Transfer news: Bocelli to Liverpool
OrchestrasPress release:
The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra the Orchestra will perform alongside world-renowned Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli and DJ Craig Charles for a unique collaboration at the official naming ceremony of Cunard’s Queen Anne.
Bocelli previously played for Claudio Ranieri in Leicester City’s winning season (pictured).
Strange, isn’t it? So many people arguing that opera isn’t “relevant”, that it’s only for toffs and can’t fill its theatres etc, and yet there’s this relatively long standing link between football crowds of 70,000 and opera.
Yes, I know that Bocelli isn’t Corelli and that an entire opera is not on the programme. I could probably fill a page with the differences between this and what Glyndebourne Touring would have presented in Liverpool, given the chance, but there’s no denying IMO that there’s a large potential audience out there.
I could even test the argument to destruction by saying that interest in Katherine Jenkins also suggests a certain level of interest in the genre. I know it’s not deep, but it’s there, and it does no harm.
How would ACE explain this away? And how can opera companies exploit this? I don’t have an answer to that but I’m sure it doesn’t lie in the sort of identity politics we’re seeing in 2024.
1. Bocelli in many ways is not a classical singer. Value judgement aside, this easily explains why he only appeals to a non-classical crowd.
2. Cult followings don’t build audiences. Remember the Three Tenors? Do, say, Lang Lang groupies go to listen to, say, Kristian Zimerman?
“Bocelli in many ways is not a classical singer.”
Which is why I said that Bocelli is not Corelli. However, Pavarotti was an opera singer in the true sense. He was immediately recognisable and genuinely popular.
I think the “cult” tag is a cynical way of viewing it. The fact remains, some classical performers break through and achieve a degree of recognition and popularity.
I don’t have figures for people who make the transition from crossover to mainstream classical. I doubt if such figures exist and don’t expect the numbers to be huge. What I do believe is that classical performers becoming totally remote from the public consciousness cannot possibly be a good thing.
I did say “how can opera companies exploit this?”, meaning that this is evidence of a basic interest which might be built upon if an approach could be devised. I don’t expect it to happen automatically, and didn’t suggest that it would.
If the classical world is considered distant, weird and abnormal (as sadly, opera is to many in the UK), expanding audiences will be nigh on impossible. People need to see it and hear it, even in watered down versions at football matches.
Lastly, don’t forget that ENO took a chunk of Walküre to Glastonbury. Just what we need – pipe dream now.
But he won’t be doing the opening Slot…
Will he be singing anything by Arne, though?
(I’ll stop now)
“Bocelli previously played for Claudio Ranieri in Leicester City’s winning season”. What position? Striker, midfield, defender or goalkeeper?
Interesting article in The Critic “Of course we need opera”, and a few surprising statistics:
https://thecritic.co.uk/of-course-we-need-opera/
“As a perceptive reviewer wrote in The Evening Standard way back in 1946, saying that the British didn’t like opera was rather like saying they didn’t like the Sistine Chapel — many people had simply never had the chance to see it.”
Exactly.
How long was this after the private concert he gave in his home in Tuscany(Villa Alpemare) with Jackie Evancho?