Who said classical music is boring? Simon Cowell’s male quartet, Il Divo, continues to awe fans around the world.
Five years ago, American tenor David Miller was enjoying a promising career was an opera singer, including a role in Baz Luhrmann’s Broadway production of La Boheme. Then Cowell tapped him as the fourth member of his new classical quartet Il Divo.
“I had no idea what I was getting into,” Miller tells Metro. “But I had performed 90 per cent of the operatic roles that were appropriate for my age, and opera singing was becoming too easy.”
Cowell’s concept called for four handsome men singing crossover classical music.
Cowell’s calculation paid off: Il Divo (the other members are Carlos Marín, Urs Bühler and Sébastien Izambard) has become a pop sensation. Their first album, Il Divo, sold five million copies in less than a year.
“For people who aren’t familiar with classical singing, it can seem quite scary,” explains Miller.
“We make it less scary. Our songs always start softly, then build up and get louder and louder. At the end, people are listening to loud operatic singing without realizing it.
“They often come up to us afterwards and say ‘I never knew opera could be this much fun!’”
New to classical music? David Miller recommends listening to Gustav Holt’s The Planets. And, of course, Carmen and La Boheme.
Not surprisingly, women go wild at Il Divo’s concerts. But lately, the four handsome men in Armani suits have been bringing their own woman, violinist Anne Akiko Meyers.
“I’m thrilled that they asked me,” Akiko Meyers tells Metro.
“I play pieces like Winter from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and several songs with the guys. It’s an easy collaboration.
“We’re all passionate about music, and audiences appreciate that.”
After finishing their current tour, the quartet will take a break before returning to the recording studio in March.
“We want to reinvent Il Divo,” says Miller.
“After five albums and done three world tours, we’ve become a bit predictable. We want to be unpredictable again.”
