Quartet "Il Divo" in Belgrade Arena

The spirit of an elegant breeze

If the art is an dialectic mixture of supstance and soul which can express a thought of an artist in its own unique way, and if its goal is to make all the participants reach catharsis, than we are today, in the world of popera, completely mesmerised. However, if the goal of an artist, an artistic group, or a movement is to make us get out of the room smiling and feeling satisfied, thrilled and touched, than we can freely say that 'Il Divo' managed to acomplish such thing during their Belgrade performance


By TIJANA ĐURIČIĆ
from Belgrade, SERBIA


A very poetic period of the year - the spring, is an ideal time for offering a small, but rebelious Balkan country a perfectly shaped product of urban spectacle, such was a concert by a famous quartet "Il Divo" in Belgrade, on March 24th. The current position of classical and pop music is 'slightly' endangered in Serbia (especially when we think about the music served to us by the media), so the performance of the unusual quartet was a bliss to a listener's ears. Specific cultural circumstances tend to awake, at least in fractionally sophisticated part of the population, the need for beautiful, proportionate and pleasant sounds and melodies.

The band or a quartet "Il Divo", as a significant music representative of current tendances of the popera (a hibrid genre in which educated opera singers sing pop music so it gets a classical dimension), was an idea of a producent Simon Cowell. The mission to find talented and credible singers resulted in selecting Spanish baritone singer Carlos Marin, two tenors - an American David Miller and a Swiss Urs Buhler, and finally a French pop singer Sebastien Izambard. The voices of the singers are characterised by a contrast of the colors and overemphasized acting. The four singers (of different voices and vocal education) perform versions of well-known songs (in several world languages), which are perfectly produced and carefully presented. Predictible dynamics, pleasant melodies, language diversity and premium quality arrangements are the distinctive signs of the whole musical idea. A very clear visual identity - (formal wardrobe - suits or tuxedos, very neat hair-cuts, scene make-up) which is supposed to remind the audience of the seriousness and graciousness of the opera stages, a very specific musical sentiment (emotion manipulation, a very sentimental repertoir consisted mainly of balades), world-class back-up musicians ( an orchestra and a band) as well as the equipment (modern surround system, rotation sound transmitters hanged on the dome of the arena), are some of the eye-catching messages sent by this popular group.

The success of this quartet is perceived in 22 millions in album sales, concert audience of five million people from over 30 countries of the world, and the performances with Tony Braxton at the oppening ceremony of the World Football championship in Germany ("Time of Our Lives"). Also, by guest starring at Barbara Straisand's tour in 2006, and the albums "Il Divo" (in 2004, featuring remakes of the "Unbreak My Heart", "My Way"...), "Voices" and "Siempre", as well as upcoming tour which features their new album The promise. Continuing the same tradition, this album features the remakes of famous songs such are Amazing Grace, the Power of Love, Winner Takes it All and Hallelujah. Powerful arrangements, stylistic coordination, and the selection of popular melodies manage to disarm the audience accessible to emotional influences. The composition Amazing Grace is an ideal demonstrator of current technical possibilities of each of the singers (unfortunatelly, the finest singer amongs them is currently passing through a faze of so called, trembling of the tone, which makes his voice sound not as pleasant when hitting the high tones). The most effective compostiton is, by all means, The Power of Love, due to a very interesting arrangement of voices, and the most interesting is Angelina (which stands out by the folklore arrangement - tretman guitars).

All the tickets for Belgrade concert were sold out, and the Arena was partially empty on purpose (the tickets were sold only for the places with a complete audio and visual impression). The professionalism of the quartet was also seen by the good prepared conditions in which they performed (it is known that the Arena was created as a sport arena, so it is necessary to pay attention to the acustics - few years ago, audience was not able to enjoy Andrea Bocheli's concert in a proper way due to the echo - effects).

The only thing left after the concert were the impressions of the audience. Charming statements that the Belgrade girls are the most beautiful in the world, and that the Serbian audience is very warm, delighted the people present, and the personal impressions vere conversed after the concert over and over again. The new album brings the old elements, used in a same way (pleasant melodies, different languages, from 'piano' to 'forte' and then slow-down) applied on some new contents. A smart assessment not to give up on approvedly compact compositions, judging by the reactions of Belgrade audience, is the right solution for the new album. It's interesting that the members of the band think they managed to bring something new with this album, so that apart from their own personal transformations, people have the chance to enjoy some fresh ideas. These ideas can be noticed exclusively on a microplan, so that the general impression lacks any inovation whatsoever. Superficial, lacking-an-argument statements of the performers are astonishing, and make one wonder whether their emotions are truly deep and honest, or is it just a high quality mascarade. Indeed, by delivering quality with an album Ancora, the perpetuous perseverance to similar postulates was expected, but the album Siempre, disassembles all the ilusions, so well-justified expectation of the new album is for it to refresh main ideas of presenting the quartet, except following the mark changes.

This example reminds us of Serbian audience's essential need for popera and high quality wraped artistic products (the whole spectacle), but also on some key issues of changing the production and the understanding of music today. On what way the technology of the sound reproduction effects the creation of the popular music? How is creativity mixed with technology? Is the history of popular music written by the producers, and are their names most significant in the history of pop music in last decades? Are the marketing and the production main bearers of a musical thought, idea or a product?

If the art is an dialectic mixture of supstance and soul which can express a thought of an artist in its own unique way, and if its goal is to make all participants reach catharsis, than we are today, in the world of popera, completely mesmerised. However, if the goal of an artist, an artistic group, or a movement is to make us get out of the room smiling and feeling satisfied, thrilled and touched, than we can freely say that Il Divo managed to acomplish such thing during their Belgrade performance.


Link to a music addition


(Published: 10.04.2009.)