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Andrea Bocelli: Concerto, One Night in Central Park - an album guide
Classic BRITs nominee Andrea Bocelli teamed up with special guest performers including Nicola Benedetti and Celine Dion for this splendid album of tenor favourites. Here's our guide to the music.
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1. La Donna è Mobile
Verdi's fantastic tenor showpiece from his opera 'Rigoletto' sets the tone for this album, recorded live in September 2011. The 60,000 tickets for the concert sold out within a few hours.
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2. Di quella pira
Bocelli proves he can handle the fast-paced intensity of Verdi's 'Di Quella Pira' from 'Il Trovatore'. The lyrics translate as "The horrible blaze of that pyre enflames every fibre of my being!"
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3. Ave Maria
A moment of calm after 'Il Trovatore', Bocelli puts his own spin on the beautiful Schubert favourite, 'Ave Maria'. His smooth tones and personal religious faith combine to create a great rendition of the piece.
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4. Vicino a te s'acqueta
Operatic soprano Ana María Martínez joins Andrea for a rendition of Umberto Giordano's lilting aria. It's taken from Andrea Chénier, an opera rarely staged due to the demands placed on the tenor - but Bocelli takes the music in his stride.
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5. Au Fond du Temple Saint
Bocelli is joined by yet another superstar performer - this time, Bryn Terfel singing the duet from Bizet's 'Les pêcheurs de perles'. It's a perfect partnership for this friendship duet, known to many as simply 'The Pearl Fishers Duet'.
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6. O Soave Fanciulla
The opera gems keep flowing, now in the form of Puccini's gorgeous love duet 'O Soave Fanciulla', with soprano Pretty Yende. You might recognise the piece from 'La bohème', where the lovers profess their feelings for one another.
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7. Libiamo ne' lieti calici
An evening in Central Park wouldn't be complete without a glass of wine, and Bocelli, Yende, Terfel, and Martinez are a fantastic foursome to capture the giddy mood behind Verdi's drinking song. "Let's drink, let's drink from the joyous chalices!"
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8. Amazing Grace
You can hear a pin drop as Bocelli embarks on a pared-down prayerful rendition of Amazing Grace. It's hauntingly magical.
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9. New York, New York
Italian-American singer Tony Bennett adds a touch of jazz to the album with this swinging classic. He originally duetted with Sinatra on his 1993 album.
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10. The Prayer
This track was originally recorded as two separate solo versions, one by Bocelli in Italian, and the other by Celine Dion in English. It has an impressive pedigree: it won a Golden Globe Award and was nominated for an Academy Award in 1999, and received a Grammy Award nomination in 2000.
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11. More (Ti Guarderò nel Cuore)
Taken from the 1962 film 'Mondo Cane', trumpeter Chris Botti and pianist David Foster continue the album's jazzy feel. Frank Sinatra recorded the swinging version with Count Basie and his orchestra on his album 'It Might As Well Be Swing'.
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12. Your Love (Once Upon a Time in the West)
Bocelli proves he's not just a singer of opera, putting his expressive voice to good use in this piece by Ennio Morricone. It's taken from Italian spaghetti Western 'Once Upon a Time in the West', released in 1968.
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13. Nel Blu, Dipinto di Blu (Volare)
It might surprise you to learn this beautiful piece was made famous by the Eurovision Song Contest! Written by Franco Migliacci and Domenico Modugno, it came third in the 1958 contest and went on to become one of the most popular Eurovision entries of all time.
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14. Funiculì, Funiculà
If you don't recognise the title, you'll certainly know the tune to this classic Neapolitan ditty. It was written to commemorate the opening of the first funicular cable car on Mount Vesuvius, and has remained popular ever since!
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15. En Aranjuez con Tu Amor
An injection of warm Spanish violin-playing, from Nicola Benedetti. It's a wonderful duet between two of the world's biggest classical stars.
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16. Time to Say Goodbye (Con te partirò)
This piece was originally written in Italian for Bocelli, who first sung it at the 1995 Sanremo Festival. This Italian-English version was released as a duet with soprano Sarah Brightman - the rousing performance on the album features Ana Maria Martinez.
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17. Nessun dorma
What better piece to end an album than the tenor classic, 'Nessun dorma'? It has personal significance for Bocelli - he signed with a record label in Milan after the group's president heard him sing the piece at a birthday party.
