THIRTEEN's GREAT PERFORMANCES to Feature Andrea Bocelli this March on PBS

Related: THIRTEEN, ANDREA BOCELLI, PBS

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Andrea Bocelli, the international superstar tenor returns to Great Performances once again to delight fans with Andrea Bocelli: Love in Portofino, a new concert special in which he puts classical music aside for an evening of international favorites inspired by the breathtaking coastal setting of Portofino, Italy.

The Italian fishing village and upmarket resort is noted for its picturesque harbor and frequent celebrity visitors, as demonstrated by a kaleidoscopic photo montage featuring screen legends Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Eddie Fisher, Elizabeth Taylor, and current personalities ranging from Denzel Washington to Ellen Degeneres.

With 16-time Grammy-winner David Foster as both music director and keyboard accompanist, Bocelli is also joined by trumpeter Chris Botti. Under the stars, beside the shimmering harbor waters, and with a rapt audience including Paul Anka, Sir Michael Caine, and Italian actress Ornella Muti, Bocelli performs some of the world's most famous love songs, including "Senza Fine," "Quizs, Quizs, Quizs," "Bsame Mucho," "Champagne," "Love Me Tender," and in duet with the late, legendary Edith Piaf, "La Vie en Rose," while his real-life love Veronica Berti looks on adoringly. Bocelli sings in six languages (Italian, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Neapolitan). The sensual sound is rounded out by Cuban, Brazilian, and Portuguese rhythms.

Andrea Bocelli: Love in Portofino airs on Great Performances in March on PBS. (Check local listings.) (In New York, THIRTEEN will premiere the special Sunday, March 3 at 9 p.m.)

Andrea Bocelli: Love in Portofino is, in essence, a sequel to his earlier Great Performances special, Amore. As with that concert, which featured timeless masterworks, the latest includes several beloved classics such as "Love Me Tender," "Il Nostro Incontro" (the theme from Cinema Paradiso), "Sara Settembre," (better known to English-speaking audiences as Neil Diamond's "September Morn," and translated into Italian by Bocelli himself), and "La mia via" ("My Way"), with the composer sitting harborside.

Since Great Performances introduced American television audiences to Bocelli with 1997's Romanza concert, Bocelli has been featured in a notable series of Great Performances specials,including Sacred Arias, Amore, Vivere, My Christmas and American Dream, his spectacular "Statue of Liberty" concert from New Jersey's Liberty State Park. Andrea Bocelli Live in Central Park aired in December 2011. He was accompanied by the New York Philharmonic, under the direction of music director Alan Gilbert, the spectacular event being Bocelli's special gift to New York City.

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