Product Description
Part concert, part documentary, part travelogue, this video hit duplicates the sleeper success of Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli's album compilations and underscores his unique crossover appeal. In the U.S., Bocelli's critical response has been confined to fusillades of scorn from classical and opera writers, but the bulletproof superstar is better understood in the context of Europe's more established tradition of pop-classical fusions. Ironically, fans abroad are less prickly than stateside arbiters about the need for a discreet wall between high (classical) art and low (pop) kitsch, which Bocelli cheerfully ignores with his mix of operatic chestnuts, soft pop, and traditional Italian songs.
Indeed, despite interview segments in which he proclaims his love of opera or proudly recalls an apprenticeship to operatic veteran Franco Corelli, Bocelli comes across as more fan than virtuoso. But if his voice can prompt technical cavils from hard-core opera buffs, the blind singer's emotional directness and relative lack of onstage preening explain much of his populist appeal. Featured songs include warhorse arias, leading off with the "Louie, Louie" of tenor showpieces, Turandot's "Nessun Dorma," and duets with gruff Italian pop-rocker Zucchero and sopranos Nuccia Focile and Sarah Brightman (who buddies up for the tear-jerking closer, "Time to Say Goodbye").
Even with the marquee bonus of those guests, however, A Night in Tuscany gets its biggest boost from the seductive Italian countryside, prominently featured in between-song segments, and in the romantic concert setting, Pisa's Piazza dei Cavalieri. --Sam Sutherland
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The Blind Tenor from Tuscany Delivers!!
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On this DVD, we are treated to an outdoor concert (given to a packed crowd) featuring the blind tenor from Tuscany (region of central Italy), Andrea Bocelli. The setting for this concert is the historic Piazza dei Cavalieri in Pisa, Italy. Europe has embraced this man whose remarkable voice and range is capable of singing great operatic arias and classic popular songs.
On this DVD, are arias and popular songs that are sung primarily in Italian. There are also interspersed vignettes involving the man himself. We are also treated to gorgeous travel photography of Tuscany. All in all, we learn about the man behind the performer.
He has four guests featured in this concert:
(i) Soprano Nuccia Focile
(ii) Soprano Sarah Brightman
(iii) Italian pop star Zucchero
(iv) Italian pop singer Martina Sanchez
The music and vignettes included are as follows (asterisks indicate my personal favorites):
(1) Nessun Dorma (Puccini -Turandot)
(2) La Donna e Mobile (Verdi - L'Arlesiana)*
(3) Lamento di Federico (Celia - Tosca)
(4) E Lucean le Stelle (Puccini - Tosca)
(5) Vignette: Interview with Andrea
(6) O Soave Fanciulla (Puccini - La Boheme), duet with Focile*
(7) Brindisi (Verdi - La Traviata), duet again with Focile*
(8) Vignette: Andrea and his family
(9) Tona a Surriento
(10) Santa Lucia Luntana*
(11) O Sole Mio (Di Capua/Capurro)
(12) Vignette: Andrea in the studio
(13) Music video: Vivo Por Ella, duet with Sanchez*
(14) Con Te Partiro
(15) Romanza
(16) E Chiove
(17) Voglio Restare Cosi
(18) Caruso
(19) II Mare Calmo Della Sera (in playback)
(20) Miserere, duet with Zucchero
(21) Time to Say Goodbye, duet with Brightman*
In conclusion, the combination of music, vignettes, and sites make this an unforgettable DVD!!
(1997; 1 1/2 hr; 24 scenes)
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Amazingly beautiful!!
Let me start right off by saying I hate opera. Even translated into English, I hate it. I can take the three tenors only in very small doses.
With that said, I am thrilled to say the Andrea Bocelli is absolutely fantastic! His voice and the music are so achingly beautiful it nearly makes me cry. I never thought I would ever like any opera, but this video has made me a huge Andrea Bocelli fan now!
The duets are no less wonderful than his solo pieces, and the little biographical/interview pieces are utterly charming.
This is a must-have video for any music lover. I would have gladly paid three times the retail price to own this incredible masterpiece.