ANDREA BOCELLI
stars as MANRICO in

IL TROVATORE by GUISEPPE VERDI

The best-selling Italian tenor in his first recording of a Verdi opera

One of the most demanding roles in the tenor repertoire

Verdi’s much-loved masterpiece in a brilliant new recording

Andrea Bocelli (tenor) - Manrico
Veronica Villaroel (soprano) - Leonora
Elena Zaremba (mezzo-soprano) - Azucena
Carlo Guelfi (baritone) - Il Conte Luna
Carlo Colombara (bass) - Ferrando

Steven Mercurio, conductor

Decca 475 366-2

CAST BIOGRAPHIES

Andrea Bocelli (tenor) - Manrico

Since the birth of opera, the favourite pastime of its followers has been to complain non-stop about the past, present and above all the future of opera. The words most commonly uttered by the older generation and melomaniacs in their prime are: “The voices aren’t what they used to be in the old days.” It is a tragic refrain, like a dreadful music box that keeps repeating itself, and it is part of the traditional ritual of opera: not for nothing do we use the word “melodramatic” to describe someone who appears doleful, nostalgic and defeatist.

In fact the voices are, have always been, and will always be what they used to be, while times, ways of life and public demand change, creating that interplay of influences which is the lifeblood of the supremely spectacular, lavish and imaginative genre that is opera.

Andrea Bocelli’s star rose at a crucial stage of major melodramatic debate. At a time when high-powered names no longer feature on the covers of best-selling operatic recordings, Bocelli is one of opera’s most important and unexpected innovations. Just when we were reading and talking about reports of the demise of the operatic genre, with theatres dismally half empty, with the slump in record sales, with the virtual disappearance of opera from television schedules, suddenly the tenor Andrea Bocelli, a modern tenor in the old style as he likes to describe himself, appeared on the scene.

With his natural predisposition towards music and song, from an early, even very early, age, there was no other way for the tenor from Pisa, considering his extraordinary musicality. Clear, precise intonation, the almost fanatical search for perfection and exquisite taste together give Bocelli the extremely rare ability to adopt an instrumentalist’s rather than a singer’s approach to a score.

All this is combined with highly personal and persuasive vocal colour, and perfect diction, tinged with a subtle, barely-concealed melancholy that goes straight to the hearts of the listeners and is the reason for his spectacular success. It is the famous “something” that makes an artist unique.

After studying under the expert guidance of Maestro Luciano Bettarini, teacher of many great names including Ferruccio Tagliavini, Ettore Bastianini and Franco Corelli, Bocelli attended a masterclass in Turin with Franco Corelli, whom he truly idolises (and the feeling is reciprocated). The Pisa-born tenor made his stage debut in Verdi’s Macbeth in 1994, with performances in Pisa, Mantova, Lucca and Livorno, under Claudio Desderi. This decisive debut under the banner of Verdi (one of the tenor’s greatest sources of inspiration, along with his favourite Puccini) was followed by the CD “Viaggio italiano” with Vladimir Fedoseyev, released through Sugar in 1995.

The first wholly operatic concerts of international importance were at Cagliari and at the Puccini Festival at Torre del Lago in summer 1997, a real personal challenge which Bocelli confronted even in the face of some not exactly favourable criticism. On this occasion Bocelli sang arias and duets from Madama Butterfly and Tosca and, responding to rapturous applause, gave an encore of the “9 Cs” aria from La Fille du régiment.

In 1998 he made a second stage debut, this time in Cagliari, in the leading role of Rodolfo opposite Daniela Dessi in Puccini’s La Bohème, conducted by Steven Mercurio. The opera, which he tackled with extraordinary commitment, was an even more important stage on Bocelli’s journey to dramatic and vocal maturity. The same year he joined Zubin Mehta for a major concert in Tel Aviv. The celebrated conductor was so enthusiastic about Bocelli’s gifts that he publicly praised the Tuscan tenor’s musicality, preparation and taste. The same year saw the release of the album “Aria”, one of the biggest classical successes of all time, leaping immediately to the top of the charts.

His debut at the Arena di Verona came in 1999, when he made a guest appearance in Lehár’s Merry Widow, conducted by Anton Guadagno. Bocelli’s top D-flat in “Tu che m’hai preso il cuor” (You are my Heart’s Delight) and the “Brindisi” from La traviata with Cecilia Gasdia, won him a standing ovation from 18,000 spectators.

In October of the same year, he made his US debut in Massenet’s Werther in Detroit, with Steven Mercurio on the podium and Denyce Graves in the role of Charlotte. Italian listeners were able to hear excerpts from the second and third acts, including the encore of the aria “Pourquoi me réveiller”, broadcast live on RAI Radiotre’s popular programme “La Barcaccia”. Also in 1999 came the CD “Sacred Arias”, conducted by Myung-Whun Chung, in which Bocelli ranges from Bach/Gounod to Mozart and from Schubert to Rossini. Once again sales were sensational.

Since then the Bocelli myth, reinforced by his enormous success as a recording artist, has grown out of all proportion. Alternating on the podium for his concerts are superstars like Lorin Maazel (Classical tour, Munich 1999 and Verdi’s Requiem, Verona 2000 and Munich 2001), Seiji Ozawa (Munich 2000), Valery Gergiev (Verdi’s Requiem recorded in London, 2000) and again Zubin Mehta (Tel Aviv 2000). Bocelli’s close collaboration with Myung-Whun Chung, Principal Conductor of the Orchestra dell’ Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome culminated with the release of the “Sacred Arias” CD and major events broadcast worldwide.

There were more challenges to be faced with recordings of the “Verdi” album, conducted by Zubin Mehta, made to mark the Verdi centenary, and the complete version of “La Bohème”.

January 2001 saw Bocelli’s first appearance on stage at Verona’s Teatro Filarmonico in the title role of Mascagni’s L’amico Fritz, a role particularly well-suited to Bocelli’s vocal talents, since it demands a very special kind of tenore di grazia with an extensive range and unusually polished timbre.

In summer 2002, he made his debut as Lieutenant Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly at Torre del Lago. In the autumn of 2003, his classical recording career continued when he joined forces with Maestro Lorin Maazel to release “Sentimento”, an album of songs exploring the early twentieth century musical tradition of songs for voice and violin, once again released through Sugar. This highly romantic collection by composers such as Francesco Paolo Tosti and Franz Liszt were set to orchestra by Maestro Maazel, who also played the violin on the album. A huge success, Andrea was awarded two highly coveted UK Brit Awards for “Album of the Year” and the “Biggest Selling Classical Album of the Year” at the 2003 Awards Ceremony.

Andrea has since released his second complete opera recording, “Tosca” with Zubin Mehta, in May 2003. Pagliacci, Cavelleria Rusticana conducted by Steven Mercurio are set for future release, as well as Werther, which he performed in January 2004 at the Teatro Comunale in Bologna, and subsequently recorded with Yves Abel.
In July 2004, Andrea will make his debut performance as Tosca’s Cavaradossi at Torre del Lago.

The career of the tenor from Pisa can certainly be described as extraordinary. The world of opera has seen very few like him. Obviously, the great novelty Andrea Bocelli represents has given rise to opposing factions. Beyond the virtues and the defects that can be found in his, and every other artist’s, vocal style, one thing is certain. For the first time, at a moment of deep crisis, we are seeing theatres packed like rock stadiums, television companies eager to broadcast events and young people turning up at the opera. Andrea Bocelli is a myth and so at the same time a natural advertisement for a genre that the majority of youngsters think is antiquated and obsolete and belongs in a museum. Andrea Bocelli, with his unmistakable timbre and enchanting diction, is prolonging the life and restoring the dignity of a genre that seemed to belong only to the past and whose death was already being mourned. Andrea Bocelli has, at his own risk, entered the operatic fray without the aid of a microphone and achieved a miracle - that of overcoming his blindness and performing on stage as well as and even better than many of his colleagues. A series of challenges marking the beginning of a new era for opera: the most beautiful spectacle in existence, and this time with a tenor for everyone.

Steven Mercurio (conductor)

Maestro Steven Mercurio is an internationally acclaimed conductor and composer whose musical versatility encompasses the symphonic and operatic worlds. Maestro Mercurio is also a sought-after collaborator for many award winning recordings, arrangements and film projects.

For the stage, he has conducted more than forty-five different operas in six different languages. His engagements have taken him to many of the world's best loved opera houses including the Teatro dell'Opera, Roma; Teatro Bellini, Catania; Teatro

Filarmonico, Verona; Teatro Regio, Torino; Theatre de la Monnaie in Brussels, Bonn Opera, Teatro Massimo, Palermo, English National Opera as well as the American opera companies of San Francisco, Washington, Philadelphia, Seattle, Detroit, Opera Pacific, Florida Grand, Pittsburght and Dallas.

In addition to Maestro Mercurio's operatic repertoire, his symphonic appearances have included; the London Philharmonia, London Philharmonic, London Sinfonietta, Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Luxembourg, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and the Sacramento and San Diego Symphony Orchestras in addition to his own Spoleto Festival Orchestra

Maestro Mercurio has conducted opera and symphonic pieces for several telecasts including "Christmas in Vienna" with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra. He also conducted the now classic, PBS broadcast special "American Dream - Andrea Bocelli's Statue of Liberty concert” with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra.

Also for PBS, Maestro Mercurio led the 20th Anniversary Richard Tucker Opera Gala with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. Internationally, Maestro Mercurio conducted the RAI (Italian) television broadcast of "La Boheme" from Cagliari, the Spoleto Festival performances of Berlioz's "Requiem," Scriabin's "Prometheus," Mahler's "Second Symphony," and an evening featuring the music of Chick Corea and Mozart with the Youth Orchestra of Santa Cecilia.

Maestro Mercurio's symphonic recordings include the Grammy winning, "Chick Corea - Concerto" with the London Philharmonic, "Fanfare for the Volunteer" with Mark O'Connor also with the London Philharmonic, Richard Einhorn's cantata, "Voices of Light," with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic and Choir, Leo Brouwer's "Concerto de Toronto" featuring guitarist John Williams and the London Sinfonietta, and "Storyteller," featuring the compositions of Wynton Marsalis, Patrick Doyle and Edgar Meyer with the St Luke’s Chamber Orchestra.

Maestro Mercurio is also a very prominent arranger. He has created arrangements for a wide array of artists, including Andrea Bocelli, Placido Domingo, Bryn Terfel, Marcello Giordani and Secret Garden.

Veronica Villarroel (soprano) - Leonora

Known for her passionate intensity and her rich honeyed voice, soprano Verónica Villarroel is regarded as one of the finest singing actresses of our day. Since her international debut in 1990 at the Teatro del Liceu in Barcelona as Fiordiliggi in “Cosi Fan Tutte”, she has appeared at the world’s leading opera theaters in a repertoire that also includes Bel Canto, French opera, Verdi and Verismo. Among her celebrated recent portrayals have been Desdemona in “Otello” (Washington National Opera Japan Tour); Leonora in “Il Trovatore” (Covent Garden); Amelia in “Un Ballo in Maschera” (Lyric Opera of Chicago) and her signature role of Cio Cio San in “Madama Butterfly” (Metropolitan Opera, Los Angeles and San Francisco).

Her discography includes recordings of Gomez’s “Il Guarany”, Penella’s “El Gato Montés” and Moreno Torroba’s “Luisa Fernanda.” A documentary of her life and career “The Accidental Diva” is currently being broadcasted on TV. She won the “Plácido Domingo Hispanic Award 2002” for her achievements and was distinguished with the highest honors in her native Chile.

Elena Zaremba (mezzo-soprano) - Azucena

Russian mezzo-soprano (Fricka) made her Washington National Opera debut in April 2002 as Ulrica in Un ballo in maschera. Since her 1991 debut with the San Francisco Opera as Hélène Bezukhova in War and Peace, she has appeared with that company in Ruslan and Lyudmila, Prince Igor, Falstaff, Carmen, Un ballo in maschera, and the 1999 Ring Festival. She has also performed with Vienna Staatsoper, Covent Garden, La Scala, Florence, Berlin, Munich, Paris, and the Metropolitan Opera as well as at Bregenz, Edinburgh, and Salzburg Festivals. Recent highlights include concerts in Monte Carlo, Tokyo, and Berlin Philarmonic as well as performances at the Met in Il Trovatore and Les Troyens, and Chowanschina in Brussels. Her artistry has been documented on video and audio recordings of Un ballo in maschera, Prince Igor, A Life for the Tsar, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, Boris Godunov, War and Peace, Das Rheingold, Rimsky-Korsakov’s Christmas Eve, Mussorgsky’s cantata Joshua, Missa Solemnis, and the Shostakovich song cycle.

Carlo Guelfi (baritone) – Il Conte Luna

Born in Rome, Carlo Guelfi studied singing with his uncle Renato Guelfi. In 1983 he won the Aureliano Pertile International Competition. This marked the beginning of a brilliant and busy career, in which he worked with some of the world’s greatest opera houses and musical institutions, including:

La Scala, Milan (La Gioconda, Tosca, Adriana Lecouvreur), Arena di Verona (Rigoletto, Aida, La traviata, Tosca), Roman Amphitheatre, Cagliari (Rigoletto), Accademia di Santa Cecilia (Carmina Burana), Carnegie Hall, New York (Puritani, Giovanna d’Arco, Ernani), Vienna State Opera (Il trovatore, Macbeth), Zurich Opera (Fanciulla del West, Carmen, Rigoletto, Sly), Bavarian State Opera, Munich (Il trovatore), Salzburg Festival (Simon Boccanegra), Metropolitan Opera, New York (Rigoletto), Teatro Real, Madrid (Il trovatore, Simon Boccanegra), New National Foundation, Tokyo (Un ballo in maschera).

Guelfi has worked with many leading conductors, including Claudio Abbado, Bruno Bartoletti, Leonard Bernstein, Semyon Bychkov, Daniele Gatti, Gianluigi Gelmetti, Carlo Maria Giulini, Peter Maag, Zubin Mehta, Antonio Pappano and Christian Thielemann.

Carlo Colombara (bass) - Ferrando

Carlo Colombara is one of the most renowned basses of today’s operatic scene. He won the "Concorso As.Li.Co." and the G.B. Viotti Competition in 1987 and made his debut on year later as Procida in I Vespri Siciliani at Milan’s La Scala under Riccardo Muti. Since then he has appeared at the world’s most famous opera houses: the Bavarian State Opera, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, the Arena di Verona, the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Zurich Opera House, the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, the Vienna State Opera, the Liceu in Barcelona, Metropolitan Opera, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the National Theatre Tokyo, Bolshoi in Moscow, the Opéra-Bastille in Paris, the Teatro Real in Madrid and the Nederlandse Opera in Amsterdam. His repertoire includes the great Verdian bass roles such as Zaccaria, Attila, Fiesco, Filippo, Silva, but also the major parts in Faust, Incoronazione di Poppea, Semiramide or Barbiere di Siviglia. Amongst his most important performances of his career are Nabucco and Macbeth at La Scala, Don Carlo in Zurich, L'Amore dei tre re at Radio France and the Bavarian Radio, Attila in Vienna, Macerata and Genova, Simon Boccanegra in Paris and Zurich, Ernani in Madrid and Vienna, Aida in Verona, New York and Tokyo and Norma in Chicago. He opened the 1997/98 season at La Scala with Macbeth conducted by Riccardo Muti. He also appeared in the most famous concert halls such as the Carnegie Hall, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Royal Festival Hall in London and the Vienna Konzerthaus. He worked with nearly all renowned stage designers and conductors and took part in a number of prestigious CD and video recordings.
www.carlocolombara.com