A fill of Bocelli

The Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli of the glorious tones is all set to begin his Asian tour with a concert tonight at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City. Guesting in the concert is soprano Maria Luigia Borsi while the all-Filipino Padre Pio Philharmonic Orchestra will be conducted by Marcello Rota. "Andrea Bocelli in Manila is presented by ABS-CBN and will benefit the Padre Pio Lend-a-Hand Foundation, Bantay-Bata, Philippine National Red Cross, the Ateneo AHS’79 Foundation and Mt. Pinatubo Hidden Temple Shrine Foundation in Zambales.

This indeed is the music event of the year. The man who impressed even the great Pavarotti performs for us live. And although classical by training, his music is also pop. Think "The Prayer," his duet with Celine Dion or "Time to Say Goodbye," his power ballad duet with Sarah Brightman which established him as a pop crossover success just like Brightman who will also be hitting local shores soon. So almost everybody is able to enjoy his music.

Tonight’s repertoire will be Italian with a very popular line-up. Numbers that will surely delight the local audience are "Aranjuez," Schubert’s "Ave Maria," "E Lucevan le stelle" from "Tosca," Leoncavallo’s "Mattinata," "Torna a Surriento" and "O Sole Mio." Them maybe also "The Prayer" and "Time to Say Goodbye."

If by any chance you have to miss the show tonight and if your budget can afford it, you might want to catch him in Hong Kong on May 7 or in Singapore in May 10. Impossible? Then get copies of his CD’s. Most of them are now available locally and are considered must-haves even if you are one of those rare creatures who is not a Bocelli admirer.

"Romanza" is the first album which was released internationally and is therefore the one that no Bocelli fan should be without. It contains two versions of "Con Te Partiro," which made him a star. One is a duet with Sarah Brightman, "Time to Say Goodbye," Would you believe that there was a time when even rock bands in the smallest clubs in Europe never failed to include this song in their sets. It is also in this album that he does his version of the beautiful "Caruso," and a live version of "Miserere," featuring John Miles.

"Sogno" is another popular album. This is the one that includes "The Prayer," his duet with Celine Dion which was used as the theme in the animated feature "Quest for Camelot." Dion was so enchanted with Bocelli’s singing that she was quoted as saying that if we could hear God sing, He will sound like Bocelli. "A Mio Padre," a song dedicated to his father with lyrics by Andrea himself is also in this album, as well as "Nel Cuore," a duet with Italian pop star Eros Remazzotti and the hit title track.

"Sentimento" has Bocelli singing famous classical melodies given new lyrics. I recommend this for those with a big fear of classical music because you will surely find these songs very familiar. Most of them are by the early 20th century composer Francesco Tosti, a big name in the Italian language repertoire. The others are "En Aranjuez Con tu Amor" from the guitar concerto by Rodrigo, "Mattinata" by Leoncavallo, "Barcarolle" by Offenbach, "Sogno d’Amore" by Liszt, "La Danza" by Rossini, "Plaisir D’Amour" by Martini and others. It also features violinist Lorin Maazel, who arranged all the cuts and conducted the London Symphony Orchestra.

"Cieli Di Toscana" This is Bocelli’s latest and I must say his most relaxed album. Why, he even sounds mellow in some cuts! Maybe this is because he comes from Tuscany and recording this album was in a way like being at home. Maybe it is because things have somewhat settled down since his sensational rise to fame in the late 90’s and he can just simply sing and enjoy the music. The line-up includes his own compositions, "Resta Qui" and "L’Incontro" which is dedicated to his son and has an intro poem recited by Irish pop star Bono."

If you still want more, then check out the classical section in the music stores for the heavier stuff. I do not know if he has performed entire operas on stage but he has certainly recorded "Tosca" and "La Boheme," a collection of arias by Verdi and Verdi’s "Requiem." For Christmas, which incidentally is only 238 days away, there is his lovely "Sacred Arias."