- Who’s
Comin’?! . . . Andrea’s Christmas
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- December 5, 2009, East Rutherford, NJ, USA
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- Rain,
sleet, snow—the instant winter wonderland that descended on
northern New Jersey in the hours just before Andrea’s Christmas
concert was to begin may have been just right for the shiny bright
sleigh of a right-jolly-old-elf and his eight tiny reindeer, but for
those of us in our less magical vehicles, it hopelessly snarled the
traffic and forced the delay of the concert by half an hour. Even at
that, many were still trailing in during the concert’s first half.
Nevertheless, it took no more than a few notes of the radiant warmth
of our tenore’s voice to
thaw our hearts and rekindle our dampened holiday spirits.
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- Arias
We Have Heard on High
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- One
by one, during the first half of the evening, Andrea carefully
unwrapped for us gift after precious gift of an irresistible range
of arias from his performances, recordings, and his own personal
favorites. Each was reinforced with vivid images, projected on the
screen behind him, of corresponding operatic scenes. These were
lovingly selected and coordinated by Veronica’s father, Ivano
Berti, from Andrea’s own stage performances as well as vintage
excerpts from filmed opera performances of such luminaries as Mario
del Monaco, Mario Filppeschi, and Andrea’s beloved maestro Franco
Corelli.
-
- Carmen
was the first focus. After Steven Mercurio’s characteristically
energetic conducting of the spirited Overture, Andrea took the stage
and welcomed us with “La fleur che tu m’avais jette’.” Note
by ever-sweeter note, he drew us in to the drama of this aria, until
the aching yearning of that final plea, “O ma Carmen…,” flowed
from his heart with melting pathos. Simultaneously, on the screen
behind him, was the image of Andrea as Don Jose’ down on one knee
in surrendered love at the feet of his amour.
It was stirringly effective. With “La donna e’ mobile,” the
character shifted. A rustle of recognition from the audience greeted
the opening notes of this surefire favorite, each note of it
delivered with clarion certainty by Andrea, confidently punctuated
and delightfully trilled. He makes it all seem so effortless, and
his audience clearly loves his cavalier presentation.
-
- Then
“Panis Angelicus” (a change from the set program) shifted the
mood. Andrea unfailingly infuses this familiar hymn, heard
frequently from him, with honest emotion and faith. Somehow his own
deep belief in it gives him the ability to make each hearing seem
like the first. He followed this with the fragile simplicity of
Gounod’s “Ave Maria,” a reverent reminder from Andrea of the
young girl whose story is inextricably intertwined with that first
Christmas two millennia ago. Next he gave us the urgent and
compelling “Di quella pira.” Andrea could sing this aria a
thousand times and never lose the hold on us he creates with that
final riveting high C that evokes, inevitably, a flood of
appreciative applause.
-
- Ana
Maria Martinez joined Andrea for two wonderful duets. It is
impossible to tire of “O soave fanciulla” from La
Boheme. For my money, Ana Maria has consistently been the most
winning and convincing Mimi to Andrea’s alter ego, Rodolfo. Surely
this musical moment is among the most romantic in all of operadom.
How much more enchanting, then, to have these two superlative
partners, and not only one
Andrea to interpret the role, but two. On the backdrop screen,
shadowing the real-life aging-to-perfection tenore before us on the
stage was video of the newly minted Rodolfo of the very first
starring performance that launched Andrea’s operatic career. It
was a veritable wealth of Bocellis that made us giddy, as did the
astonishing sweetness and ultimate power achieved by the the
climactic harmonized high notes of this superlative performance.
-
- Then,
following an emotionally moving choral rendition of
the touchingly lovely “Va pensiero,” the two returned to
the stage for the forceful duet “Vicino a te” from Andrea
Chenier. The duet’s forceful high notes, thrilling and intense,
convey the unshakable love of Chenier and Maddalena. The effect was
reinforced by the backdrop of film scenes (with Corelli) from the
final trial and the streets of revolutionary France interspersed
with compelling close-ups of Andrea’s and Ana’s tender embrace
in the triumphant musical expression of the lovers’ defiance in
the face of their imminent death. This duet is a tour de force that
leaves you emotionally limp when the last note fades. Ana Maria and
Andrea abandoned themselves completely to its thrall. And so did we.
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- Since
their first tour together in 1998, Ana Maria has always been my
favorite partner to Andrea. She has increasingly become an operatic
force to be reckoned with, but her natural abilities were always
clearly there. I love the vocabulary used to describe her voice in
critical quotes from Hugh Canning and Marian Lignana Rosenberg in
the program: “vocally lustrous,” “velvety mezzoish half-tints,”
“gleaming top,” “smoky,” “soft-grained,” “unfussy
grace,” “ravishing soft singing.” All true, and all these
qualities were liberally demonstrated in her fiery solo “Les
filles de Cadiz.”
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- Sharing
this concert (their first Bocelli experience) with my niece and her
husband was a revelation. Andrea was in a note-holding mood, and his
sustained high notes were effortless and powerful. From aria to aria,
I could watch the effect of his peerless voice transform their faces,
hear their enthusiastic applause growing with each aria offered.
When the infectious effervescence of the “Brindisi” from La Traviata had concluded this first “classical” part of the
concert, Rich turned to me and said simply and emphatically, “I
could listen to a lot more
of that!!” Judging by the frequent and fervent hoots, whistles,
and shouts that punctuated these classical pieces, so could most of
the others in attendance—even that guy with the black T-shirt with
the skull and crossbones whom I had seen wander in happily with the
first wave of fans. So much for the theory that people supposedly
just tolerate the wait through the classical segment for the
“real,” more pop-oriented second half.
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- You
Better Watch Out!
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- A
concert such as this is a delicate and challenging blend of two
musical worlds and traditions. The leap from the powerful operatic
drama of “Di quella pira” and “Vicino a te” to a song like
“Santa Claus Is Coming to Town,” popularized by such a diverse
group of performers as Eddie Cantor, Bing Crosby, Gene Autry, Fred
Astaire, Dolly Parton, The Smothers Brothers, Neil Diamond, Vince
Gil, and Bruce Springsteen might seem like an enormous vocal chasm
to bridge. But as the supremely confident Miss Piggy had pronounced
about her Andrea with
unflinching, no-nonsense Muppet wisdom: “He can do ANYTHING!” We
knew that.
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- Of
course, Christmas has many manifestations, from jubilant jingling
bells, to choruses of angel choirs, to children’s ringing laughter
and glee, to longing for times past and loved ones lost, to
prayerful reverence. With David Foster’s sprightly accompaniment,
both musical and verbal, Andrea shared them all with us, making each
traditional carol vocally his own, despite the long history of
famous and well-loved singers who have recorded them in Christmases
past. All those others were forgotten in each intimate moment with
his personal and distinctive presentation.
-
-
- First,
Steven set the festive tone with Rimsky-Korsakov’s entrancing
Finale from the Snow Maiden’s Suite. Then Andrea, elegantly clad in formal winter
white, sat quietly down at the matching white piano and—true to
his deeply rooted faith—sang Schubert’s ardent Ave
Maria in Italian—his small gift of purest beauty to bless a
weary world. Perhaps there is nothing quieter than the sound of
“Silent Night,” unless it is the profound peace communicated by
the inherent ease and tranquility of Andrea’s voice when he sings
it. His reassuring simplicity and warmth are a natural match for the
essence of Christmas distilled in this timeless carol we heard next.
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- When
Irving Berlin wrote “White Christmas” in 1940, I wonder if he
could have imagined how many voices it would inspire or how many
languages it would be shared in. Somewhere out there, I hope he can
hear Andrea’s version, in both English and Italian. Our tenore has
a way of just embracing you completely with his voice, heart and
soul … his spell was clearly cast at the Izod Center, with extra
help from the dreamy landscape of twinkling stars and wintry scenes
forming the visual backdrop that added a new dimension to this carol.
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- By
now, I’m thinking that half the population of the world has been
smitten by Andrea’s endearing
rendition of “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town,” accompanied by the
small chorus of infectiously adorable little poppets. (In the course
of one day, Jack, who is on the road for a business trip, has
reported hearing it at Starbucks, Radio Shack, Chicago’s O’Hare
airport, and on two radio stations in Fort Worth, Texas!) Andrea and
the kids are having the time of their lives, and the whole darned
audience wants to sway in time with them. It’s just plain darling.
I only wish he had been able to manage his melodica solo as he did
in the PBS special. But I guess you can’t have everything. I had
to remind myself of the privilege it was just to be sitting where I
was.
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- Duets
were again a theme at this point, and Katherine McPhee had the
daunting assignment of taking the place of two luminaries who had
recorded on the My Christmas
CD, Natalie Cole and Reba McEntire. Thankfully, she did not have to
replace the Muppets or the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and she did just
fine. The audience seemed to appreciate her new blonde look and
country sound, and Andrea was quite comfortable with the partnership
on both “The Christmas Song” and “Blue Christmas,” even
doing a little dancing turn with Katherine that naturally delighted
the crowd. (Andrea looked pretty pleased himself.)
-
- It
is fascinating to hear Andrea adjust the qualities of his voice with
different partners, reflecting a bluesy mood or bit of country or
even gospel flavor as the tune requires. For me, the highlight in
this portion of the concert was the appearance of Mary J. Blige. A
ripple of surprise was registered by some when her name was proudly
announced by Foster, and she was enthusiastically greeted. There was
an electric connection that was palpable in her collaboration with
Andrea on “What Child Is This?” Both Andrea and Mary decidedly
have their own brand of vocal power, both singers were emotionally
charged, and together they conveyed this energy straight to the
heart of the audience. It brought many in the house to their feet.
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- Finally—sadly—we
had come to the last two carols on the program. Presented
back-to-back with hardly a pause, they brought the concert to a
smashing close. If you
can’t recreate the entire heavenly host of angels singing
gloriously on high, Andrea more than compensates for their absence!
Honestly, with the final jubilant renditions ringing in my ears of
“Angels We have Heard on High” and “Adeste Fideles” (accompanied
by the New York Choral Society and rousing orchestral support of the
New York City Opera Orchestra), I was thinking, “Who needs angels?”
If you haven’t yet devoted careful attention to Andrea’s version
of “Angels We Have Heard on High,” this is your homework. It
blows me away how he carefully and lovingly highlights every
individual note of that exultantly repeated chorus with the word
“Gloria” and then, as an added flourish, tosses off a
spectacular portamento of notes to the highest one on that last
syllable of “Deo.” To me, it is a Christmas miracle!! And he
does it more than once. He
is so clearly in his element with this sacred music, joyous and
triumphant in the giving. “Adeste Fideles,” in Andrea’s
impeccable Latin, marked the grand denouement and brought the
audience to a decisive standing ovation.
-
- All
performers returned for well-earned final bows, and, as sure as
there is a Santa Claus, we knew there would be encores! First, there
was a lovely version of “The Prayer” with McPhee. When the
audience recognized the familiar notes, they once more roared
approval. Of course, “The Prayer” is a precious legacy to us
from David Foster. When they had finished, no one wanted to say
good-bye, and the stomping, shouting, and whistling summoned Andrea
back for the second encore—this one with Ana Maria. If possible,
the crowd redoubled the volume of appreciation when the last
familiar notes of “Con te partiro” floated out over them. It was
deafening. Yet, Andrea seemed drained and waved that familiar and
decisive not-to-be-contradicted good-bye high over his head as he
departed with Ana Maria from the stage. Steven followed. That’s it,
I thought. Two encores. But the orchestra remained seated. There was
an indecisive half-second lull, then, incredibly, Steven returned
triumphant with a rather reluctant Andrea in tow. I could hardly
believe that the unmistakably distinctive opening notes of “Nessun
Dorma” signaled one last encore. Having seen a somewhat weary
Andrea just leave the stage, I thought it might be hard for him to
summon himself to the final challenge of this daunting aria. But,
however much it cost our tenor, he made it look, to us, unbelievably
and gloriously effortless. When he had flung out to us that last
exultant “Vincero,” deeply grateful, we finally let him go.
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- Silent
Night
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- We
walked out into a bracing North Pole chill. The velvet black sky,
surprisingly clear of the earlier storm, was ornamented with
twinkling stars reflecting the lingering afterglow of Andrea’s
Christmas that danced in our memory. It was hard to avoid that
slight feeling of letdown, like the moment on Christmas morning when
all of the presents have been opened and that weeks-long state of
intense anticipation is suddenly over. Nevertheless, we knew we now
had the new tradition of Andrea’s Christmas to open all
over again from year to year to help make all our Christmases a
joyful, snowy white.
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- Buon
Natale, Maestro caro.
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- By
Cami McNamee
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