Andrea Bocelli

One of the worlds leading tenors Andrea Bocelli makes a welcome return to The O2 on Friday 14 November, accompanied as always by his spectacular Orchestra and Choir.

Bocelli, the world’s premiere classical music star, returns to Ireland with a show featuring the repertoire that has made him famous throughout the world as a unique artist able to cross boundaries between classical and pop.

And songs from his latest album Passione will also bring a flavour of Bocelli’s musical roots.

Two guests are to be announced - a soprano to accompany Bocelli through the classical section and pop star to showcase his chart career. While some stars sing 'crossover', Bocelli is able to keep his classical and pop repertories separate, excelling at both as distinct disciplines.

The biggest selling solo classical artist of all time, Bocelli has performed for four U.S. presidents, two popes and the royal family, as well as at ceremonies for the Olympic Games and the World Cup. He has been praised by such luminaries as Luciano Pavarotti, Franco Corelli, Zubin Mehta, Jose Carreras, Lorin Maazel, Renee Fleming and Celine Dion, who once introduced him by saying: “I heard someone say that if God had a singing voice, he would sound a lot like Andrea Bocelli.”

He has sold over 80 million albums around the world, his 1999 Sacred Arias album has sold over 5 million copies, making it the best selling classical recording of all time. His pop career, including the much loved Time To Say Goodbye, a duet with Sarah Brightman that reached Number 1 in charts around the world in 1998, may have drawn millions in, but Bocelli has always enthusiastically shared his classical calling.

Yet, Passione is inspired by his pre-fame days, singing in bars, taking requests for songs like Antonio Carlos Jobim’s “Girl From Ipanema” or “Corcovado,” Elvis Presley’s “Love Me Tender,” Italian hits such as “Era Già Tutto Previsto,” and “Champagne,” or Neapolitan songs like “Anema e Core” and “Mala Femmena.”

These are songs that evoke a happy and innocent time for Bocelli, his pre-fame days that established the joy he finds in music and performing that has stayed with him throughout his illustrious career. They are also some of the most romantic songs ever written, a European Songbook, performed by one of the greatest singers of love songs.

16 time Grammy winning producer David Foster recorded the album at Bocelli’s family home on the Tuscan coast, sitting down to dinner together every night and cooking up the flavours of an intimate album, including songs in 6 languages.

Bocelli brings both that intimacy and the grandeur of operatic masterpieces to The O2 for a night of musical celebration.