- October
5th, 2006
- Manchester
-
- Andrea
Bocelli in concert
Accompanied by; Czech National Symphony Orchestra
Prague chamber choir
Conducted by Maestro Marcello Rota
Soprano, Daniela Bruera
Baritone, Gianfranco Montresor.
Once again we travelled to Manchester, in the incessant pouring
heavy rain! The visibility on the motorway was terrible, and the
journey which usually would take us 45 minutes, took us over 2 hours!
But nothing would stop us from seeing Andrea Bocelli! Certainly not
rain!
Once safely at the Hotel, I met up with my great friend Doh, who had
travelled on the train from Northamptonshire, it has been over a
year since me last met, and that is way too long!
We had some time to kill, so we enjoyed a stroll around Manchester
centre, stopped for a sandwich and a pot of tea, then we went back
to the Hotel to ready ourselves for the evening so eagerly awaited.
Doh and I had arranged to meet another fan, Marusca, for a meal at
6pm, and i got a phone call in my room, it was Marusca who was
waiting for us in the reception! Chris and I hurried down to meet
her, and there she was, with her husband Geremy, they were already
sitting chatting with Doh.
It was lovely to meet another new fan, and as we were exchanging
hugs and kisses, another lady, Suzan, joined us! Suzan had read on
the official site that we were meeting there, so the more the
merrier, and we went to eat.
Well, unusually for me, everything went to plan! We had a nice meal
and a bottle of red wine, and we talked non stop, getting to know
each other! It was lovely!
Marusca is a beautiful lady, and very elegant with long black hair
as is usual for an Italian!
My partner Chris was made up, as it gave him a chance to practise
his by now quite rusty Italian! LOL
Unfortunately, Doh's partner Jim could not make it as he had the Flu
and was really very ill, poor man.
After the meal, we took a taxi to the M.E.N arena, joined the queue,
and Doh who had Jims spare ticket, very kindly offered it to Marusca,
as it was a much better seat, 6th row centre!
Marusca was very excited, as it was her first time seeing Andrea in
concert, and what a great view she had of him!
Sitting in my seat, 4th row centre, i was looking around trying to
see Sally, but it was impossible to find her in the huge crowd. But,
i did see Dorothy and her daughter Suzanne, who had travelled all
the way from Cypruss to be there, they are also attending the
Wembley concert next sunday!
Well, the orchestra took their seats, Rota came out to big applause,
the lights dimmed, and we were off!
The first piece was Danza Slava no.2 by Dvorak. The orchestra were
superb and i must say i recognised some of them from previous
concerts.
Rota then left the stage and returned with Andrea from stage
left. The audience welcomed him with rapturous applause, as befits
this great man!
Andrea was wearing his Armani black tuxedo, white shirt and white
bow tie. He looked a little nervous as he always does at the start,
just a tight fist now and again showing his stage fright.he launched
into brindisi from cavalleria Rusticana. The Prague chamber choir
was a joy to behold! I have always said this song NEEDS a choir to
do it full justice, and boy did they do it well!
Then the baritone with Andrea took to the stage to sing Au fond tu
temple saint, from the Pearlfishers by Bizet. Gianfranco Montresor
had a deep rich voice which blended perfectly with Andrea's.
Then followed Aria de Vilja from Lehars Merry Widow. Andrea was
relaxing a bit more by now, blessing us with his gorgeous smile
after every song, i think he was enjoying himself! He came out with
the Soprano Daniella Bruera and they sang O Suave fanciulla from La
Boheme. Daniella looked radiant in her lovely gown, and she sang
with all her heart, just lovely!
Next came Va Pensiero from Verdi's Nabucco, which was stunning, and
then came Gianfranco again singing Toreador from Carmen.
Andrea came back on stage, again to huge enrapturous applause, to
treat us to Di Quella Pira from Verdi's Trovatore, then gave us
another Verdi, Terzetto. He nailed the high C perfectly!
Forgive me if i have missed a few songs, but the programme did
change from the original, no E Lucevan le Stelle this time.
Intermission now, which gave me a chance to speak to Doh and Marusca.
Marusca was mesmerized! The look on her face was perfect! lol I
think she was near to tears!
The interval went by so fast, then we took our seats to enjoy the
second half.
 - Rota
started off with Valzer Verdi, from Il Gattopardo, and then Andrea
came back on stage wearing a white jacket!
He spoke to the audience, saying, 'You will see i have changed my
jacket, it is not dirty, it is just that now we change the mood'!
He sand Vieni sul mar, which was a great treat for me as i was
hoping i would hear this song at last! It was totally gorgeous, and
then he sang 'Granada', i was hoping for this song too, and he did
not dissapoint! I used my mobile phone to ring my friend Lorna so
that she could hear it, and she did, loud and clear! lol
Next came Amacord, and then Funiculi funicula, this song was also a
first for me hearing him sing it! Such a treat!
Mamma, and La Strada followed, and then it was the encores.
As the first bars of Besame mucho started, the audience went
absolutely wild! Whistling, cheering, and a few shouts of Ti'amo
Andrea, we love you Andrea, and will you marry me? were heard, which
made Andrea laugh, lol
Somos novios, because we believe, and it's impossible, and the
prayer followed, all to rapturous applause once again. Andrea gave
us his famous wave, and he was gone.
Then followed a medley of noise from the audience, much shouting,
whistling and foot stamping, because we all knew that there would be
one last song, and then Andrea appeared with daniella to sing, of
course his anthem, Time to say Goodbye. Even after all these years,
this song when he sings it live at the end of a concert, always
brings tears to my eyes.
A final wave and he was gone.
One thing i did notice though, they were not presented with any
flowers at the end?? First time i have ever seen this.
But what an evening and what a fantastic concert, possibly the best
i have ever been to, but i say that every year! lol
- by
Tina xxx
|
