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The international superstar tenor lends his unique voice to a lush symphonic salute to the movies, "Andrea Bocelli: Cinema," celebrating some of the greatest celluloid songs and scores of all time written by a varied range of Italian and Hollywood composers. The concert special also reunites Bocelli with legendary music producer David Foster, whose first collaboration with the tenor was Foster’s own Academy Award-nominated song “The Prayer,” a duet with Celine Dion in 1999.
The songs in this new concert – many from Oscar-winning scores – are also featured on Bocelli’s new album "Cinema" which was released globally on Oct. 23 on Sugar Music/Universal Music Group and Verve Music Group in the USA. These cinematic songs are etched in the culture and hearts of several generations including epic theme songs featured in films such as “Doctor Zhivago,” “Love Story,” “The Godfather,” “Life is Beautiful,” “Il Postino,” “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” and many more, as well as popular songs from stage musicals, immortalized by their film versions, such as “West Side Story” and “Evita.” As a special bonus, there’s a brand new song fashioned from the popular “Gladiator” score. Hollywood luminaries John Travolta, Ryan O’Neal, Ali MacGraw, and Andy Garcia join Bocelli onstage to speak about the films from which the songs derive.
The special aired on THIRTEEN’s GREAT PERFORMANCES Friday, Nov. 27, 2015 as part of the PBS Arts Fall Festival. Bocelli has said he believes film music is “an exceptional artistic treasure trove.” His legendary voice, backed by fresh arrangements, brings new life to some of the greatest musical masterpieces for film by legendary composers from Leonard Bernstein to Ennio Morricone.
Bocelli sings in five different languages (Italian, French, Spanish, English and Sicilian) and, through the magic of digital wizardry, partners in a virtual duet with global superstar Ariana Grande on the heart wrenching duet “E più ti penso” from “Once Upon A Time in America”/ “Malena,” and in person with Nicole Scherzinger on the epic musical anthem “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina” from “Evita.” The concert was arranged for Bocelli’s extraordinary voice by musical director David Foster.
Bocelli’s prior GREAT PERFORMANCES specials have consistently been some of PBS’ most popular concert performances, including "Andrea Bocelli Live in Central Park" and "Andrea Bocelli: Love in Portofino." With over 80 million albums sold worldwide, the acclaimed singer has been honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. His Central Park concert in 2011 joined the roster of the park’s legendary live performances. And he had the honor of performing live in front of three United States presidents, three popes, and royal families all over the world.
Additional arrangements were composed by Humberto Gatica and Tony Renis, both of whom previously collaborated with David Foster on the "Amore" program.
"Andrea Bocelli: Cinema" was directed for television by David Horn. For GREAT PERFORMANCES, Mitch Owgang is producer, Bill O’Donnell is series producer and David Horn is executive producer.
Past episodes of GREAT PERFORMANCES are available for online viewing. GREAT PERFORMANCES is on Facebook, and you can follow @GPerfPBS on Twitter. Andrea Bocelli is on Facebook, Instagram and you can follow @AndreaBocelli on Twitter.
