Customer Reviews

Andrea Bocelli: Vivere - Live in Tuscany [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Musically, it is as good as it can get, but the comments - though subtitled - are somehow excessive and unnecessary. There are not as many of them as in some André Rieu shows, but still a few we could live without tending to drag the concert into the cheaper side. Otherwise, the concert is excellent (5-star) including the sound and picture quality, the choice (order) of songs, and the performance positively affecting its dynamics and emotional side progressing from lyric through romantic to more dramatic, and culminating at the end.
Tracks: (Live Concert DVD)
1. MELODRAMMA
2. ROMANZA
3. A TE (Featuring Kenny G on soprano saxophone)
4. VIVO PER LEI (Duet with Heather Headley)
5. IO CI SARÒ (Featuring Lang Lang on piano)
6. HUNGARIAN RHAPSODY no. 2 in C sharp minor by Liszt (Performed by Lang Lang)
7. LA VOCE DEL SILENZIO (Duet with Elisa)
8. DANCING (Performed by Elisa)
9. CANTO DELLA TERRA (Duet with Sarah Brightman)
10. BELLISSIME STELLE
11. MEDLEY: Besame Mucho/Somos Novios (It's impossible)/ Can't Help Falling in Love
12. BECAUSE WE BELIEVE
13. THE PRAYER (Duet with Heather Headley)
14. ITALIA (Featuring Chris Botti on trumpet)
15. DARE TO LIVE (Vivere Duet with Laura Pausini)
16. SOGNO
17. IL MARE CALMO DELLA SERA
18. TIME TO SAY GOODBYE (Con te partirò Duet with Sarah Brightman)

As my title says, I'm not an over-the-top "everything he does is wonderful" (in fact, my spouse and I had floor seats at his Madison Square Garden conert a few years ago and thought it was terrible) fan of Andrea, butI have to say this Blu-ray DVD is beyond a homerun from both his performances and the quality of the Blu-ray itself.

First, the concert.

His singing and his performances have never been better, and the assembled stars (Kenny G, Elisa, Laura Pausini and of course Sarah Brightman, to name just a few) make this an incredible show. Each is outstanding in its own performance, and being introduced, as an American, to the European sensation of Laura Pausini is worth the cost of the Blu-ray by itelf (check out her dress !)

Now the Blu-ray

The production values, both the PQ and AQ are virtually reference quality. If you want to show your friends what a blu-ray does both picture-wise and audio wise, this could be one of your best choices to demonstrate the top quality. The dolby 5.1 is at it should be, not overdone, but placing you squarely in the first few rows of the audience. The picture for a live performance is unequalled, with the blackest of blacks contrasting with the performer costumes and dress. Quite an accomplishment when you see Andrea and Sarah in the brightest of whites yet no evidence of washout on darker colors or parts of the stage.

Finally, at the finale and curtain call, you'll be treated to a pleasant and surprising video and audio treat.

Money VERY well spent.

Grazie...

This is the best DVD Andrea has put out. His variety of performers and his own signing hit a new performance high.

My rating is based on the Blue-Ray failing to reach my expectations, Andrea's performance is 5 stars.
Purchased this Blue-Ray disc based on the reviews here. After playing on my setup with a 1080p projector on a 100" diagonal screen I can tell you that the quality is not at par with Blue-Ray capabilities. The cameras used to capture this amazing concert have a lot of trouble staying in focus, specially those located far away zooming into the stage. This might not be noticeable on a smaller screen. The quality only gets worse as the night falls and the cameras struggle to pick up the details in a darker setting. The sound quality is good, but DVD good; it only includes 2 tracks (PCM Stereo and 5.1 PCM). It would have been great to have this concert on DTS-HD.
If you want a quality production of Andrea Bocelli's music on video, buy "Under The Desert Sky" DVD; the filming quality is excellent and sound is much better on the included DTS track. I really enjoy listening to this concert on my high end system.

I thought when I bought this it would provide some nice entertainment, and my wife and I would make small talk during the performance. Wrong! I was glued to every note that Andrea sang. I was taken to another place, Tuscany to be precise and it was wonderful! His voice is second to none, and I was blown away by the quality of vocals and instrumentals that I heard. The performance would have been great just with Andrea himself, but what took this over the top was all of the guest performers. Kenny G (Sax), Lang Lang (Piano), and Chris Bottio (Trumpet) who accompanied Andrea Bocelli showed how well beautiful music can delight the soul... it was truly riveting!

The duets with Heater Headley, Elisa, Laura Pausini, and Sara Brightman took this concert to a level I did not know existed. I can not wait to play it again for their awesome female voices complemented Andrea Bocelli like nothing imaginable. I was not familiar with Heather Headley and I fell in love with her voice, and the magic she had with Andrea. Sara Brightman was my favorite, and I could never get tired of listening to these two sing together. WOW... INCREDIBLE!

The backdrop of being an outdoor concert in the beautiful country side of Tuscany was breathtaking. The color and clarity of this blu-ray on my 150" screen was outstanding, and I was transformed to another world. What a perfect place to perform, it was so easy on the eyes. I want more.... I wish they would have offered a DTS MA audio track in the set up menu, but there was only two options: PCM Stereo and PCM 5.1. We have a very nice high end sound system in a dedicated theater and the PCM Stereo was great. I will play it next time in the 5.1 format.

I am an audiophile by nature. I love all types of music, hard rock, pop, jazz, and classical are my favorites. If you have any true appreciation for the finest quality of music at its purest form, with the absolute best vocals and instrumentals that exist today, then you owe it to yourself to give this Blu-ray Disc a try.

Jim Hollingsworth

I'm not so much a fan of that kind of music and I'm more rock oriented. I bought initially this DVD for my parents in law who are both Italian and Bocelli/Pavarotti fans, but this DVD just became overnight the very best item of my whole DVD collection, not to speak about the impact on my parents in law who still can't believe it. If I could have put 6 stars here, I would have done so. Everything is just perfect in this record: sound, image, performance, musical skills of every single musician and especially Sarah Brightman whom I didn't know before. I'll closely watch her career from now on and I'm just praying these two wonder voices will again join together one of these days.

I was not familiar with Andrea Bocelli when I purchased this disk. I certainly did not know that he is blind. I was blown away by his talent. The performers he chose to accompany him, matched and complemented his talent exceedingly well. His brief introductions between tracks were not at all "excessive". I watched some of the performances over and over (particularly those with Sarah Brightman). Musically, I found all of them flawless, and my young children were equally captivated and impressed.

I was primarily looking for a pristine Blu-ray audio/video experience, though, and I felt that it fell a little short here and there. The image quality is fantastic, with full HD resolution, great dynamic range, no distracting noise (even in the darkest of scenes), and no compression artifacts. But the image is frequently slightly out of focus. Most of the cameras seem to wander in and out of razor-sharp focus as they move, and when they come to rest, they may or may not be in perfect focus. Nobody else noticed this, nor were they concerned about it when I pointed it out. The 5.1 PCM audio track sounds really good, with fantastic dynamic and tonal range, and no A/V sync problems. The soundstage is immersive, and faithful to a live concert experience. Since the concert was held outdoors, I expected none of the reverb typical in a concert hall, but a very minor reverb still exists due to the amplification at the venue (or perhaps it was added intentionally). This does not distract, and may even enhance the sound. However, I recoiled at the unnatural sound of the audience applause (thankfully not too frequent). It sounds as though it was recorded in a pipe for better microphone directionality.

Nevertheless, the faults are highly insignificant, and this is one disk I will continue to play again and again. I would wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone with an appreciation for top quality music and performances.

I loved this concert especially becasue it was of the Vivere album. The sound was mastered beautifully and the setting in Tuscany was a visual delight. Well worth the money if you are a Bocelli fan. There were several scenes though where the camera folks had problems focusing on the subjects. Several blurred scenes which will be obvious in a high definition product. I was very surprised since I had read a review stating how good the picture was in the video. It's still a fantastic product and I'd recommend buying it!

The setting is picturesque. The atmosphere is very relaxing with the mountains as backdrop and the serene settings. The open air concert might have added to open acoustics.

Andrea Bocelli here sings greatly as he always does. However in my personal opinion, I do not feel as though those songs which are duets are the best Ive heard from him. Such as The Prayer, while this version is still good, it cannot compare to the greatness when he sang this with Celine Dion or even Katherine McPhee. It is the same with Somos Novios, I felt his duet with Katherine McPhee or Christina Aguilera is still even better than this version. Its a slight shame that his singing counterparts here are not exactly as famous as those aforementioned, I would have preferred an All Stars Duet, that would have made this blu-ray perfect.

To throw it out there, again perhaps the open air and mountainous landscape tweaked the acoustics that it bounces off the landscape creating a not so perfect delivery. Then again, the source for the blu-ray would have been direct feed from the microphones or sound systems so I don't really have a proper explanation. It's just after being spoiled with hearing his many versions of the songs here with many other great artistes that I find a lot of the versions here are not his epic best. Its still great to listen to and those that are not familiar with Andrea's voice will be blown away hearing him for the first time. I for one knows theres a lot more to come from Andrea so I will await the next blu-ray concert to see if its up to expectations.

The best recorded Blu Ray concert I have ever seen. This disc will amaze in visuals and sound if you have a large full HD screen and decent audio setup. Great mix of artists and songs to please everyone from your Grandma to your young niece!
I have watched the concert about 10 times and show it to all my friends who visit. A definite crowd pleaser. You won't regret this one.