Andrea Bocelli’s concert Thursday night at Hard Rock Live felt as if it were taking place 20 years ago. More than half the men in the audience wore sports coats. No one interrupted the show by talking on a phone. (An announcer politely asked that they be turned off.) A red carpet gussied up the floor underneath the seats.
But the gift of the present is Bocelli, he of powerful voice and the ability to hold notes cartoonishly long. Whether you’re one of those rare folks who is an Italian opera expert or someone who is casually cultured, you likely had a good night. The Hard Rock Live cameraman helped those of us who may not have known every song title by discreetly working in a shot of an orchestra member’s sheet music as the opening bars of each number were played.
And what a setup. A full orchestra (I’m guessing 80 musicians), called the Bella Musica Orchestra, backed the Italian opera singer, as did a choir of about 50, the Master Chorale of South Florida. Soprano Ana Maria Martinez and Tony and Grammy winner Heather Headley also had stints onstage, singing a couple of songs solo and a few more in duets with Bocelli.
Headley sang a haunting “I Will Always Love You,” an aching choice considering Whitney Houston died three years ago on Feb. 11 and her daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown’s current hospitalization. Headley starred in the musical version of “The Bodyguard,” so it really wasn’t as random as you might think. She also got a playful hug and lift from Bocelli after one of her duets. They have been collaborating since 2007.
Bocelli, 56, didn’t have much to say. He joked when his 3-year-old daughter, Virginia, joined him onstage — “she’s heavy” — and thanked the orchestra, singers and fans for “being here for my St. Valentine concert.”
It was his first Valentine’s Day concert at Hard Rock Live, with three recent Feb. 14 shows at the BB&T Center in Sunrise. Records show he was also at Hard Rock Live in 2006-07 in December and at what is now called the BB&T Center a few other various times, dating to at least 2001.
Most of his songs were from operas, including almost the entire first set. (There were about 15 songs in each of two sets for the 2 1/2-hour show, which had a 20-minute intermission.) Later, he sang Elvis Presley’s “Love Me Tender,” then a duet with Headley on Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling in Love,” which he recorded with Katharine McPhee. He also performed “The Prayer,” which he originally sang with Celine Dion.
Bocelli closed with “Nessun Dorma,” Luciano Pavarotti’s signature song and one Bocelli, who Pavarotti essentially discovered in 1993, has pretty much made his own. There’s some kind of Freud-Jung mentor-student comparison to make, but I’ll let it go.
Bocelli, who says his playlist varies with each concert, will return to Hard Rock Live Saturday and Sunday, with tickets costing from $204 to $554. Go to MyHRL.com.
Andrea Bocelli will perform 8 p.m. Feb. 12, 14 and 15 at Hard Rock Live, 1 Seminole Way, in Hollywood. Tickets cost $204, $305, $454 and $554. Go to MyHRL.com. – See more at:
