By Michael Barbieri****After Ilaria Della Bidia’s stunning U.S. solo debut show, The Music of My Heart, I approached her and said, in Italian, “Che bella voce!” In other words, “What a beautiful voice!” Radiating warmth, love, beauty and above all, undeniable talent as a singer and instrumentalist, this young woman is poised to become a big name in adult contemporary music!
Born in Tuscany, Della Bidia studied piano in Lucca, Italy. She also studied and perfected her vocal technique with Antonella De Grassi in Rome. She sings in Spanish, Russian, French, Arabic, Portuguese, Italian and English, she’s appeared extensively on Italian television and she composed and recorded the soundtrack to the blockbuster Italian film Darc. Most notably, since 2011, she’s toured the world singing with famed tenor, Andrea Bocelli. In her show at The Cutting Room, she demonstrated why she’s Bocelli’s singing partner of choice!
Her opening number, “Canto Della Terra” (F. Sartori, L. Quarantotto) began, unfortunately, with a minor technical glitch. As she started singing, it was clear that her microphone was either not switched on or malfunctioning. But like a true professional, Della Bidia simply kept singing until a techie came up and swapped out her mic for one that worked. And to her credit, she was never fazed! As for her performance, well, she impressed with her glorious, crystal clear soprano and her winning radiant smile which lit up the room from the start!
As she continued, her rendition of “Anema e Core” (Salve d’Esposito) had a lovely, romantic feel and showed Della Bidia’s ease with a bossa beat, while her vocals on “Per Amore” (Mariella Nava, English lyric by I. Della Bidia) and “It’s the Heart” (D. Schmidt), brought to mind the phrasing of some of Celine Dion’s pop hits.
We saw the singer’s lighter side, with her medley of “Quizas, Quizas, Quizas” (O. Farrés), “Mambo Italiano (B. Merrill) and “Cuando, Cuando, Cuando” (T. Renis, A. Testa). Here, her performance was cute and playful, with a bit of sultriness thrown in for good measure! Flirting and toying with the audience, she shimmied, smiled that smile and clearly had fun. Another wonderful mashup was her pairing of “Non Dimenticar” (P.G. Redi, M. Galdieri) and “Volare” (D. Modugno, F. Migliacci). With “Non Dimenticar,” she took a classic Italian-American pop song, recorded by such artists as Jerry Vale, Vic Damone, Peggy Lee, Nat King Cole and Dean Martin, yet made it completely her own. “Volare,” however, to my mind, has always had an air of cheesiness about it, and she played right into that, asking the crowd to sing along and clap in time.
Della Bidia showed her versatility, range and power with an original song entitled “Con Te,” which demonstrated her impressive mezzo belt and had a remarkable heartfelt purity. And with her rendition of Ennio Morricone’s “En Piu Ti Penso,” from the film Once Upon a Time in America, she began quietly, but soon dazzled the audience with soaring vocals and a gorgeous modulation which led to a final high note that was simply staggering! She also gave us a very sweet moment with her version of “Over the Rainbow” (H. Arlen, Y. Harburg), sung not only in English, but also with self-penned Italian lyrics.
An accomplished pianist, she took to the piano and played a spirited arrangement of Mozart’s “Turkish March.” Sparring with her pianist, Attilio Di Giovanni, who also did all of Della Bidia’s arrangements, she would let him take a few bars, then push him away and take over herself. When she played solo, she had a wonderful, almost manic energy and was all smiles, clearly enjoying the moment. If some of her vocal phrasing made her seem like the Italian Celine Dion, her virtuosity and hair flipping at the piano suggested an Italian Lady Gaga – and I mean that in the best way. She wasn’t derivative; merely evocative.
Now, while her singing and musicianship were undeniably excellent, I should mention my biggest gripe about Della Bidia’s show: but for her pianist/arranger, she sang almost entirely to pre-recorded tracks. In a live music venue, tracks feel to me like a cheat. I feel the audience expects live musicians, if only a pianist or perhaps a trio of piano, bass and drums. And though these were very well produced tracks, they were played at a volume that overpowered her pianist, rendering him a bit useless. Making a bad situation worse, the tracks also overpowered Della Bidia’s vocals on occasion, which is completely unacceptable. I don’t know if she worked with a director, but a good director would’ve brought this problem to the attention of the tech crew in order to better balance the sound levels. Since this was a late booking, Ilaria told me that there was not enough time to assemble musicians on a few days notice, but assured me that for her return in the fall, she will have a full band. Another qualm: the show was overlong and there were at least 5 songs that could’ve been cut.
Still, The Music of My Heart was an impressive debut. Della Bidia definitely won the crowd, despite the fact that many of them talked incessantly through the show. But as she wrapped up with her best known numbers, “The Prayer” (Carol Bayer Sager, D. Foster, T. Renis, A. Testa) and “Con Te Partiro” (F. Sartori, L. Quarantotto), her mellifluous mezzo, her ethereal, rapturous high notes and that megawatt smile brought the crowd to its feet!
Ilaria Della Bidia…Che bella voce, indeed!
Leave a Reply