Rightly or wrongly, this is the first Bocelli record that gives me a clear view of him. Previously there have been points to discuss, some favourable, others less so; but always an uncertainty has intruded, bringing a sense, more acute than with most singers on record, that one would never know what he was really like till he had been heard in the flesh and without microphones. This new disc is reassuring: though the power or volume of the voice is still difficult to estimate, the timbre and quality become clearer and more convincing. What is more, he sings well enough to allay suspicions of a reputation too assiduously promoted.
The voice is attractively individual, precise in definition, sometimes flecked very lightly with a quick vibrato. He commands a quite remarkable breadth of phrase and uses it well in the 'Ingemisco' from Verdi's Requiem. He lightens effectively, as in Adeste fideles, and the style conveys affection without sentimentality. The high D flat of 'Cujus animam', the lower tessitura of 'Domine Deus', the quiet ending of the Mascagni are creditable features of these well-schooled performances. His pronunciation in German and English is clear, and while it is stretching a point to include Wagner's 'Der Engel' in a programme of sacred songs, the momentary broadening of repertoire is welcome.
Of course, given this kind of programme almost any extension of a musically enterprising nature would be welcome; the recital will probably not make many friends for Bocelli among musicians, though doubtless it will give sufficiently widespread and genuine pleasure to compensate for that. Some of the arrangements are juicy, though without being utterly gross, and some are even tasteful. Chung conducts sympathetically, and the chorus is not overexploited. In the notes, there seems to be some confusion about the item called Mille cherubini in coro which is an arrangement (a harsher word could be used) of Schubert's Wiegenlied, D498. The Pieta, Signore of Louis Niedermeyer is the one formerly attributed sometimes to Rossini but more often to Stradella. Heaven knows what 'Caccini's Ave Maria' is.
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