January 19, 2007
Teatro Carlo Felice di Genova
Genua, Teatro de Fenice, Italy
 
Well what can I say about Il Concerto del Cuore......
It was wonderful of course !
We arrived in Genova on Wednesday afternoon, had a walking tour round some of the city on Thursday, then on Friday we went on a guided tour to the "Cinqueterre", which are 5 villages perched on the side of the mountain. The weather was incredible for the time of year, 19 degrees Celsius and it was a beautiful area. We were due back at the hotel at about 5.30, plenty of time to get ready for the 8.30 start of the concert. About 10 minutes before we got back our tour guide said: " I will let you into a little secret.....Andrea is staying at our hotel ! "
As you can understand, we were a bit excited and the words "Oh God" were coming out of our mouths about every 20 seconds.  We thought we would try and behave like the adults we are and go to our room to get ready. We had booked dinner in the hotel for 6.30, so we were running round like headless chickens, trying to work out what we were supposed to do, but we made it and got downstairs for 6.30. We met an American couple on the stairs who asked us if Andrea was staying at the hotel and we said yes, that is what we had been told. The lady said she could hear him sing but was not sure if he was actually there!  What a treat that would have been....I do wonder why he was not practising at the theatre though ?
We managed to eat a bit of pasta which might as well have been cardboard for what we tasted of it ! and had a glass of wine and then we just sat in the lobby, waiting and watching. I saw Gianfranco Montresor come out of the lift at 7.30 so he must have been rehearsing too. We left about 7.45 as the theatre was only a five minute walk around the corner.
The Teatro Carlo Felice is a beautiful building inside and out and there were a lot of glamorous people there and a fair few security people. During the concert a cardinal came on  the stage and made a bit of a speech and was introduced to Andrea and Mo. Rota, so maybe it was for him, who knows .....
 I have sent Renate a photo of the programme, which I hope she will put up, so you can see what was sung. Too long to list it all. Andrea did just 4 songs solo - Brindisi and L'Esule from Verdi before the interval and afterwards we got Sogno and La Serenata from Tosti. We got 2 encores, both duets with the soprano, the waltz from the Merry Widow, and Brindisi.  The soprano had a wonderful voice but she had written notes on a music stand that she was turning as she sang ! A bit off putting I thought and an extra obstacle for Andrea. The baritone was very good I thought. His French is still quite atrocious in  the Pearlfishers duet alas, but he has sorted out his hair and looks a lot less wild than he did in the European concerts ! 
There were no microphones that I could see and the sound was pretty good. We were  in row 23, right in the centre, but it was quite far from the stage. At times the orchestra appeared to overpower the singers,  but all in all well balanced and I heard a few compliments for the orchestra.
It finished just after 11 and we thought, do we go back to the hotel or shall we have a look round by the stage door. Good thing we did, as it turned out. Marcello Rota came out, lots of people talked to him, then Gianfranco, but nobody bothered with him, so we asked for his autograph, and he was very nice. Then the soprano, who passed by unnoticed, then Andrea came out with Veronica. It was good to see that people did not crowd him out too much. He signed quite a few programmes, and I got some nice photos as you can see. He was just walking away and I asked if I could have his autograph please and Veronica said yes. He asked where I came from and I could just about remember it was England!  I told him he was wonderful and he replied that he always does his best. I said you just keep getting better. Very difficult at such times to think of something original to say, and it is so nice of him to be patient and reply.
As you can imagine we floated back to the hotel and a small group of us sat and chatted in the lobby with a glass of wine, but no sign of Mr. Bocelli.  I asked our tour guide the next day and apparently he just had a day room. I did see Gianfranco come out of the lift at midnight, with a suitcase, so he was off somewhere else and then we sat next to the soprano at breakfast !
It was a great concert.....and a great trip too. Nice people everywhere and beautiful scenery and food.
Looking forward to Sicily now.....

 

Genau 18. 1. 2007, thanks to Caroline and Alison!
  by Caroline Gane

 


 
January 13, 2007
MUNICH, Germany Philharmonie im Gasteig
 
Nach Wochen mit schlechtem Wetter in Deutschland, mit Regen und grauem Himmel, ging am Sonnabend in München im wahrsten Sinne des Wortes die Sonne gleich zweimal auf: einmal am Morgen - es wurde ein herrlicher Tag mit frühlingshaften Temperaturen, und dann am Abend, als Andrea die Bühne der Münchner Philharmonie betrat!
Und er sah wieder einmal verdammt gut aus in seinem Frack  ...
Aber er sah nicht nur sehr gut aus, er sang auch sehr gut 
Das Programm war eine Auswahl aus klassischen Arien und Duetten, ganz nach meinem Geschmack:
"Brindisi" und "L´esule", zwei der acht Verdi-Arien, bearbeitet v.Luciano Berio, das Perlenfischer-Duett, "Viene la sera" aus Madame Butterfly, Sogno und La serenata von Tosti, "O Mimi, tu più non torni" aus La Bohème, "Mario, Mario" aus Tosca.
Andrea sang ohne Mikrophonverstärkung, für mich immer wieder ein Erlebnis, seine schöne Stimme mit all ihren Feinheiten und ihrer Ausdrucksweise, eben in "Natur" zu hören.
Ich denke, es war ein sehr gelungener und erfolgreicher Start in das neue Jahr für Andrea. Für mich war es auf jeden Fall ein phantastischer Abend, der wie immer viel zu schnell vorüber ging!
Andrea sang 2 Zugaben, "Tace il labro" aus "Die lustige Witwe" und "Brindisi" aus La Traviata - das Publikum war für meinen Geschmack etwas zurückhaltend.
Mit dem Blumenstrauß, der ihm nach dem Konzert überreicht wurde , winkte er noch einen Gruß ins Publikum, dann verließ er ziemlich schnell die Bühne...

 

English
After weeks of bad weather in Germany, with rain and dark sky, last Saturday in Munich we have got a double sunrise: in the morning - it became a sunny day with nice temperatures like in spring, and than in the evening, as Andrea came on the stage of the Munich Philharmonie!
And he again looked damned good in his tail-coat  ...
But he did not only look very good, he also sang very good 
The program was a mixture of classical arias and duets, it was really my taste:
"Brindisi" and"L`esule", two of the eight Verdi-arias, edited by L.Berio, the Pearl-Fisher duet, "Viene la sera" from Madame Butterfly, Sogno and La serenata from Tosti, "O Mimi, tu più non torni" from La Bohème, "Mario, Mario" from Tosca.
Andrea sang without amplification, for me the best he can do, because you can hear his wonderful natural voice, the fineness and the expression of his voice, much better than with amplification.
I think it was a succeeded and very successful beginning of the new year for Andrea. For me it was a phantastic experience, it only was too short, the time was running!
Two encores: "Tace il labro" from La vedova allegra and "Brindisi" from La Traviata - the Munich audience was a little bit too reserved for my taste.
With the bunch of flowers Andrea got after the concert, he waved to the people, before he left the stage very quickly.....

by Anne-Karin D.
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