Well..! This was quite the concert. We were most pleased.
He was in such fine voice. And his voice was so big. We loved everything
about this venue. For one thing the arena is like other arenas in
shape...but it is smaller...12000 persons, and the acoustics, at least this
time, were just perfect. Not too loud. And the balance was super too.
Our sight lines from the riser section on the left side nearest the stage,
was just perfect in every way. This is the first time for a Bocelli concert
that they have sold all the tickets in the horseshoe area behind the stage.
To see them packed solid tells me he is a big hit in Vegas.
Andrea seems to me to have reached another level of comfort with his
concerts. He is radiantly happy and at ease. The voice is strong and rich.
Still the same caring delivery as always. He really does get better and
better. There are just enough new pieces to be exciting and just enough
familiar arias and songs to flesh it out. And of course one always wants
more...but that is as it should be.
It has been a while since I have had the pleasure of Ana Maria with him and
their voices are so well blended and satisfying together that I tried to
savor the moments of the exquisite duets. I realize it is too much to hope
for that they will be together as regularly as earlier years but when they
do sing together it is like one of your best bottles of wine!
Steven was a big help too, as always and we do enjoy watching his explosive
direction from the podium. I feel Andrea is in the most capable hands with
him.
The solo from Otello is still a new piece to me. It seems more
dynamic than melodic. I will have to hear that a few times to really
understand it and recognize it. But "Vicino a te" is a wonderful duet from
Chenièr and it was done to perfection. Very
stirring and romantic too. Sort of a one for all and all for one song to
forge unity of purpose. I did enjoy his "Ave Maria" and the way it segued
into a part of "Sancta Maria." That was quite nice. I figure that is a bit
of Steven's ingenuity coming through.
I was enchanted by the orchestration used with Andrea's own song "Voglio
restare cosi." It is one I have always liked and it never occurred to me I
would ever hear him sing it in a concert. It is a great idea to share his
own works from time to time. When he played it in a piano bar I am sure it
was less complex sounding. But with this orchestral arrangement...which may
have been done by Mercurio, and which incorporated a dreamy, long, and
beautiful clarinet solo, I believe I could see Andrea enchanted as well...a
beautiful rendering of his very own work. It just made his composition take
on a high class aura I had not associated with it before.
And of course...the encore favorites are always hits with the crowd. I never
tire of hearing just him sing "The Prayer" all alone...love that, and then
the crowd always goes wild with his rendition of "My Way" as he is seated at
the keyboard. And this time the "Con te partirò" was
enchanting too. True, Ana Maria sang it with him but only a little part...he
did almost all of it alone as well, and people cant contain themselves about
then. It may have just been our night, but his baritonal range seems richer
and fuller than ever before, and there are more than a few of those notes in
these pieces.
Yes, it had been more than a year since hearing him live...and I really know
I missed the boat last year by not seeing one of the "Sentimento" concerts
or Butterfly. But this helped me bridge the months of wait. Now I
look forward to January and can just hardly wait for Werther.
Carolyn Parsons
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