Andrea Bocelli and Teatro del Silenzio

I am a huge Andrea Bocelli fan. I love his popopera stuff as well as the classical opera. I have read his memoir The Music of Silence, and have seen him in concert at the Lincoln Center in New York City. My dream within a dream was to see him sing in his native land, Italy. Well, not only did that happen, but I saw him in the town where he was born!

Some people have accused me of living a "charmed life." Well, I will be the first to admit that wonderful things happen to me that seem to be unexplainable and miraculous. I don’t know the reason or cause, but I am thankful and aware that it is not normal and of how lucky I am in these moments to be attracting this "positive energy" as some have called it.

I stalk Andrea Bocelli’s web site regularly looking for concerts because he does them worldwide, and they are not widely advertised in my opinion. I guess from the crowds that arrive, they don’t need to be. When Kelly and my Mother visited, Kelly heard Bocelli’s name on the radio, and I didn’t think that was too unusual, but decided to check the website to see if any concert announcements had been made, and located the one in Lajitico at Teatro Del Silenzio. I purchased the ticket right away. The prices for the tickets were 60, 115, 160 and 210. Being on a budget, I opted for the 115 euro ticket, knowing that I would still have to pay for transportation, overnight accommodations, etc. It would be an expensive outing for me, but worth it.

I have written about my search for transportation and accommodations, and how beautifully that worked out. (See Il Mulinaccio) I was in 7th heaven when I left school on Thursday for the train station, and seeing Il Mulnaccio and the countryside only made my euphoria grow by the minute.

By the time the concert rolled around, I could feel an "anesthesia" settling over me. It was almost like I had been drugged and was hallucinating, and that continued all night. (And in a good way!) We traveled to the theater, and the traffic was bad and parking impossible. Our van let us off at the designated spot, but we had to walk about ½ mile to the concert site. I had to pick up my ticket, which I had purchased on line, at the Will Call window.

I went to the window and waited in line. Lines in Italy are interesting. They have no form, and everyone just crowds around, although they are attentive of the order that people arrived. It makes Americans very nervous and inevitably some American will act pushy and say "I was here first."

When I got to the front of the line I handed the woman my receipt for the ticket and she began looking for it. I could see her searching in box after box, and then going back again. Clearly, it was not there. She pulled out a paper list, and seemed to locate my name, or reservation on the list and then went back to the boxes. No luck. I stood there trying not to panic. She took my receipt to another lady, who came to me and asked if it was correct that it was for one ticket. I said that it was and she asked if I was sitting with friends, or was it okay to change the location of the ticket. I said that I was alone, and the location was not important.

The woman returned to me with a ticket, and I breathed a sigh of relief. She said that she did not know why mine was not sent, but that she had "upgraded" me and that she thought I would be happy. I was already so happy just to have a ticket, I didn’t think it was possible to be happier, but it was! I made my way inside the theater (which is all open air) and located my seat, after much searching, on the front row, center stage!

I could not believe it! I held my ticket in my hand and looked and compared the section, aisle, and seat number over and over and over and over and over, not believing it could be true. I was 15 feet from center stage! The concert was scheduled to begin at 8:15 and it was 8:00 now. However, nothing in Italy starts at the designated time, and this was no exception. Since I had some time, I walked around and took some photos of the scenery around the theater. The theater is located on the top of a hill with the Tuscan countryside all around. As I said it is in the middle of nowhere, and it seems like heaven. I came back to my seat and a man inquired if I was in the right seat, his ticket in hand. I showed him my ticket and he said that I was right. I was sure my dream was coming to an end at that point, but it didn’t.

The concert started, at nine, and I was in my front row seat. Honestly from that point on, I didn’t know there was anyone else there! Andrea looked so handsome dressed in all black when he came onto the stage. He had many guests with him that evening: David Foster, Kenny G. Heather Headly, Chris Botti, and Sarah Brightman! He sang all of his most famous songs and he and Sarah Brightman ended with Time to Say Goodbye. There was one 15 minute intermission, and Andrea returned dressed in white this time. They filmed the concert, and I believe they are making a DVD from it.

I had my usual fit of tears rolling down my face during much of the concert and as I write this, still feel that I must have been drugged and hallucinating about the entire experience. It was surreal, and hypnotic, and erotic, and heavenly.

It just goes to show that if you have dreams, and you dream big, things can happen that are even bigger and better than you dared to dream!