On April 15,I had the good fortune to attend Andrea Bocelli's concert at the Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim. Although I have attended classical concerts and operas in the past, this was my first since having begun voice classes. With my own experiences as a beginning voice student, I was able to observe things with a new awareness; details which I had previously considered insignificant.
When I first entered the Arrowhead Pond, I was extremely disappointed at the unaesthetic appearance of this sports arena turned classical concert stage. People were arriving in limousines, wearing tuxedos, gowns, and furs, to attend a classical concert in an ice hockey rink, a place where spectators traditionally drink beer and participants beat each other up. Even more disappointing to me was the location of our seats, as they were way up high, and directly behind the performers.
I was seated fifteen minutes before the scheduled time. The place appeared uglier by the minute, and I kept wondering why half the seats were still empty at 8:00. However, the arena suddenly filled up, and the conductor took the stand approximately 20 minutes later than scheduled. When the concert began, I immediately came to realize how very lucky we were to have these seats. In fact, they were probably the best seats we could possibly have had because close-ups of the performers were projected onto three large screens during the entire concert.
The concert began with Overture to Norma, played by the San Diego Symphony Orchestra. Conductor Marcello Rota then stepped down to escort Bocelli, who had been blinded at the age of six, onto the stage. Bocelli appeared to be at home onstage; without touching anything he lined himself up dead center with the microphone each time he sang. Bocelli made singing look easy; he showed no signs of tension. He stood still, in a relaxed position, his hands calmly dangling at his sides, just like my beginning voice teacher told me to stand.
What bothered me about this was that Bocelli was not a beginner, and his lack of gestures and facial expressions made it seem unnecessary to go to the trouble to watch him perform live. After all, why pay high prices and fight heavy traffic to attend a concert if you can get the same effect by closing your eyes and listening to your Walkman? Indeed he produced beautiful tones, but we had to wait until each piece ended just to see Bocelli smile briefly.
This was not the case with the young Puerto Rican soprano, Ana Maria Martinez. ...