ENTERTAINMENT Editor Gordon Barr catches up with Il Divo’s Swiss tenor Urs Buhler ahead of the group’s long-awaited gig at the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle.
FOUR years ago almost to the day, Urs Buhler, one fourth of Il Divo, was in the North East at a show with just 120 in the audience. When he arrives here next week with the group, you can multiply that audience figure by 100.
For back in 2008, Urs was actually at the premiere of Pub Quiz at the Queen’s Hall in Hexham.
The Swiss hunk had taken his seat unannounced to watch the world premiere of the dark comedy set in the North East, and was soon laughing at the lines and enjoying his first taste of anything resembling a pub quiz.
The play was written by Carina Rodney, of North Shields, whose sister Tania was Il Divo’s hair and make-up artist ... and also the partner of the tenor.
Since then the pair have had a baby girl, Billie, and she has changed their lives.
“I remember Pub Quiz very well,” Urs tells me ahead of Il Divo’s gig at the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle on Monday next week.
“How life has changed since then. Obviously Tania cannot travel with us like she used to. When Billie was a little baby it was do-able but now it is too complicated. We arrange it now and then. When in the UK it is easier.
“But when you are traveling into Asia, for example, every day you fly to a different country and it’s a four-five-hour flight. It is not enjoyable or good for a child.
“It’s hard being away from them and this world tour is the first time I have experienced that. Tania has always been with us in the past. But I’m not touring forever.”
That world tour has already taken them to Australia and the Far East, it’s now the European leg and after that they head for the USA, Middle East and South America.
“There’s a lot of travelling but it is great to be doing it,” admits Urs, 40.
“The highlight of the day is not the airport lounge, it’s the show. The rest of it is exciting but it’s not always as enjoyable as you would wish.
“The great thing is it’s our fourth world tour and we now know most of the places and remember the hotels we are coming to and we have people who remember us, drivers and people like that.
“That gives it a completely different atmosphere than when you go out on a world tour like that for the first time and everything is new and fresh. We finished our last tour Christmas 2009 and in January 2010 we started discussing the repertoire for the next album.
“It somehow has taken a very long time to put it together because we did not want to go on repeating ourselves and take a few well- known covers and record them again with the same producers.”
That new album is Wicked Game, and marked something of a turning point for Il Divo. “We tried on quite a few songs a completely different approach, some are based on classical instrumental pieces that songwriters have written lyrics to.
“It gives a very interesting hybrid. It gives you a new song as such based on existing music. It just makes it a bit more interesting for us than just, say, taking a Mariah Carey cover and doing that.”
Also new for this tour is a 40-piece orchestra.
“That is great and it gives us a completely different feeling in performing too, in recreating these big cinematic sounds in an arena,” says Urs.
“We love it. We were worried a little bit if it was a bit too dramatic for some of our audience who might prefer it a bit lighter, but we do enjoy it.
“It brings the three of us who are opera singers back to those days when we used to work only acoustically in opera houses with full orchestras. It’s a great feeling.
“It is nice making music, but it is much nicer making music together with other people.
“We now have 45 people on stage making music on stage together, which is fantastic.
“You create an energy. You get in the same kind of bubble together and you live and breathe these moments together. A wonderful experience.”
There have been many Il Divo imitators, but none have yet to match their success.
“I think it might have to do with the fact that we were the first,” says Urs modestly.
“I think it also has to do with the fact we are multi-national and very different personalities and we have very different voices from each other. A lot of people see that as a handicap but we see it as an absolute bonus as it makes the end product so much richer and diverse.”
Il Divo are at the Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle, on Monday.
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