The Ten Tenors - Heinz Hall Review

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The Ten Tenors 01/01/08

The Ten Tenors started out slow during Thursday's concert at Heinz Hall, but ended with a crescendo.

The 10 Austrialians, who were dressed identically in black suits and white shirts, sang in unison during the first two numbers -- "Here's to the Heroes" from "Dances with Wolves" and "Buongiorno Principessa (Good Morning Princess)" from "Life Is Beautiful." These songs were interesting, but a little stiff, with the men standing at attention throughout.
It was on the third number, "Largo al factotum" from Gioacchino Rossini's "The Barber of Seville," that their individual talents and personalities were on display. Each performer took a turn singing parts of the playful tune. Each has an impressive voice and a unique style, which the audience responded to.

The rest of the show was quite lively. While the opera pieces were beautiful, the most entertaining numbers were a Bee Gees medley, with three of the performers handling the Barry Gibb falsetto role, and an amazingly operatic rendition of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody." The group moved from disco moves to solid rock and back to classic opera without missing a beat.

The performers interspersed the songs with a little humor and a little opera education ("If it sounds like the 'Lord of the Rings,' but longer, it's a German opera").

They closed out the evening with a emotional version of "Nessun Dorma" from Giacomo Puccini's "Turandot" -- made famous most recently by YouTube favorite Paul Potts, last year's winner of "Britain's Got Talent."

For opera purists, this may not be their cup of tea. But for the opera illiterate, like myself, this was a thoroughly entertaining evening that gave me a taste of opera along with new takes on some old favorite pop tunes.

Source: Pittsburgh Tribune