Brooklyn Dodgers, Brooklyn Nets,
Brooklyn Bocelli!
Because
we have been coming for so long and so often to share the gifts
Andrea offers in concert, we forget that there are always those
who are new to this experience. In our seats at Brooklyn’s brand
new Barclay’s Center arena December 5, we were surrounded by
first-timers. To our right were a father and daughter from
Houston, Texas. Wait, hadn’t Andrea just sung in Houston
November 28? Right, but this doting dad (raised in Brooklyn)
wanted to spoil his “little” girl (a beautiful 18-year-old and
Bocelli fan) with a special New York experience highlighted by
Andrea’s concert. So they had skipped Houston and flew in.
Behind us were four older women (sisters, judging by the family
resemblance; Brooklyn born, judging by the recognizable accent)
eagerly chattering about their hopes for favorite songs and the
feverish anticipation to see The Man (big sigh) in
person! To our left, a young couple from the Brooklyn area
smiled, patiently listening to Jack’s coaching on what to expect
from the program and how to coax the maximum number of encores
from the tenor at the finale. She had majored in opera at school
and it was her first Andrea concert. A very diverse crowd—couples,
families, best friends, young and old—slowly filled the arena,
now just a few months old, while a very intimate video played on
the stage backdrop showing Andrea explaining the hoped-for goals
of his new ABF charitable foundation.
Andrea
Classical
Under
the capable baton of Maestro Eugene Kohn, the New York City Opera
Orchestra’s performance of the Zampa Overture
was a fantastically exciting opening piece to set the tone for the
evening. If you haven’t heard it, do a search online and give
yourself a treat. Throughout the concert, Maestro Kohn was his
dependably reliable self, for which Andrea frequently extended a
grateful hand to him. Can you imagine rehearsing a new orchestra and
chorus in each of six cities during less than two weeks?
Without
a doubt, Andrea has cornered the market on “ravishingly
beautiful.” The arias chosen for the classical first half of the
program fit his romantic heart and voice like a glove. Hearing the
lush yearning he infuses into Puccini’s “Donna non vidi mai”
from Manon Lescaut
places it high on my list of operas I’d love to hear him sing
next. To celebrate the November debut of his CD Roméo
e Juliette, Andrea and his guest soprano, the fiery Cuban
Maria Aleida, gave us a musical tour of selected highlights,
lavishly illustrated by a video backdrop of scenes from Andrea’s
staged production of this opera in Genoa, Italy, last February.
These arias and duets shimmer with the yearning intensity of young
love that Andrea translates so perfectly with his signature vocal
warmth and beauty—so familiar, so fatally enchanting every time
we hear him. A welcome delight was the two duets from
Donizetti’s Lucia di
Lammermoor, “Verranno a te sull’aure” and “Sulla tomba
che rinserra.” If memory serves me right, Andrea has not done
these selections in concert on tour since partnering with Sumi Jo
in Japan in 2000. They are a thrilling and welcome reprise, tenor
and soprano rising to the vocal challenges of these duets,
intensely dramatic and rich in close harmonies.
Andrea
Light
Several
familiar Neapolitan songs opened the evening’s traditionally
more casual second half. “‘O surdato ‘nnamurato” is a
poignant reminder that soldiers from time immemorial to the
present day have returned to loving arms from the horrors of war.
Andrea seems intent on recognizing their sacrifice with this
frequently included song. Earlier in the evening, before the
concert began, I had watched more than a few gentleman of
middle-age, each slowly and lovingly escorting a dignified, older,
white-haired lady to her seat. One might safely assume this was a
special dream-come-true evening bestowed by grateful sons to
cherished mammas. Andrea’s heart-melting version of “Mamma”
surely brought tears of appreciation throughout that arena from
mothers and sons alike. Scenes of famous and not-so-famous mammas
embracing sons and daughters joyfully filled the giant backdrop.
Of course, these included Edi and her darling Andrea, and
predictably concluded with a lovely close-up of Veronica cuddling
sweet baby Virginia, born last March. Several other surprises
filled this part of the evening. Andrea called on his friend and
compatriot, Marcello Giordani—currently in rehearsal for Les
Troyens at the Metropolitan Opera—to join him onstage in a
masterful but playful romp through “Funiculì, Funiculà.”
Nice to see this lighthearted moment shared and obviously enjoyed
by the two operatic icons. Next, Katherine Jenkins, who had most
recently entertained US TV audiences on the popular Dancing
with the Stars, put her newly perfected skills to use by
taking a whirl around the stage with that Tuscan prince of our
hearts to the enchanting strains of “Tace il labbro” from
Lehar’s Merry Widow.
Much
too soon, we came to the final offerings on the program. But the
evening’s surprises were far from over. Andrea brought out his
shiny golden flute to accompany his reverently touching rendition
of Schubert’s “Ave Maria.” To do it justice, this
deceptively simple classic melody demands vocal control and a
natural beauty and resonance, to which Andrea adds all the
strength of his heart’s faith and personal devotion. Then, he
followed with the spellbinding power he brings to “Amazing
Grace.” Andrea’s music is always a blessing—intensely and
gratefully felt in this area of the country that is still
struggling to heal the wounds of Hurricane Sandy and will have a
long journey of recovery to follow. The audience was clearly held
in thrall by the force of each note’s purity, drawn from deep
within the tenor’s strength of spirit and forthright heart, so
freely offered in the simple beauty of his voice.
Yes,
Virginia, There Is a Babbo!
But
the appreciative flood of applause for “Amazing Grace” was
about to be surpassed. Andrea returned to the spotlight to make a
modest announcement introducing his “newest and youngest fan”—“my
daughter Virginia!” As Veronica entered from stage left carrying
the adorable principessa, clad in a stylish gray smock and tights
and sporting very baby-chic red shoes, the audience quickly
realized the rare privilege of this debut, and you could hear the
collective, smitten “Awwwwwww” sweeping across the vast arena!
It was love at first sight as the tenor gently took his small
daughter in his arms and the orchestra struck what now seemed an
alarmingly loud (for tiny ears) introduction to “Adeste
Fideles.” As you might imagine, the close-up camera was glued to
that beaming cherubic face—the baby’s that is. Nestled
comfortably, that little girl remained steadfastly calm in the
capable grip of her daddy, whose voice now boomed powerfully into
her little ears. Astonishingly, she barely blinked at the full
volume of the symphonic orchestra blaring from behind her, though
there was the slightest little knitting of her baby brow when the
decibels reached the full crescendo for the final verse…at which
point daddy, who now seemed a bit challenged by the drawn-out
effort of bearing a very sturdy Virginia’s full weight in one
arm, blithely hoisted her high up and behind his head to straddle
his neck (I could hear muffled gasps of concern around me). But
this new perch atop trusty shoulders seemed to particularly
delight Virginia and, with little red-clad feet pumping merrily,
she gazed round in queenly satisfaction as Babbo’s concert
reached its glorious denouement. Need it be said that father and
daughter brought the proverbial house down?!
This
joyful response extended unabated to coax Andrea through four
energetic encores: “The Prayer,” “New York New York,” the
essential “Con te partirò,” and, by now nearly equally
requisite, “Nessun Dorma.” Predictably, the Brooklyn crowd was
particularly primed to revel in “New York, New York,” which,
in turn, channeled Andrea’s latent Broadway-baby tendencies for
a knock-em dead finish, all reinforced by filmed scenes of the
tenor taking in the legendary sights of a fabled city. By now, the
adrenaline was flowing, and Andrea’s dependably thrilling final
notes of “Nessun Dorma” were a fitting climax for an exuberant
Brooklyn debut and triumphant US tour.
We’re
home again, now, in Virginia (our
Virginia). Here in the shadow of the nation’s capital, there are
unrelenting dire reports about a certain fiscal cliff. Indeed,
there is plenty of unrest to go around in all this weary world.
But for now, we’re listening to the season’s peaceful carols (guess
whose?). No matter what comes, we feel the power of music—born
of human communication, heart to heart, spirit to spirit, steeped
in tradition, inspired by the full range of human emotions. It is
a nourishing experience that kindles hope, bolsters hearts, fills
the soul, and brings us again and again to hear Andrea, who has a
singular ability to channel this grace to us.
Merry
Christmas, Andrea, to you and all your family. We thank you for
your giving spirit. God bless us, every one!