67° A Few Clouds
Email
PermalinkGreat Performances: Andrea Bocelli Live In Central Park
Airs Friday, Dec. 7, 2012 at 10:30 p.m. & Saturday, Dec. 8 at 8 a.m. on KPBS TV
Above: Soprano Pretty Yende joins tenor Andrea Bocelli in a free concert on Central Park’s Great Lawn.
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Above: David Foster joins tenor Andrea Bocelli in a free concert on Central Park’s Great Lawn.
Above: Soprano Ana María Martínez joins tenor Andrea Bocelli in a free concert on Central Park’s Great Lawn.
Beloved tenor Andrea Bocelli performs a free concert on Central Park’s Great Lawn, with the New York Philharmonic conducted by its music director Alan Gilbert.
Widely regarded as the most popular Italian tenor in the world with more than 70 million albums sold, Bocelli was joined that rainy, windswept evening by pop stars Céline Dion, Tony Bennett, Chris Botti and David Foster.
Sopranos Ana María Martínez and Pretty Yende, violinist Nicola Benedetti, bass baritone Bryn Terfel and flutist Andrea Griminelli are also part of the spectacular evening, along with the Westminster Symphonic Choir, Joe Miller, director. Bocelli presented a varied repertoire that includes well known arias, fan favorites and some new surprises.
Bocelli’s performance was the latest in a rich tradition of memorable free concerts in Central Park which, over the years, has included such notable performers as Barbra Streisand, Simon and Garfunkel, Diana Ross, Garth Brooks, Bob Marley and the Wailers, and Bon Jovi.
Before the concert, Bocelli nostalgically reflected, "I cannot help but smile when thinking about the upcoming concert in Central Park. It was my father's dream, and my father was right, because my artistic path would have been entirely different without the strong and sincere embrace of this extraordinary city where everything is possible, even when it seems impossible. My father will not be there, but I can count on his blessing and his kind and gentle smile to give me courage. My mother, sitting in the front row, will feel my father, too, and they will be together again just like when I was a little boy performing on the fireplace steps. Perhaps they had secretly dreamed that I might have the opportunity to perform in New York City, and maybe right here in Central Park."
GREAT PERFORMANCES "Andrea Bocelli In Central Park" airs as part of the PBS Arts Fall Festival. GREAT PERFORMANCES is on Facebook.
This program is part of our TV Membership Campaign. Support quality programming you depend on from KPBS. Join or renew today!
Log in to comment:
Forgot your password?