Il Divo delivers another dazzling performance at the Carol Morsani Hall

Last night the world-famous pop/opera group, Il Divo performed its second concert in Tampa Bay. The Straz Center’s Carol Morsani Hall was packed with men and women of all ages to hear the four singers.
The group showcased their new album “Wicked Game” interspersed with classics and audience favorites. The song Melanconia performed during the second half of the program epitomized the mission of Il Divo. The music of Il Divo defies definite classification and can be categorized only as a cross between pop and opera. A more operatic singing style along with the heavy dramatic aspect characteristic of opera and musical theater combined with the pop tunes and upbeat renditions of more classically based songs makes Il Divo’s music truly transcendent. Incorporating such classical masterpieces as Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings and Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata into their music as well as reorchestrating pop and theater classics such as Andrew Lloyd Weber’s Don’t Cry for Me Argentina and Frank Sinatra’s My Way makes the music of Il Divo accessible to all audiences as well as giving ever concert a variety of color
Last night the world-famous pop/opera group, Il Divo performed its second concert in Tampa Bay. The Straz Center’s Carol Morsani Hall was packed with men and women of all ages to hear the four singers.
The group showcased their new album “Wicked Game” interspersed with classics and audience favorites. The song Melanconia performed during the second half of the program epitomized the mission of Il Divo. The music of Il Divo defies definite classification and can be categorized only as a cross between pop and opera. A more operatic singing style along with the heavy dramatic aspect characteristic of opera and musical theater combined with the pop tunes and upbeat renditions of more classically based songs makes Il Divo’s music truly transcendent. Incorporating such classical masterpieces as Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings and Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata into their music as well as reorchestrating pop and theater classics such as Andrew Lloyd Weber’s Don’t Cry for Me Argentina and Frank Sinatra’s My Way makes the music of Il Divo accessible to all audiences as well as giving ever concert a variety of colors.

To set the mood, lights, fog machines, and a series of shifting screens above the stage were used, but to only partial avail. Animations on the shifting screen only rarely enhanced the performance; in the group’s rendition of Melanconia, however, these visual effects were used to their full potential. Flames begin to crawl from one end of the screens to the other as the music progresses from a delicate piano. By the time the song has reached its climactic fortissimo the flames are roaring. With all four singers belting in their signature plush harmony, Il Divo brought intense drama, romance, and individuality to the music.
Each of the four singers were given solo lines, but the real horsepower behind the ensemble came from the velvety-voiced Spanish baritone Carlos Marin and American tenor David Miller. Miller was, perhaps, the most impressive of the group. As an operatically trained singer, Miller was able to project and create a brilliantly full fortissimo at an impressively high end of his vocal range. On the other hand, like Swiss tenor Urs Buhler and Sebastien Izambard from France, Miller could sing with grace and precision at a delicate piano.

Considering the relatively small size the Morsani Hall, it would have been nice to hear Il Divo sing without amplification. The Morsani Hall is small and resonant enough to have carried the four robust voices (as well as the full orchestral accompaniment) without any extra amplification. When singing their loudest and fullest, the microphones tended to obscure the warm tones of their voices, leaving them with a metallic edge. The sheer loudness also distracted from the musicality of their crescendos, as it became difficult to even focus on the harmonies without plugging one ear.

Between songs the singers engaged the audience, telling life stories, making jokes, even inviting the women to salsa dance during La Vida Sin Amor. Despite being a little sappy, they were received very warmly in both their engagement with the audience and their singing all the same, receiving multiple standing ovations. The concert ended fittingly with the encore Time to Say Goodbye and was without a doubt a crowd-pleaser.