Romanza

I have all of Bocelli's CD's, but if I could have only one, it would be ROMANZA! I ordered this up for a friend who recently just discovered Bocelli. This has got to be the most romantic collection ever made! My friend? She tells me she has this CD playing, volume full blast in her car on trips - over and over again!

Like many Americans, I was first introduced to the magic of Andrea Bocelli through television. I often find myself still reaching for "Romanza" as a way to relax and take a journey through a musical masterpiece. Though it was recorded over a decade ago, the album has, for the most part, withstood the test of time.

To get the reason for the four-star rating out of the way: several songs on the album do date themselves to the mid-90s. I was never a big fan of the saxophone-driven jazz accompanied by synthesizers that was popular ten years ago, and it is for this reason that I don't give the album five stars. For those who love this style of music, songs like 'E Chiove' and 'Le Tue Parole' will sound fanstastic. And, while 'Caruso' has become a classic in some circles, the song simply isn't my cup of tea.

The rest of the album is, however, timeless. 'Vivo Per Lei' is a stirring duet about the power of music, while 'Il Mare Calmo Della Sera' captures the beauty of the Mediterranean. 'Vivere', since recorded as a dual-language song, is still stirring despite being entirely in Italian. And 'Miserere', the song that launched Bocelli's career, highlights the power of his voice when sung live. (Note: though some reviewers have complained about Zucchero's voice, the version on this album was recorded with John Miles, not the Italian star.)

Then there is 'Con te Partiro', the song that made Andrea Bocelli a household name and, like 'Nessun Dorma' was for Luciano Pavarotti, has become "his" song. While the second version on the album, a duet with Sarah Brightman titled 'Time to Say Goodbye' is stirring, it is the original which captures the power of Bocelli's voice. It is this song that I first heard on television over a decade ago, this song that led me to the voice that has captured the world, this song that still resonates so strongly over ten years later. If you listen to no other Italian-language song in your lifetime, you must listen to this one. It is powerful, emotional, and so beautiful it hurts.

It's easy to love one song by an artist, and while it was 'Con te Partiro' that led me to Andrea Bocelli, it was "Romanza" that made me fall in love with his voice. Celine Dion once said that, "If God had a singing voice, He would sound a lot like Andrea Bocelli." This album is proof of that statement.

As a new listener of his music, I wanted one album that would be representative of Bocelli's distinctively romantic voice and that included my personal fave: "Vivo Per Lei." This album is perfect.

The music is almost to level of chanting for meditation and provides enormous psychological comfort.

This is a used CD, which was definitely stated. However, there is static on it that sounds like loud cracking noises when it is being played. There were also some cracks in the case. But for the price, not a bad purchase.