Divo: The Magic of popera
The charismatic quartet performs Thursday in LA
As part of their international tour, famous quartet Il Divo will perform at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles this Thursday.
The singers of the successful band, having sold over 26 million albums since their debut in 2004, will sing their classics as well as songs from their most recent album Wicked Game when they hit the city.
Since it's formation in 2004, the group Il Divo is a sensation. This is not just due to their particular style and the harmonious voices of the four singers, but also because the charismatic performers represent different cultures and languages.
"The magic was there from the beginning", was told on the phone by Sébastien Izambard, Frenchman and singer in the band which left its mark on the opera pop scene. "And I think it was the result of the combination of many factors, among others our voices and the fact that people like our style".
The rest of the group -formed nearly nine years ago by music mogul Simon Cowell for record label Sony BMG-, is made up of Swiss tenor and composer Urs Bühler, Spanish bariton Carlos and American tenor David Miller.
As part of their international 2012 tour, taking them to Canada, the US and Europe, Il Divo will perform tomorrow at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, situated in the popular LA Live Centre.
According to Izambard, the band will bring a new show to the Nokia Theatre, called Il Divo & Orchestra, containing mostly songs from "our most recent album Wicked game", for example the classic don`t cry for me,  Argentina.
"It will be an interesting set list, as people will get the chance to hear our new and old songs in a harmonious combination of our voices with the musical instruments", the singer who is also a guitarist and pianist pointed out."
Izambard explained that it was Simon Cowell who got the idea to create a group similar to the Three Tenors [Luciano Pavarotti, José Carreras and Plácido Domingo], but "in popera which is much more accessible to a wider audience".
"After large auditions for lyrical singers, I was lucky to be joining the group to add the pop flavour", Izambard explains. Without classical vocal training, his voice timbre resembles that of a tenor. His tone of voice was classified as vox populi.
Since the release of their first album Il Divo (2004) up to their most recent production Wicked Game (2011), the convers sung by the quartet have managed to become the most listened to and requested songs on radio markets in different countries.
Il Divo also received multiple platinum discs (double and triple) as well as gold ones for their album sales. They were also awarded 2011 Artist of the Decade at the Brit Awards, and to date, with six albums released, they have sold over 26 million copies of those worldwide.
It has to be noted that Il Divo's popular success started in 2006, when they were elected to star next to Toni Braxton to sing the anthem of the Soccer World Cup in Germany, The time of our lives, which was subsequently added to the compilation album Voices with songs performed by stars like, among others, Michael Jackson, George Michael, Annie Lennox, Barbra Streisand, Elton John, Rod Stewart, Whitney Houston, Elvis Presley and Mariah Carey.
"We are very happy with our career up to this point, and I hope that with our music we open the door for younger singers who know nothing about popera", said Izambard, also known as the French Divo.

When asked if Il Divo could indirectly instigate a revolution in the purely operatic genre with their distinctive style of singing, Izambard started laughing and replied: "Absolutely! It's something I do hope for... It would be very suprising, fabulous