Tuesday » January 15 » 2008
‘Always a very physical thing’
Il Divo builds international fan base with good vibrations and snappy suits
Grania Litwin
Times Colonist
Sunday, April 22, 2007
REVIEW
Who: Il Divo
Where: Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre
When: 7:30 p.m., Tuesday
Tickets: $99.50 plus service charges, www.selectyourtickets.com or 220-7777
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They have sold more than 20 million albums, toured with Barbra Streisand and conquered audiences around the world, and they perform their first concert in Victoria on Tuesday.
But Swiss-born Urs Buhler, a member of the demi-god quartet called Il Divo, says that while the last three years have been a magic-carpet ride of fame, fortune and les femmes, it’s still all about the singing for him. "When you’re a tenor and you stand on stage and really have to work hard to get those high, hard notes out, that is an effort that generates an energy that springs over to the public and you get a high appreciation back," says the 35-year-old classically trained singer, who speaks English, German, French and Dutch.
"I can make the experiment when on stage. I can sing the same part as if it cost me nothing, or sing with my whole body, face, person in it — that’s when the audience will go wild.
"Singing is always a very physical thing. We four all enjoy singing because something jumps over to the public. It makes you feel good. Sound is vibrations, and an audience captures the vibrations. I read once in the biography of a classical singer all about the high C of the tenor, that it generates something special.
And so he sings that note as often as he can? "Yes, of course," he says with a hearty laugh.
Buhler notes in a phone interview from Chile that the group’s essence has always been music — not impeccable Armani suits, Versace shirts or their GQ looks. "And people are not talking about our clothes so much anymore, that’s fading away. Although it depends what countries we are in which questions we get. Here in Chile people come and ask how we got together. We started telling that story three years ago . . . but we are always happy to respond to the people.
"To be frank, my biggest thrill is just the singing high and low. I do not like being mobbed at all. Of course it is lovely attention from the fans. Incredible to arrive somewhere at one in the morning and see people waiting with presents, or photo books they have made . . . . I appreciate that, but after the shows we are exhausted."
There is a big difference between singing Toni Braxton songs and the St. Matthew Passion, which is at another level altogether. He prefers singing Bach or Mozart because it satisfies something deeper from an artistic point of view, but he is also enjoying the current gigs.
"Il Divo is taking me around the world and giving me a good piece of pocket money, but I won’t do it to the end of my life. Another five years maybe, or 10 years perhaps if the public is still going with us. We did 120 shows last year and we have 70 planned for this year till July, when we will do some recording. My key remedy for everything is sleep. I also swallow a lot of extra vitamins. I drink room-temperature water, sometimes chamomile tea with honey and lemon.
"Touch wood we are all OK," he says of himself, and the other members of the quartet: Spaniard Carlos Marin, 38, Frenchman Sebastien Izambard and American David Miller, the youngsters at 33.
Buhler describes growing up in a small village near Lucerne where his musical training started at five, singing in a choir and learning to play violin, clarinet, piano, guitar and drums. His career was launched at 15 when he joined a cover band, then he became lead singer of a heavy metal band at 17. After studying voice in Amsterdam, he sang in the Dutch opera choir, performed with the Salzburg Festival and spent seven years with the Netherlands Opera Gezelschap.
"I am home not much. Hardly ever. Haven’t lived in Switzerland for 10 years and now live in London," he said. His greatest musical influences growing up were Italian Luciano Pavarotti and the great German tenor Fritz Wunderlich.
In his spare time he listens to heavy metal music, plays the electric guitar and restores motorcycles, but he is most proud of the quartet’s records.
"They are something I can really stand behind because I think they are good quality music. It’s all about the music."
© Times Colonist (Victoria) 2007
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