Concert review: Andrea Bocelli at American Airlines Center (June 13)

by Nancy Krabill of Blog From Afar

We were just another stop on Andrea Bocelli's tour, but we were so glad, too glad to be in Dallas and “getting it.” For those of us who know Andrea’s (because, of course, we’re all on a virtual first name basis with him) stage presence from A Night In Tuscany, this performance was a bit different. The joyful, emotional exchanges with bad boy Zucchero and Sarah Brightman were absent, as was the lovely moonlit piazza in Pisa, for that matter. We are all 12 years older, for starters, and one could draw the conclusion that he’s gone back to his roots, to music that has resonated through centuries.

I had almost decided that Andrea was really more of a pop artist than an opera singer; his tenor seems thin and a little strained on some recordings (or, to be fair, on my sound system). In person, his voice resonates and glows, especially in the lower range and higher volume, and filled the American Airlines Center (including the cheap seats -- see above!) with a little bit of Tuscany for a night. Even though now he’s more the gray haired statesman, and his performance is more subdued, his intensity, his focus on every note brings the listener close, along with him.

His presence was forceful, focused, a still point in front of the whizzing violins behind him. At times, the production was a little slick, giving the sense that guest singers and flautist were more being promoted than brought along as friends. However, when Andrea sang, time stood still for a little while, and we lived in each of those arias. Even for those of us whose understanding of opera is more at the “Greatest Hits” level, and maybe especially for us, it was fun to sing along and feel the tradition, the emotion there.

In the end, being from Dallas, we wanted him to love us back as much as we loved him. We knew, we knew he was on a crazy schedule, but we could have stayed in that little world he’d created all night. We cheered for four encore performances and finally left him for home, gasping in the dark heat outside. But in our hearts, and in our heads, those songs, those old songs, can play again and again.