Andrea Bocelli at the Stadium
The programme for Andrea Bocelli's performance at the Wroclaw Stadium has not been revealed as yet (tickets range from 40 to 60 PLN), but his listeners can safely look forward to a selection of the greatest hits from the celebrated and popular opera repertoire, which the Italian tenor and a native of Lajatico, Tuscany, is best known for. Bocelli's records contain both lightweight and more serious repertoire (i.e. whole operas). They have sold over 70 million copies, which is why the singer is now one of the most bankable names in the history of music. His whole career is a readymade script and can move many a viewer. It simply cannot be otherwise if you picture a twelve-year old boy with a sight defect (diagnosed as glaucoma) who turns completely blind during a football game (the ball hit his eye, which led to intracerebral haemorrhage and loss of vision). But the Italian artist admits that it is not the accident that drew him to music, since he learnt to admire it much earlier in his life (he can play the flute, trumpet and guitar). He fell in love with opera music when he was an eight-month-old baby toddler, and a year before the accident he won his first vocal contest with a dazzling performance of ‘O Sole Mio. Apart from opera, he has won his popularity by collaborating with pop stars, especially Sarah Brightman, with whom he performed his greatest hit "Time to Say Goodbye" by Andrew Lloyd Webber, and Celine Dion. He has also earned praise from Luciano Pavarotti. Andrea Bocelli is now a household name, and fans are always there to flock to his shows.
Twenty-six bridges in one day
The performance by the Italian opera singer will hardly be the only attraction of the weekend, since on Saturday 20 June twenty-six Wroclaw bridges and footbridges are expected to host a number of creative initiatives, performance art shows and spectacles (read more). The "Bridges" programme is supervised by Chris Baldwin, ECC 2016 Performance Art Curator. What can you expect as a viewer? First of all, intriguing stories about the city (one of the participants, a thirteen-year-old boy, is preparing a special project to present on the Witches' Bridge, which connects the two towers of Saint Mary Magdalene's Church) and everything that is vital to its residents. The organisers promise that the shows on the twenty-six bridges and footbridges will not bring traffic to a halt, which is certainly a sigh of relief to the drivers.
The participants in the third edition of the PKO Wroclaw Night Half-Marathon (20 June) will also have a chance to join the events (some of them will continue late into the night).
