Lea shines in Il Divo concert

MANILA, Philippines - For one who has covered straight operas and interviewed world-acclaimed divas for more than 30  years, the prospect of hearing Il Divo  the pop operatic quartet  came as pure curiosity, more than actual excitement.

Conceptualized by Simon Cowell of the American Idol fame, Il Divo is now on its 10th year as blockbuster crossover quartet with amazing credentials: It has sold over 26 million albums worldwide, landed No. 1 in Billboard charts, received 160 gold and platinum sales awards in over 33 countries and staged four groundbreaking world tours. The concert ticket prices alone (highest is P30,000 and lowest-priced ticket is P8,000) convinced one that the singers (three classically-trained and a pop singer) have a loyal following and a solid one at that.

The Manila leg of the recent tour is special because it featured our very own Lea Salonga with the ABS-CBN Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Simon Chalk.

In the opening number, one noticed the small-sized orchestra had an unusual set-up with the musicians facing stage left with the conductor beating music as though following a canned orchestral sound. For indeed, the orchestra looked small but the sound felt as though it came from 150-member orchestra with thrilling effect on the capacity audience spread on the 1,500-seater Newport Performing Arts Theater.

The evening’s repertoire consisted of songs from musical theater and the choice of Lea as guest artist left nothing to be desired.

Wednesday night at the Newport Performing Arts Theater, one heard Il Divo’s voices for the first time and they came from tenor Urs Buhler of Switzerland, baritone Carlos Marin of Spain, pop artist Sebastien Izambard of France and tenor David Miller from the US.

The concert started with an elaborate overture consisting of medley from the evening repertoire one of which was Some Enchanted Evening, originally sung by Metropolitan Opera bass Giorgio Tozzi, who dubbed the singing for actor Rossano Brazzi who played Emile de Becque in the film version of South Pacific.

All looking tall and fresh, the Il Divo quartet made an instant impact for an audience (mostly 40 up in one quick look) who reacted positively to make the singers realize they knew the song and they had better be good at it.

Some Enchanted Evening has been cleverly arranged to showcase the individual voices of the quartet and at the same time showcase how they blended as a group. Hence, it was quite revealing how they made something fresh and inordinately appealing of Broadway favorites like Bring Him Home (Les Miserables), Tonight and Somewhere (West Side Story), among others.

Indeed, they were runaway winners with Con te partirò and the bilangual version of My Way (A mi manera) including All I Ask Of You (Phantom Of The Opera) and Memory (Cats).

The night ended with exquisite versions of Impossible Dream (Man from La Mancha) and You’ll Never Walk Alone (Carousel) and with the audience screaming for more encores.

Even as the quartet got all the deafening applause, it was also the special night of Lea.

After singing with the quartet where she proved she could blend perfectly with a group obviously programmed to make something euphoric of bottomless supply of high notes, Lea dazzled with her solo numbers from Defying Gravity (from Wicked) and Eponine and Fantine’s signature songs (I Dreamed A Dream and On My Own from Les Miserables) where she became the first Filipina to sing the roles.

With maturity, Lea has a lot more to offer other than her voice. She sings the notes and acts the lyrics with delicate care and goes intense in the most heart-wrenching message of the songs. She looks small on stage but her acting and singing are amplified in the concert monitors on both sides of the theater. Still, she is consistently focused and utterly giving to her audience. Indeed, marriage and motherhood had given her a new path on which to illumine her art and life.

With humility, Lea admitted she has learned a lot from singing with Il Divo being the first Filipino to guest with the celebrated group.

One must say that Il Divo can very well learn a lot from her, too.