Andrea Bocelli's divine voice fills up Barcelona's Palau Sant Jordi
Italian tenor performs two concerts in Catalan capital, one of them has been sold out for months
"If God would have a singing voice, he would sound a lot like Andrea Bocelli," Celine Dion once said, and thousands of Catalans agreed after listening to the Italian blind tenor during his first of two concerts in Barcelona on Tuesday night.
Bocelli has been celebrating his 30th anniversary on the stage and in Barcelona, soprano Cristina Pasaroiu, pop star Pia Toscano, Rusanda Panfili as the violinist, and Giovanni Caccamo as the special guest all accompanied him, directed by Carlo Bernini.
Catalonia's Vallès Symphonic Orchestra was the melodic tone to Bocelli's divine voice throughout the concert, which had the Sardaniste's polyphonic and cultural association from the inland Catalan municipality of Puig Reig as the choir.
The famous blind tenor started a little bit past 9 pm, and the concert was divided into two parts.
In the beginning, Bocelli sang some of the most important Aria, such as Giuseppe Verdi's 'La donna è mobile' from the Rigoletto opera or 'Brindisi' from 'La Traviata' to Giacomo Puccini's‘ O Soave Fanciulla' from 'La Bohème.'
The public quickly enjoyed Cristina Pasaroiu's voice as she sang the third song of the night, 'Meine Lippe sie Küssen so Heib' from 'Giuditta' by Franz Lehár.
But some of his biggest anthems filled the Palau Sant Jordi hall at the concert's second part.
Just at the start of the second part, Bocelli performed 'Funiculi Funiculà' from Luigi Denza's 'Incanto' while a ballet dancer left everyone speechless.
But it was when Bocelli performed 'Il mare calmo della sera' when the main hits started, including Pia Toscano's 'All by Myself' that left everyone breathless. Both, as expected, ended with the public's ovations.
'Granada' was also a moment for the public to enjoy a unique performance with Bocelli singing in Spanish, Panfili's violin performance, and two ballet dancers dressed as Spanish flamenco musicians.
Still, composer Hans Zimmer's Pirates of the Caribbean's 'Davy Jones, he's a Pirate' played by violinist Rusanda Panfili, was a lovely surprise for the public.
His final touch of the night was a duo with Cristina Pasaroiu singing 'Con te partirò,' which made the public continue asking for more, which Bocelli responded by singing 'Besame mucho.'
But if that was not enough, he finished the night a la Puccini with Turandot's one and only 'Nessun dorma.'
Bocelli will perform a second concert in Barcelona on May 1 at Palau Sant Jordi. While there were still some but very few available seats for Tuesday's concert, Wednesday's gig has been sold out for months, which pushed the artist to offer a second date.