For UAE residents who enjoy classical music, November has been a terrific month. Dubai Opera presented the Dresden Opera Ball, featuring Spanish tenor Placido Domingo, in addition to performances by the Lebanese Symphony Orchestra and the renowned Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of the Netherlands at Emirates Palace.
Andrea Bocelli is one performer who has contributed to the genre’s increased appeal in the UAE. The Italian tenor, who will perform on Thursday at Etihad Park in Abu Dhabi, was one of the first to demonstrate the promise of classical music to the city when 11,000 people attended his maiden performance at Emirates Palace in 2009. Artists Jose Carreras, Sarah Brightman, and Il Divo were soon engaged to perform in the UAE when major promoters took notice.
Bocelli applauds the region’s cultural vitality for fostering the development of specialized forms like opera. According to him, the region has worked hard to become a destination for classical music, as seen by the quality and quantity of music festivals, individual performances, and the performers involved.
“Significant strides have been made, and now the area is regarded as one of the most important platforms for us as classical musicians globally. I am delighted that such ample room is given to culture, classical music, and opera singing—with a repertoire that is the distinctive byproduct of a particular culture — in such a wonderful land, where you can grasp both the power of nature and the cleverness and dynamism of modern man,” Bocelli expresses.
When Bocelli was 12 years old, he entirely lost his vision due to congenital glaucoma, and as a teenager in rural Tuscany, he started playing in piano bars and singing competitions.
After winning the newcomer division of the 1994 Sanremo Music Festival, a well-known Italian television song competition, he achieved national renown.
With his rendition of Con the partiro, later covered in English as Time to Say Goodbye with British soprano Sarah Brightman, Bocelli came in fourth the following year.
Bocelli, who has sold nearly 100 million albums and is regarded as one of the world’s most famous opera singers, says his career was built on hard work, hope, and faith.
“My life’s narrative, the development of my voice, and, by extension, my existence, might come off as a happily ever after fairy tale. But it’s also true that I had to deal with a lot of closed doors in order to reach this level of accomplishment,” he adds.
For a country boy with many challenges, becoming a musician was an uncertain journey.