Artículo original en español aquí - Il Divo: magia de la ópera pop
Since their formation in 2004, the group Il Divo has caused a sensation. Not only for their unique style and harmonious voices of their four male parts, but also because their charismatic vocalists are representatives of different cultures and languages.
“The magic came from the beginning”, Sébastien Izambard said by telephone to Holala!, a native of France and member of the group framed within the genre of pop opera. “And I think it was the combination of many elements, including our voices and our way which pleased the people.”
The rest of the group formed nearly nine years ago by music producer Simon Cowell for Sony BMG, and consists of the tenor and composer Urs Buhler, Spanish baritone Carlos and American tenor David Miller.
As part of their world tour 2012, Canada, USA and Europe, Il Divo is presented tomorrow at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, located in the busy downtown LA Live.
According to Izambard, the group perform a show at the Nokia, titled Il Divo & Orchestra, mostly highlighting the songs included in “our latest album Wicked Game “, which includes for example the classic theme Don’t Cry For Me Argentina.
“It will be interesting repertoire, because the audience can hear our new songs and classical in a harmonious coupling of our voices with musical instruments,” said the fellow guitarist and pianist.
Izambard said that Simon Cowell came up with the idea of forming a group similar to the Three Tenors [Luciano Pavarotti, Jose Carreras and Placido Domingo], but “in the pop opera that is much more accessible to the masses.”
“After a long selection of singers in music lyrics, I was lucky enough to join the group to put the pop side,” said Izambard, who without a classical vocal training, has a bell-like tenor voice. His voice has been classified as vox populi.
Since the launch of their first album Il Divo (2004) to their latest Wicked Game (2011), the covers played by the quartet have been placed on the top of the lists of the most heard and requested on the radio markets from different countries.
Il Divo has also won numerous platinum (double and triple) and gold for his album sales. It also has to his credit the 2011 award for Best British Artist of the Decade and, to date, with a six albums, has sold worldwide over 26 million copies of albums.
Remarkably, the grand opening of Il Divo worldwide occurred in 2006 when they were selected along with Toni Braxton to interpret the theme of the World Cup in Germany, The Time of Our Lives, which was included in the disk ‘Voices’ along with other songs performed by singers such as Michael Jackson, George Michael, Annie Lennox, Barbra Streisand, Elton John, Rod Stewart, Whitney Houston, Elvis Presley and Mariah Carey, among others.
“We are very happy with what we’ve done so far, and hopefully our music will open the doors to young singers who know nothing of the pop opera,” he said Izambard, who is also known as the French Divo .
When asked if them unique singing operético, could Il Divo indirectly create a revolution within the genre of pure opera, Izambard gave a loud laugh and said, “Absolutely! Is something I hope … it would be somewhat surprising, fabulous. “
Thanks Caroline, I enjoy reading your articles about the ‘guys’. I love their singing too. Hope you are well.
Pat K