Sentimento: Andrea Bocelli with Lorin Maazel and the London Symphony Orchestra [Limited Edition w/ Bonus Track]

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• BOCELLI ANDREA SENTIMIENTO

Free Music Notes for Sentimento: Andrea Bocelli with Lorin Maazel and the London Symphony Orchestra [Limited Edition w/ Bonus Track]

Free Music Review: Bocelli outdoes himself again
Hit: 5 Stars

It should be emphasized that this is not just the latest in a long line of highly successful Bocelli recordings -- in which he generally includes a few unforgettable duets with guest super-stars under the invisible baton of a great conductor. No, in this case the entire album is a "duet," and Maestro Maazel's contributions as both performer and orchestrator are every bit as essential to its quality as Bocelli's rich voice.

I have been a somewhat on-again off-again fan of Bocelli since I discovered his incredible Sacred Arias album on VCD, and later on DVD, and that album led me to go back and buy his earlier albums as well. As a lover of classical music and opera, the more "popular" in style a Bocelli album is, the more I have had my reservations -- at least at first hearing.

I was delighted when his last album, Cieli Di Toscana (Tuscan Skies), was released on DVD, and I grew to like the album, but most of it was a bit too popular for my taste. These were all new songs written expressly for Bocelli, and though the album contains many beautiful songs, not all of them are going to survive the test of time. L'Abitudine, a beautiful duet with the young singer Helena, justifiably became a hit and was later released in several languages. But although "E Mi Manchi Tu" and "Resta Qui" were the first and second prize winners in the "First Premio Bocelli" international composition contest in 2000, I think the only song capable of real immortality on the album may be "Mille Lune Mille Onde."

I put Cieli aside for many months to listen to more "serious" music, and on my last hearing the album was just too sentimental -- too "soapy" -- for my taste. Thus I was very hesitant about buying another Bocelli album, especially one with a title like "Sentimento". But on a trial hearing, as soon as I heard Maazal's violin and looked through the list of composers, I thought "Ah, he's come back again to classical music. I must buy this one!" I certainly made the right decision.

While this album was actually recorded back in the autumn of 2000, apparently even before Cieli di Toscana, it is an incredible collaboration that brings out the very best of both Bocelli and Maazel. Because of Maazel's consumately warm violin playing, which developed out of obbligato parts he improvised while listening informally to Bocelli singing Tosti songs, the album is significantly different from anything that Bocelli -- and of course Maazel -- has ever recorded. It stands out above the crowd of classical and classical cross-over vocal recordings like the red rose that forms the theme of the album's packaging would stand out against a bed of ordinary garden flowers, as colorful and variegated as the other flowers may be.

I am tempted to say that this is the best classical album Bocelli has done, but it has very stiff competition from Sacred Arias and A Night in Tuscany, which come in DVD versions, and even from the opera albums, so let me content myself with saying it is among the very best work that Bocelli has done, and stands in a class by itself. The fact that the album includes outstanding renditions of some of the most "popular" classical songs ever written -- tracks 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9 and 12 -- should ensure that lovers of Bocelli's pop albums will also be delighted with this album, and that they will be drawn deeper into the richness of the classical repertory in the process.

If anyone wants to test the album out and get a full taste of the unique style these two great musicians have forged together, listen to tracks 14 to 17. Bocelli's voice is at its historic best in these numbers, devoid of the slightest trace of imperfection or strain, and Maazel complements that voice with some of the most intoxicatingly romantic violin playing I have ever heard.

This is a great album for listening to alone, but it becomes even more beautiful if one can share it will someone special. Anyone looking for an ideal Valentine's Day gift should order this CD today!

Sentimento: Andrea Bocelli with Lorin Maazel and the London Symphony Orchestra [Limited Edition w/ Bonus Track] Poster

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