Il Divo performing their A Musical Affair tour at the Capital FM Arena Nottingham on Friday 24th October 2014.


Images and review Kevin Cooper

Il Divo, the multinational operatic pop vocal group created by Simon Cowell a decade ago, brought their A Musical Affair world tour, with guest Lea Salonga to Nottingham’s Arena last night, and their fans were swept away for two hours by exquisitely, audaciously and at times very emotional Broadway and musical theatre classics and a few lesser known works.

Individually, David Miller, Urs Buhler, Sebastian Izambard and Carlos Marin are amazing, but when put together they were perfect. The combination of their vocals and the orchestra was one not to be missed. On its own, the orchestra was absolutely beautiful; their opening and post-intermission performances were out of this world.

But the real stars of the show were Il Divo, who emerged on stage from the fog to Tonight from West Side Story and Some Enchanted Evening from South Pacific. “Do we have any musical fans here tonight?” Miller asked to cheers. “Oh, now we have to be good”. And they were. Whether it was the iconic songs like Over The Rainbow or The Impossible Dream, to the lesser known songs, If Ever I Would Leave You and Who Can I Turn to, the concert was big, bold and exactly what one would expect from this group.

Lea Salonga, best known for her Broadway performance in Les Miserables and as the singing voice in Disney’s Aladdin as Mulan, was the most brilliant addition to this tour. She was gracious, funny and sang with unbelievable emotion. Her rendition of Defying Gravity really warmed the audience up and we were all won over somewhere between Can You Feel The Night and her mashup of I Dream A Dream and On My Own. She burst into the chorus of Can You Feel The Love Tonight from Disney’s Lion King, like a breath of fresh air providing tonal counterpoint to the men’s lower registers. Later a unique take on Music Of The Night, a Andrew Lloyd Webber composition, found her voice dancing around the men’s in intricate rhythms and harmonies. She is clearly a star in the making.

Opening the second half with The Winner Takes It All and such big numbers like Love Changes Everything and You’ll Never Walk Alone, this audience were up on their feet in appreciation as the arena was filled with their powerful and passionate vocals and musical theatrically. To say that they really can sing just might be the biggest understatement made so far this year. There wasn’t a false note in the entire performance.

All on stage to close with Con Te Partiro (Time To say Goodbye), there was no doubt that this was a musical affair to remember.

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