Bocelli to perform free in Central Park

Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli is to perform a free concert with the New York Philharmonic on Central Park's Great Lawn in Manhattan, organizers said Tuesday. The Sept. 15 show is to be conducted by Alan Gilbert. It is to be recorded in high definition by Thirteen for WNET for national PBS broadcast on "Great Performances" in late fall. "Andrea Bocelli Live in Central Park" will also be released on CD and DVD by Sugar/Decca this November. Free ticket distribution for the free concert is set to begin at 9 a.m. Thursday at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Paradise Theatre in the Bronx, Best Buy Theater in Manhattan, Queens Theatre in the Park and St. George Theatre in Staten Island. "The Great Lawn in Central Park is one of the most remarkable and beautiful outdoor venues in the world and it is a great pleasure to welcome Andrea Bocelli back to New York to perform there. This free concert will be a memorable cultural moment for the thousands of New Yorkers and visitors that will watch the event live in the park, and many, many more through the broadcast by WNET," New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said in a statement. "I cannot help but smile when thinking about the upcoming concert in Central Park," Bocelli added. "It was my father's dream, and my father was right, because my artistic path would have been entirely different without the strong and sincere embrace of this extraordinary city where everything is possible, even when it seems impossible. My father will not be there, but I can count on his blessing and his kind and gentle smile to give me courage. My mother, sitting in the front row, will feel my father too, and they will be together again just like when I was a little boy performing on the fireplace steps. Perhaps they had secretly dreamed that I might have the opportunity to perform in New York City, and maybe right here in Central Park."