Classical music, especially opera, has done
such a good job of making itself unapproachable, elitist and mysterious that
many people feel shut out. The uninitiated feel intimidated about even attending
a concert. What do I wear? When do I clap? Am I smart enough to get it? What
if I hate it?
But when most people get a chance to hear a
quality operatic voice, they're impressed, even moved — as long as the
music isn't too "arty."
That's where "popera" comes in. The
phenomenon of operatic-style pop singers — which reached its artistic
peak with Andrea Bocelli, the blind crossover opera/pop star, and its commercial
peak, so far, with Josh Groban — is a way for ordinary people to appreciate
the classical form without all the baggage.
Crafty entrepreneur Simon Cowell, the meanie
judge on "American Idol" who has presented everything from professional
wrestlers to TV reality shows (like the short-lived "Cupid"), was smart
enough to marry popera with the Chippendale dancers.
Voilà! Il Divo! (Divo is Italian for
male diva.)
A yearlong international search yielded the
handsome hunky quartet, which, while they don't strip, romances mostly female
audiences with big voices and overwrought arrangements that ape opera.
The group is made up of Carlos, the Spanish
Casanova; David, the all-American boy next door; Urs, the Swiss pretty boy; and
Sebastien, the French hunk (they're identified only by their first names on their
recordings). They all look sharp in Armani suits.
Cowell brought them around to all the right
places — Oprah, Regis & Kelly, Martha Stewart, "The Young and
the Restless" — to introduce them to a female audience too old for
hip-hop but young enough to appreciate a good pop song.
By the time the first "Il Divo" album
came out in the spring of 2005, the pump was primed. The disc surprised the recording
industry by briskly selling 2 million copies. Its follow-up was last Christmas
season's biggest holiday recording, "The Christmas Collection."
Il Divo's latest album, "Ancora," brought
popera securely into the mainstream when it debuted at No. 1 in Billboard last
month. It's well on its way to surpassing "Il Divo" in sales.
Most of the quartet's songs are in foreign languages.
Il Divo's particular affectation is to take English-language hits and translate
them into Spanish or French, apparently to make them more operalike.
Thus, on "Ancora," Eric Carmen's 1976
classic "All By Myself" (already with a melody borrowed from Rachmaninoff)
becomes "Solo Otra Vez," and Celine Dion's hit "I Believe in You" is
transformed into "Je Crois en Toi" (with Dion as guest artist).
Almost all Il Divo songs are the same. They
start with a solo and end with a big, loud, dramatic quartet finish, augmented
by a booming symphony orchestra.
Hayley Westenra, a young pop singer
from New Zealand with an operatic-quality voice, will open the concert here on
Wednesday in Benaroya Hall, where the Seattle Symphony plays (albeit without
amplification, unlike Il Divo). Il Divo will be joined by a 20-piece orchestra
and a four-person rock band.
The audience, sure to be at least 80 percent
female, will be able to clap, scream and shout out, "We love you!" anytime
they want.
