrea's roles in opera. I can assure you, he is fabulous in staged operas and I have seen him perform in them both here and in Italy many times......he did two just last year: Carmen in Rome, and Cavalleria Rusticana in San Antonio. If you had gone to his concerts this year you would have seen footage of scenes playing behind him, of him acting in Carmen and La Boheme. His La Boheme played on TV in Italy and some copies of it are available. He is a perfect Rodolfo. His Tosca was superb, ditto his Mma Butterfly, L'Amico Fritz, Werther, both here in the states and in Bologna. I was present for all of these and there was no microphone used. The fact is, Bocelli is capable of doing both genres well. He used no mike in Carnegie this September. In concerts in sports arenas he uses a mike.

His difficulty in staged opera is a need to memorize the stage and scene sets and become accustomed to acting a role with other singers. Rehearsal time is hard to come by so I consider each opera something to savor.....I am grateful for each one.

His complete opera recordings are on CD, seven available and as usual, one more recorded but not yet released. Many make the mistake of not knowing how much 'real' opera he has performed, it is a shame that people become so sure of what they think he cannot do that they overstate what they believe to be the truth.

[Cami McNamee]

Maria wrote: "He does some music FROM opera, but because he is blind there is no way he can act out a part on the opera stage."

Ah, Maria, I can understand why you might think this, but it is simply not so. Andrea Bocelli has, astonishingly I admit, performed live onstage, without a microphone, in "La Boheme," "L'Amico Fritz," "Madama Butterfly," "Tosca," and "Werther" (in two separate venues). This is a tribute to his courage and the ingenuity and determination, not to mention the supportive comraderie, of all those involved in these productions. I had the privilege of seeing them all, every one quite beautiful.

Check out his extraordinary career at this link:

http://www.andreabocelli.com/andreabocelli_eng.htm#carriera

Cami McNamee

[G Bloom]

Oh, Maria Nockin I'm afraid you have been misinformed. Here are opera's performed -- that is sung AND acted, on stage without a microphone. This does not include the many classical concerts he has performed unmiked in small theatres. I have attended several here in the US. Don't believe everything you read from the classical critics.
October 1994 - Macbeth - Verdi - Pisa, Italy
Feb. 18, 1998 - La Bohème - Puccini - Cagliari, Sardinia
Oct. 29, 1999 - Werther - Massenet - Detroit Opera House
January 19, 21, 23, 2001- L'Amico Fritz - Mascagni - Teatro Filarmonico, Verona, Italy
July 26, August 3, 2002 - Madama Butterfly - Puccini - Torre del Lago
January 22-29, 2004 - Werther - Massenet - Teatro di Comunale in Bologna
July 24 and 30 2004 - Tosca - Puccini - Torre del Lago, Italy
June 17 - 28, 2008 - Carmen Bizet - Teatro di Roma, Rome, Italy
March 20, 22, 2009 - Faust (Gounod) prepared but not performed because of strike - Palermo, Sicily, Italy

[Joyce]

Maria, we have all spoken before we should have...in this case there was information you did not know, thus you might have written differently. Beyond what has already been listed, Andrea sang at Lincoln Center and Christopher Newport University unmiked. For Erick, I am so very sorry to read about your hearing loss.

Pavarotti chose Bocelli to sing at his wedding and named him to sing at his funeral. Domingo has stood side by side with Bocelli in both the USA and Italy to join their voices. I have never said Bocelli is the most technically perfect opera singer ever, nor would he make that claim himself. What I do say is he has one of the most beautiful voices ever; a voice that reaches the hearts of many. So many of his fans were not taught or exposed in our early years to appreciate and pursue the classics. Bocelli opened that door and welcomed us to come in. Many Bocelli fans now study, attend and love operas and concerts to enhance what Bocelli has brought to them. In this stress-filled world, a voice that touches the heart should be welcomed.

[Laura]

Luciano Pavarotti, Zubin Mehta, ERICK, Lorin Mazel, Franco Corelli, Eugene Kohn... wait, what was that third one?? All the rest are names in a partial list of noted musicians who have publicy praised Bocelli's voice in one way or another. Then there's Erick, showing not only a stunning lack of information but also an unnecessary dose of rudeness. Don't like the man's voice? Fine. But why be over the top about your dislike? I don't like rap but you don't see me reading and commenting online reviews of Kanye West concerts...

[Steph]

The only time I've ever heard someone make comments as vicious and uncalled-for as Erick's is when the person posting the comments either has a complete and total ignorance of the artist they are writing about, or they know about the artist, but are jealous that they do not have the same kind of talent. Andrea is a very talented singer, and it sounds as if Erick is jealous and more than a little bit intimidated by that talent.

[MarK]

So many people attacking one poor Erick! He may have been a bit too harsh here, but is actually not that far off the mark.
Thank you, G Bloom, for the list that proves my point by showing mostly second-rate Italian opera theaters, but certainly not La Scala and not a single major opera house in the entire world. With Bocelli being so immensely popular for about two decades already, his name alone would mean instant sellouts anywhere, so why do you think no opera theater of fine quality has ever hired him? The only possible reason is obvious - he is a very poor opera singer. This is why people who know and love classical music are puzzled that so many fans continue to insist that their idol is the best and keep going to his concerts only, when literally hundreds of operatic singers around the world are much better than he is. He is to be admired for working hard to overcome his handicap and managing to perform in a few staged operas, but really it does not make him any better as a singer.
If anyone is interested in a real classical singer who has triumphed over severe devastating handicap and has been one of the world's best dramatic baritones for about two decades now, i have two words - Thomas Quasthoff. Why aren't you all listening to HIS recordings and running to attend HIS concerts? He is truly a world-class musician and, by the way, a very fine human being as well.

[adriana]

As someone that knows nothing about opera, I really enjoyed the Bocelli concert last night. I can't judge his technique or if he hit all the right notes, but what I heard last night was simply beautiful!