Andrea Bocelli at Teatro Regio di Parma Online

Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli takes to the stage for a one-off livestream event from the Teatro Regio di Parma. It’s a strange affair, combining period costume, modern dance and popular music into an incohesive production that rather leaves you wishing they had delivered a more conventional concert. The creative direction by Franco Dragone (best known for his work with Cirque du Soleil) does more to distract from Bocelli’s warm vocal performance than enhance it, the contorting dancers and production choices at times feeling downright creepy.

Bocelli’s eight year-old daughter Virginia helps guide the blind singer between numbers in transitions that have not been scored, creating an eerie silence that recalls the films of Dario Argento or David Lynch. She is then left standing awkwardly waiting for the songs to end, until she joins her father for a rendition of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah that makes you miss the aforementioned awkward silence. Taken from Bocelli’s new album Believe, the song selection is largely uninspired (You’ll Never Walk Alone, Amazing Grace) but displays his talents on the piano and guitar.

The hour-long concert (with ten minutes of adverts) is most disappointing during the Christmas songs and a particularly mawkish moment where Virginia pens a letter to “the baby Jesus,” while the highlight is a violin recital when the music, dancing and dry ice do seem to be of a piece. For the most part however, the limited stage dressing means the multi-camera setup has nothing to film except for candles and some chandeliers, producing a static, one-note event that’s more advert than advent.