By Noe Gutierrez
IL DIVO’s ‘Amor & Pasion’ tour has taken them through Boston, New York, Nashville, Houston, Portland, Phoenix and Las Vegas. Coachella Valley Weekly spoke with operatic tenor and former heavy metal front man Urs Buhler as he and the band finished up their Canadian leg of the tour. They make their final stop at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino Special Events Center in Indio, California on Saturday 11/19/16 at 8 p.m. Tickets are available at tickets.com or at the Fantasy Springs box office.
WHO IS IL DIVO?
IL DIVO is the multi-national classical ‘popera’ crossover vocal group that originated in the United Kingdom in December 2003. The band, tenor Urs Bühler (Switzerland), baritone Carlos Marín (Spain), tenor David Miller (USA) and pop vocalist Sébastien Izambard (France) has sold over 30 million albums worldwide, achieved over 50 number one records, received 160 gold and platinum sales awards in over 33 countries and orchestrated four groundbreaking world tours. Buhler: “We are three classically trained opera singers and one pop singer. We take popular songs that may be classic, standard or pop songs. We don’t necessarily perform straight classical music. Anything you can think of that has been a hit over the last 70 years and we take it and rearrange it for our four voices and sing it together as a four piece which gives it a unique sound. We’ve become well-known for it since 2004 when we first released our album. For this album we looked for all the greatest standards and classics in the Latin American repertoire like “Besame Mucho” for example, which is one of the most recorded songs ever and Gloria Estefan’s “Don’t Want to Lose You Now” (Si Voy a Perderte).” IL DIVO has amassed the attention of both classical and pop music fans in the United States.
THE U.S.
“I love the states. Living in the states is very different than living in Europe. Even though it’s some of the same culture, the day to day living is different. I do have a home in Sherman Oaks, California. I’m going to spend a lot of time there next year. We’ll likely perform another month here in the states next year.” Buhler now travels in tandem with his significant other and enjoys experiencing his second home. “I got married this year and this is the first time my wife is with me on tour. To me living in the states on a practical level is very convenient, especially in the big cities. You can get what you need at anytime 24 hours a day. That’s different from Europe. The service industry is absolutely great in the states. People are friendly and helpful. I don’t think I could ever say goodbye to Europe because I am European at heart. The U.S. is a great place to live and I hope it stays that way.”
SOLO
IL DIVO are multi-instrumentalists and have a constant desire to extend outside their vocal abilities. “Sébastien at the moment is recording a solo album, Carlos has released a DVD of his solo show, and David is working on stuff. I’ve got stuff in the back of my head as well especially for next year, I just need more time. I think our show has encouraged each of us to let our personal creative juices flow a bit. It gives us 100% space in which to express ourselves.”
AMOR Y PASION
“We’ve added a lot of elements that we’ve never used before. We play instruments on the stage. We each perform a solo number. That’s something fans have been requesting years on end and this is the first time we actually do that. We give the audience a chance to hear each voice individually for a whole aria which allows them to appreciate us in a very different way. It gives us the opportunity to show off our individual talent much more than as a foursome. It’s magical and amazing when we sing together and we love that. Singing solos gives us the possibility to express ourselves. Another exciting element and for the very first time we have dancers with us on stage. We actually dance as well. The whole Amor & Pasion album and tour is based on the Latin catalog. A lot of the songs are associated with dances like salsas, rumbas and boleros. The musical breaks where we don’t sing we dance a few steps. It’s not like we’re going to do the boy band thing of course. It’s a very colorful and entertaining show.”
FINALE
“IL DIVO is love and passion through these Latin songs. IL DIVO has always been about love and passion; heartbreak, hardships and relationships. Even a song like “My Way” (A Mi Manera), I guess “My Way” is about passion too; a passion for life. In the end it’s the expression of love and passion. That’s what this album and show is all about.” Indio is the last show of the ‘Amor & Pasion’ tour then IL DIVO head back to Europe to spend Christmas with friends and family. Next year there are plans to include only marginal touring so purchase your tickets and take in the love and passion with your true love.
facebook.com/ildivo or on Twitter @IlDivoOfficial
