Hey Crew,
Here is part of an email I received from Mary Bohling while I was on vacation. I want to share it with you (I added the pictures). She won’t mind. Will you Mary?

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Pardon me, but I feel a lecture coming on. I just have to tell you about what has helped keep me from going crazy during the time of “not enough Il Volo.” I have a new enthusiasm for Andrea Bocelli since Il Volo has taught me to love anything Italian—especially the language and especially when the language is sung.

 I just got my copy of his new DVD, “Vivere, Live in Tuscany”. (Amazon, $20 for DVD and CD two disc set) I knew I would love it, since I already have “I Found My Love in Portofino” DVD and CD, and love that.

Let me say at the outset, that while I do love Andrea’s singing, he can’t compare to the voice of Piero Barone….he is second choice, but since Piero has yet to come out with a disc of solos, I have to be content with supplementing with Andrea. It is interesting to note that the new DVD’s music was produced by Humberto Gatica and co-produced by Tony Renis. Have they been too busy with Andrea to spend more time getting our boys out there in front of the public, especially in the US?

Back to “Vivere”. There is lovely Tuscan scenery at the beginning and the filming is gorgeous throughout. I did notice that Andrea, like Piero, wears a scarf and leaves his shirttail hanging out…also dresses beautifully. The orchestration is superb. There are guest appearances, notably Kenny G. and Sara Brightman. The pianist Lang-Lang is wonderful, Chris Botti nice, as usual. I must include that A.B.’s version of “Can’t Help Falling in Love”, while adequate, doesn’t begin to compare to Gianluca’s.

The final song, with Sara Brightman (who I think would be great with our guys) is one that I didn’t recognize by name “Con te partiro”, but as soon as they started to sing I knew our boys have sung it beautifully. I didn’t know it meant, “time to say good-by,” but it is very lovely and you would know it right away. Also of note: he does “Il Mare Calmo Della Sera” which you may remember Ignazio singing when he was 14 or 15….and he has done it more recently, too.

Again, while A.B. is admirable, I’m afraid our guys are raising the bar too high for anyone else to reach.

But we must deal with the fact that we need some supplementation, since we just can’t get enough of them. After all, they are only human (or are they?) and we do have appetites to satiate. So, I’m just suggesting that if you need more Italian (and who doesn’t?) Andre Bocelli is there for us, and while I have to extol Il Volo over everyone else I really do appreciate A.B.

Sorry if I rambled on too long, but just listened to two hours of “Vivere” and feel the need to tell my IV friends that I think they would enjoy that and “Portofino” a lot.

With Il Volo ♥ Mary