Bocelli's a pleasant night out, but he's best as background music

We were lucky enough to get a last minute invitation to Andrea Bocelli's London performance at the 02 last night, thus finding ourselves in the rather odd world of opera cross-over.

We do, of course, attend more "proper" opera than the vast majority of the population, so the classical tenor's repertoire is familiar.  Classical music in a venue better suited for rock concerts is not.  While the space gives plenty of fans a chance to dip into a live performance, and certainly makes Signore Bocelli a load of cash, it's probably not the best format to show off his talents.

Bocelli's voice is sweet and generally pure, though rarely very strong.  Serious opera fans have criticised him for years and, while I'm not nearly as negative as that gang, hearing an ad for Rolando Villazon's new album the next morning reminded me of the vast difference between the essentially "easy listening" Bocelli and proper operatic stars.

In fact, I think Bocelli is at his best with his European pop stuff, like Vivere, Con te Partiro or Besame Mucho.  Certainly, I suspect that's what most of the audience knows.  Thus I found it a bit puzzling that his programme avoided much of that.  The first third was resolutely operatic, difficult and unfamiliar.  There's a reason most of us can't hum anything from Gounod's Romeo and Juliet or Puccini's Manon Lescaut.  It's not what I'd put on the menu for casual opera goers, and I don't think the audience really engaged in this part.  Engagement also wasn't helped by Bocelli's personal style, which is about standing statue-still, singing without much inflection and never engaging the audience in conversation 'til the very end.  (Yes, I know he's blind.  So's Stevie Wonder.  Lack of sight does not prevent movement and charisma.)  It said a lot that the most memorable performance of the first half was his guest soprano's performance of Tosca's vissi d'arte.

Things picked up in the second half, when he rolled into the tenor's classic 19th century folk song repertoire.  O sole mio, funiculi funicula, Grenada, etc.  Bocelli was clearly more comfortable on this territory, and the audience knew the tunes ... everyone started to have more fun.  The high notes, both literal and figurative, came in the encores, when he finally sang a couple of his familiar Italian pop tunes before ending with the inevitable nessun dorma.

It was a pleasant night.  It validated my choice of my Bocelli playlist as a great dinner party soundtrack.  But when the highlight of my evening was seeing the joy and confidence of my colleague's daughter, who helped to produce the show, more than seeing the performer, I know that I'll keep my ticket buying in the opera house in future.