Andrea Bocelli

'''[[J. C. Penney]] Jam: The Concert for America's Kids'' and recorded duet versions of ''Somos Novios'' for the resulting album, and also ''[[Can't Help Falling in Love]]'' on the [[CD]] of the [[Under the Desert Sky]] DVD.
In June he sang the Italian duet version of "Because We Believe", "Ama, credi e vai", with Gianna Nannini at the "großen Fan Party" at the opening of the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Berlin in front of billions of worldwide television viewers.

On 1 July 2007, Bocelli performed "Music of the Night" from Andrew Lloyd-Webber's Phantom of the Opera, in a special musicals medley during the Concert for Diana at Wembley Stadium in London, England.
Bocelli returned to his home town for a triumphant concert at the newly created Teatro del Silenzio in [[Lajatico]] on 5 July 2007. Guest appearance by [[Kenny G]], [[Heather Headley]], [[Lang Lang]], [[Elisa]], [[Sarah Brightman]] and [[Laura Pausini]]. In September he debuted at the [[Avery Fisher Hall]] in New York with four concerts. In October the opera album of [[Ruggero Leoncavallo]]'s ''[[Pagliacci]]'' with Bocelli singing the role of [[Pagliacci#Roles|Canio]] was released. In November he won the "Best Italian Artist" and "World's Best-selling Classical Artist" awards at the [[World Music Awards#2006 show|World Music Awards]]. In December he finished his 2006 tour with more concerts in North America and Europe.
Bocelli and Sarah Brightman's duet version of "Con te partirò" was used in the 2007 film Blades of Glory, as an ice skating song

. K-1 mixed martial arts fighter, Akiyama Yoshihiro started using "Con te partirò" as his ring entrance music. On 8 September Bocelli sang an arrangement of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Ave verum corpus at the funeral of Luciano Pavarotti in Modena, Italy.

On 21 October 2007, he sang "Con te partirò" with Katherine Jenkins on the UK television series Strictly Come Dancing results show, and on 30 October, he sang "The Prayer" with Céline Dion during an ITV Special An Audience with Céline Dion. The show was broadcast on 23 December. Alongside fellow Italian singer Laura Pausini, he sang Vive Ya during the 2007 Latin Grammy Awards. The song, originally released in 1997 as a duet in Italian between Bocelli and Italian singer-songwriter Trovatto on Bocelli's Romanza, was also released in English on his 2007 album, The Best of Andrea Bocelli: Vivere, as Dare to Live. The album, Vivere, sold over 3 million copies.

2008

On 20 January 2008, Boceli received the Italian TV award Telegatto in platinum for Italian music in the world, in Rome. He sang "La voce del silenzio", which means the voice of quietness, and "Dare to Live" during the ceremony.

To promote the album, he performed "Canto della Terra" at The Alan Titchmarsh Show on BBC in London on February 1; was interviewed by Fabio Fazio on the Italian talk show Che tempo che fa on RAI 3 in Italy; and performed "Canto della terra", "A te" and "Besame mucho" from the album, as well as "My way" on February 2; and made an appearance on The South Bank Show in London, where he sang the French aria "Pour mon âme" on February 3. Then on February 10, he performed "The Prayer" at the 50th Grammy Awards, held in Los Angeles, with Josh Groban in a tribute to Luciano Pavarotti, and sang "Dare to live" with Heather Headley the following day on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

In April he toured in Asia with performances in Tokyo; Taichung, Taiwan; and Seoul, South Korea. Each concert was attended by more than 15,000 people.

On May 7, 2008, he sang at Steel Aréna in Košice, Slovakia in front of 8,000 people.
Then May 13 he sang at the ''"Teatro delle Muse"'' in [[Ancona]] [[Italy]], for a charity concert for "Francesca Rava - N.P.H. Italia Onlus", a foundation that helps poor and disabled children around the world.
On 23 May 2008 he sang The Prayer with Katharine McPhee in a Las Vegas tribute concert for Canadian producer and songwriter David Foster. Bocelli later praised Filipina teen-aged singer Charice, whom he had first heard perform at that concert.

On June 2, 2008 he performed at the Piazza del Duomo, Milan in front of 80,000 people during a concert celebrating the anniversary of the Republic of Italy's formation. In June he played Don José in Bizet's opera Carmen in Rome.

On July 20, he held his third concert at the Teatro del Silenzio in Lajatico, Bocelli's hometown. The concert was a tribute to the Cinema of Italy. Its performers included Italian composer and musician Nicola Piovani, Italian ballet dancer Roberto Bolle, Israeli singer Noa, and Charice.
Then on July 31, he performed at a concert in ''"Vingis Park"'', [[Vilnius]], [[Lithuania]] in front of more than 18,000 people. [[Australian]] [[singer]] [[Tina Arena]] performed two duets with Bocelli, ''"Canto Della Terra"'' and ''"[[The Prayer (Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli song)|The Prayer]]"'', at the closing stages of the concert.
On August 7, 2008, he held a benefit concert at Medjugorje, Bosnia Herzegovina and was accompanied by Czech National Symphony Orchestra. Then, during the rest of August, he was on tour in Australia for the third time, with performances at Vector Arena Auckland, New Zealand,on the 20th, Entertainment Centre Brisbane on the 22nd, Acer Arena Sydney, on the 24th, Rod Laver Arena Melbourne, on the 27th, and at Burswood Dome Perth, on the 30th. His fiancé and both of his sons accompanied him on the tour. Tina Arena performed again with him in all 5 concerts during the tour.

On September 26, 2008, during the 2008 Veneto Festival, he held a concert in the Church of the Eremitani in Padova, Italy, in front of about a 1000 people. He was accompanied by the I Solisti Veneti orchestra, which was celebrating its 50th birthday, conducted by Claudio Scimone, and by the Wiener Singakademie choir. The concert was a celebration of Giacomo Puccini's 150th birthday.

On October 10 and 11 he performed at Petra, singing Dare to Live with Laura Pausini, as well as performing E Lucevan le Stelle from Tosca. On October 19 he sang ''"O Surdato 'Nnamurato" and a duet of "Non Ti Scordar Di Me" with Cecilia Bartoli, both from the Incanto album, during the ECHO Awards in Germany, and later presented the soprano with an ECHO award. On October 24, he performed at Piazza del Plebiscito in Naples, as a tribute to the city, where he celebrated the Italian release of Incanto. Performing with him were flautist Andrea Griminelli, Italian pop singer Massimo Ranieri and soprano Cecilia Bartoli, with Steven Mercurio conducting the Czech National Symphony Orchestra.
On October 31, he performed a solo version of "The Prayer", as well as "[[Because (1902 song)|Because]]", a song from ''Incanto'', live on The [[Oprah Winfrey Show]].
On November 21 and 22, Bocelli was amongst a quartet of soloists (soprano Sabina Cvilak, mezzo-soprano Kate Aldrich and bass Alexander Vinogradov) to sing Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle, conducted by Plácido Domingo, at the Washington National Opera in Washington, DC.
Bocelli sang twice in the piece and later the two famous [[tenors]] sang [[The Pearl Fishers|The Pearl Fishers duet]] which would be the first [[aria]] they had ever sang together. On November 25 and 26 he starred along side [[soprano]] [[Verónica Villarroel]] in an [[opera]] in [[concert]] of [[Mascagni]]'s [[Cavalleria Rusticana]] at the ''"Municipal Auditorium"'' in [[San Antonio]], [[Texas]]. He later held a concert at ''"Atrio de la Catedral"'' in [[Campeche]], [[Mexico]], on November 28, where he sang songs from ''[[Incanto]]'' as well as some of his [[Spanish language|Spanish]] hits, including ''[[Besame Mucho]]'', ''[[Somos Novios]]'', ''[[Amapola (song)|Amapola]]'' and ''[[Por ti Volare]]'', the Spanish version of ''Con te Partiro''.

2009

On the 27 May 2009, Bocelli sang "Il Gladiatore", from the Gladiator soundtrack, followed by the Champions League theme song, which is based on "Zadok the Priest" by Handel, during the opening ceremony of the 2009 UEFA Champions League Final.

Personal life

.
Bocelli was named one of People Magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People of 1998.
Bocelli met his first wife Enrica, with whom he had two children, while singing at piano bars early in his career. They were married on 27 June 1992. Their first child, Amos, was born in February 1995. Their second son, Matteo was born in October 1997. The couple divorced in 2002. Since then, he met fiancée Veronica Berti, but he does not plan to get married again due to his Roman Catholic beliefs. The couple live in Forte dei Marmi, and Bocelli's ex-wife and two sons live in the couple's previous residence in the same comune, in Versilia.

Bocelli's father, Sandro Bocelli, died on 30 April 2000. His mother encouraged him to honour his commitments and so he sang for the Pope in Rome on 1 May and immediately returned home for the funeral. At the 5 July performance that was filmed for PBS as ''American Dream — Andrea Bocelli's Statue of Liberty Concert, Bocelli dedicated the encore Sogno to the memory of his father. A section of the way along the beach in Jesolo, on the Italian Adriatic coast, was named after Bocelli on August 11, 2003.

In 2006, Bocelli influenced the municipality of his hometown Lajatico to build an outdoor theatre, the "Teatro del Silenzio".
Bocelli performed for one night only. One night every July the theatre will be opened for performances. The rest of the time it will be silent.Since the opening he has sung on July 27, 2006, July 5, 2007, July 20, 2008, and on July 18, 2009.

Reception

Honorifics

50px Grand Official of the Order of Merit of the Republic (Grande Ufficiale Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana) awarded in Rome, in 2006.

Awards

Winner of the 1994 Newcomers section of the Sanremo Music Festival.

ECHO music award for "Best Single of the Year", for Time to Say Goodbye, in 1997.

ECHO Klassik "Best seller of the year" award for his album, Viaggio Italiano in 1997.

Bambi Award in 1997.

Two World Music Awards, one in the category "Best Italian Singer", and one for "Best Classical Interpretation" in 1998.

ECHO Klassik, for "Best selling classical album" with Aria - The Opera Album in 1998.

ECHO Klassik for "Bestseller of the year" for Sacred Arias in 2000.

2000 Classical BRIT Award for "Album of the year" for Sacred Arias in 2000.

Goldene Europa for classical music in 2000.

Platinum Europe Award for 1 million sales of the album Cieli di Toscana in 2001.

Special award from the Federation of the Italian Music Industry for his merits as an "Ambassador of Italian music in the world." at Italian Music Awards in 2001.

Goldene Kamera award in the "Music & Entertainment" category 2002.

Two World Music Awards, for "World best selling classical artist" and for "Best selling Italian artist" in 2002.

Telegatto award for the soundtrack of the series Cuore in 2002.

2002 Classical BRIT Award for "Outstanding Contribution to Music" in 2002.

Two 2003 Classical BRIT Awards for "Best selling classical album" and "Album of the year" for Sentimento in 2003.

"Favourite Specialist Performer" award at the ITV National Music Awards in 2003.

"Diamond CD" for more than 50 millions albums sold worldwide, in 2004.

Two World Music Awards for "Best Italian Artist" and "World's Best-selling Classical Artist" in 2006.

Telegatto award in platinum for Italian music in the world in 2008.

Four times Diamond disc for Incanto, at the Italian talk show Che tempo che fa, for selling in excess to 1.5 million copies within 4 month, in 2009.

Criticism

Despite his worldwide popularity, Bocelli has been dismissed and criticised by classical music critics including Bernard Holland of the New York Times, and Andrew Clement of The Guardian. Some point to his "poor phrasing, uneven tone and lack of technique." first = Bernard

In 1999, the New York Times chief music critic Anthony Tommasini in his review of Bocelli's North American opera debut at the Detroit Opera House in the title role of Massenet's Werther commented, "The basic color of Mr. Bocelli's voice is warm and pleasant, but he lacks the technique to support and project his sound. His sustained notes wobble. His soft high notes are painfully weak. Inadequate breath control often forces him to clip off notes prematurely at the end of phrases."
In December 2000 Tommasini again criticised Bocelli, this time for his ''La bohème'' albumwhen he claimed that Bocelli "still has trouble with basic things, like breath support" and his voice had been "carefully recorded", "to help it match the trained voices of the other cast members in fullness and presence."

In describing Bocelli's singing, New York Times music critic Bernard Holland noted, "the tone is rasping, thin and, in general, poorly supported. Even the most modest upward movement thins it even more, signalling what appears to be the onset of strangulation. To his credit, Mr Bocelli sings mostly in tune. But his phrasing tends toward carelessness and rhythmic jumble... The diction is not clear." Furthermore, Holland observed that "The critic's duty is to report that Mr Bocelli is not a very good singer." The Associated Press reported "Passion? Yes. Power. No. Bocelli's voice - though robust in spirit and precisely in tune, even in the upper register - had a thin quality that never opened up." Similarly, classical music critic Andrew Clement found Bocelli's studio opera recordings consistently disappointing in quality: "Bocelli's profoundly unmusical contribution, with its unvaryingly coarse tone, wayward intonation and never a phrase properly shaped, fatally undermines all their contributions." Anne Midgette of the New York Times agreed, noting "a thinness of voice, oddly anemic phrasing (including shortchanging upper notes of phrases in a most untenorial manner), a curious lack of expression."

An audio commentary by Midgette providing a comparison of Bocelli's tone and technique with Luciano Pavarotti's appears below. According to the commentary, Bocelli's tone and technique is not as firm or full as Pavarotti's. And Bocelli's singing of the high note in the passage sounds "squeezed" as opposed to the "ringing" quality Pavarotti achieves when singing the same note in the passage.

During his most recent performance in New York, the music critic Steve Smith wrote "For cognoscenti of vocal artistry the risks involved in Mr. Bocelli’s undertakings, both then and now, need no explanation. Substantial technical shortcomings masked by amplification are laid bare in a more conventional classical setting. Mr. Bocelli’s tone can be pleasant, and his pitch is generally secure. But his voice is small and not well supported; his phrasing, wayward and oddly inexpressive."

Discography

Albums

Il Mare Calmo Della Sera (1994) NL #19 (1996) Re-released GER #40
Bocelli (1995) NL #1, (1996) GER #1
Viaggio Italiano (1995) GER #15 (1997) International release NL #8, US #153, UK #55, NOR #22 (2003) Re-released UK #24
Romanza (1997) US #35, UK #6, NL #1, NOR #1
Aria, The Opera Album (1997) US #59, UK #33, NOR #10
Hymn for the World (1997) with Cecilia Bartoli, conducted by Myung-Whun Chung.
Hymn for the World 2 (1998) with Cecilia Bartoli and Bryn Terfel, conducted by Myung-Whun Chung.
''Sogno ('Sueno'/US) (1999) #4 US, #4 UK, #2 NOR
Sacred Arias (1999) #22 US, #2 NOR
Verdi (2000) #23 US, #2 ITA, #17 UK, #28 NOR
Requiem (Verdi) (2001) with Renée Fleming, Olga Borodina and Ildebrando D'Arcangelo, conducted by Valery Gergiev.
Cieli di Toscana (2001) #11 US, #3 UK, #3 ITA, #2 NOR
Sentimento (2002) #12 US, #7 UK, #13 ITA, #17 NOR
Andrea (2004) US #16, UK #19, ITA #6, Dutch #1, NOR #17
Amore (2006) US #3, UK #4, NL #1, ITA #2, NOR #3
The Best of Andrea Bocelli: Vivere (2007) US #9, UK #4, NOR #3
Incanto (2008) World #7, US #8, Hon #2, GREK #4, ITA #5, Pol #5, IR #11, UK #12, Potl #15, NL #15, NOR #15
My Christmas (2009)

Singles

''Il Diavolo e l'Angelo'' 1991 vinyl, 'B' side "Proprio Tu"
Time To Say Goodbye (Con Te Partirò) (Sarah Brightman & Andrea Bocelli) (1996) GER #1, (1997) UK #2 FR #1 Bel #1
Vivo per lei (je vis pour elle) (1997) # 1 France #1 Belgium
Ich Lebe Für Sie (1997) GER #45
Canto Della Terra (1999) / The Prayer (Celine Dion & Andrea Bocelli) (1999) UK #25
Ave Maria / Silent Night (1999) UK #65
Canto Della Terra / The Prayer (Celine Dion & Andrea Bocelli) (2000) Re-release UK #24
Melodramma (2001) GER #95
Besame Mucho (2006)
Somos Novios (It's Impossible) (Christina Aguilera & Andrea Bocelli) (2006)
Con te partirò (2007) UK#69
Dare to live (Vivere) (Laura Pausini & Andrea Bocelli) (2008) ITA#17
Vive Ya (Laura Pausini & Andrea Bocelli) (2008)

Operas

La bohème (2000)
Tosca (2003)
Il trovatore (2004)
Werther (2005)
Cavalleria rusticana (2007) (recorded 2004)
Pagliacci (2007)
Carmen (2008) (recorded 2005)

CD/DVD packages

A Night in Tuscany (1998)
Christmas Glory from Westminster (1999)
Sacred Arias: The Home Video (2000)
''American Dream: Andrea Bocelli's Statue of Liberty Concert (2000)
The Homecoming (2001)
Tuscan Skies (Cieli di Toscana) (2002)
Credo: John Paul II (2006)
Under the Desert Sky (2006)
Celine Dion These Are Special Times (2007) (originally aired 1998)
Vivere Live in Tuscany (2008)
Incanto The Documentary (2008)
My Christmas Special (2009)

Signed Music Artists

2008

2009

Personal life