Bocelli’s coming to town

Golden-voiced Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli will definitely come to Manila to sing at the Araneta Coliseum in the Valentine month of February, Rosemarie "Baby" Arenas, philanthropist, socialite and fund-raiser, announced recently. His concert, originally planned for September at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC), has been changed due to the early enthusiasm and demand for tickets. Araneta Coliseum can accommodate at least 20,000 patrons, including students.

Bocelli will be accompanied during the concert by 78 musicians from the Phi-lippine Philharmonic Orchestra.

Arenas left for Rome last Monday to represent the Philippines in Padre Pio’s canonization this July as well as to formalize the schedule of Signore Bocelli. The beneficiaries for this concert are charitable projects of Padre Pio Foundation, Mt. Pinatubo Hidden Temple Shrine and Community Foundation, and the Philippine STAR Damayan projects for soldiers. Arenas is the founder and chairperson of the Padre Pio Foundation, as well as the Ways and Means committee chairperson of the Mt. Pinatubo Hidden Temple Shrine and Community Foundation.

The 44-year-old blind tenor was born in the farm vicinity of Pisa, Italy, where the family owns a small vineyard producing a small amount of "Chianti Bocelli." He was born with a mild case of glaucoma, which worsened in spite of undergoing 26 eye operations under the best doctors.

At an early age, Bocelli displayed musical gifts, which his mother nurtured by letting him take music lessons as well as learn to play both flute and saxophone. Bocelli graduated as a Doctor of Law from the University of Pisa and spent a year as a court-appointed lawyer before embarking on a make-or-break attempt at singing.

Later, Bocelli was trained by the legendary Franco Corelli. To pay the fees, Andrea performed at night in piano bars and clubs, where he met his wife, Enrica. The couple has been married for eight years with two sons, Amos and Mateo.

Pavarotti recognized Bocelli’s talent and exclaimed, "He has something no other tenors possess. He has soul. … there is no one finer." Pavarotti asked Bocelli to accompany him on European tours, thus a strong friendship developed between them.

Bocelli joined the prestigious Sanremo Festival (the Tawag ng Tanghalan of Italy) in 1993. He won the preliminary competition with the highest marks ever recorded in the "New Entrants" category. In 1994, he again won the first prize. His worldwide success however has been phenomenal, the singles Con Te Partiro and Time to Say Goodbye have smashed sales records in several countries. His Bocelli album has been awarded Platinum status, including sextuple platinum in Belgium, quadruple platinum in Germany (selling nearly two million copies), quadruple platinum in Holland and double platinum in Italy. His recent release of Sogno is a testament to the power of his unique voice and irresistible warmth in overcoming barriers of language and culture.

Bocelli will fly in to Manila in his own private jet plane with his management staff. Bocelli also prefers to work with his own conductor, either Maestro Marcello Rota or Maestro Steven Mercurio. He is considering singing with a national soprano of fame. The repertoire will include arias from operas (also in duets), Neapolitan songs, Tosti’s arias, some solo arias sung by the soprano. As encore, a couple of pop songs will be included. Technical staging will be checked by Bocelli’s sound engineer who will see to it that it is of absolute quality level.