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THE BOCELLI PHENOMENON
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What distinguishes Bocelli from his crossover colleagues, past and present, is that when he sings pop songs, he is a true pop singer, and when he sings opera, he is a true opera singer. That distinction can't be stressed enough. Consider, for comparison, a couple of other tenors who occasionally do the crossover thing -- Plácido Domingo singing a duet with John Denver, for example, or José Carreras recording a role in "West Side Story." At no point in either of those efforts can you forget that these are opera artists working outside of their genre.
Now take another listen to Bocelli pouring out the yearning emotion in one of his first megahits, "Time to Say Goodbye," or getting into the moody Spanish/Moroccan groove of the duet "Sin Tu Amor" with Mario Reyes on his latest album, ANDREA (which is also a highlight of TRIBUTE ON ICE). Bocelli is utterly at home in this style, so natural in his phrasing and the way he shades his tone. To drive home a line, he puts a real wail in the voice; when he wants to make an intimate point, he draws the listener in by producing a sound that is at once confidential, honest, inviting, tender, and unaffected.
Bocelli's pop styling boasts the innate nuances essential to the idiom. He rides a song easily, taking it on an emotional journey, like the best balladeers of the past. The ANDREA CD is filled with demonstrations of this ability, from the darkly beautiful delivery of "Dell'amore non Si Sa" and conversational "Tu Che Sei" (note how the singer bites off the ends of words in vintage pop fashion) to the naked emotion of the soaring "L'Attesa" or the straight-out singing of the boldly rocking "Un Nuovo Giorno."
To complete the comparison, listen to Bocelli's rendition of one of the best loved of all tenor arias, "La Donna è Mobile" from Verdi's "Rigoletto." What you hear is not a pop singer dressing up or pumping up his voice, but a genuine demonstration of operatic vocalism. And Bocelli does not settle for going through the motions; near the end of each verse, he offers an endearing interpretive touch, the kind that some of the finest tenors of the past added in this aria (but too few of today's singers attempt) -- a gradual softening of the tone and relaxing of the tempo, giving the music and the words extra personality in the process. Many other examples of Bocelli's respect for idiomatic traditions and his knack for putting the essence of an opera aria across vibrantly are documented in his discography.
To be sure, critical opinions about Bocelli's operatic work will continue to be divided. Some will always find aspects of his phrasing and technique wanting, just as they do with more than a few opera-only singers. But even skeptics must admit that Bocelli has the truly special gift of communicating instantly, deeply to an audience, and that this gift comes directly from the sound of his voice, its timbre, vibrato, and inherent sweetness.
Yes, the singer's personal story, his triumph over the limitation of being blind since the age of 12, plays a part in the rapport he enjoys with his public. But no human interest element would be sufficient to generate and sustain such love and loyalty, certainly not in our short attention-span era. The honesty of Bocelli's singing and the conviction in his approach, whether in opera or pop music, explain not only why he has been able to cross back and forth over the lines with such success, but also why so many listeners eagerly and contentedly cross over with him.
Top banner photos: Special guest Holly Stell, tenor Andrea Bocelli, and champion ice dancers Renee Roca and Gorsha Sur. |
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Brian Boitano is the most recent male American skater to win gold at the Olympics, in 1988. |
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Ekaterina Gordeeva began a solo career after the death of her husband and skating partner, Sergei Grinkov. |
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This program is currently not available through Shop Thirteen or ShopPBS. |
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