Simon Cowell's Il Divo rejuvenated and ready to go

 

Popera act back on tour

 
 
 
 
Popera quartet Il Divo are rejuvenated and hitting the road.
 

Popera quartet Il Divo are rejuvenated and hitting the road.

Photograph by: Courtesy, Sony

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Carlos Marin began recording at the tender age of eight, and his musical hero was Italian tenor Mario Lanza, so when he was approached to audition for a new popera foursome called Il Divo, Marin was underwhelmed.

"I was singing opera in Dublin and my manager told me to go audition at the same place I'd sung the night before. I thought it was a private audition, and had no idea it was for a band."

When the baritone showed up, someone at the hall gave him a number and told him to stand in line. "Me! With my big operatic ego!I was so angry. I called my manager and said, 'What's this?' "

Marin was talked into staying and, a week later, "a guy called Simon Cowell called."The American Idol judge offered him a job. Marin decided to give it a try.

"I thought we might sell 1,000 discs and then I could get back to opera. But in that first week, the album shot to number 1 in England, knocked out Robbie Williams, and now, five years later, we've sold 22 million records.

"It's amazing. I never suspected such a huge success."

The Il Divo quartet -- with American tenor David Miller, French singer Sebastien Izambard, Swiss tenor Urs Buhler and Spain's Marin -- was brought together by pop impresario Cowell in 2004 and is currently touring Canada.

Marin says the foursome feel rejuvenated after seven months off last year, and have established a stronger bond. "Those early years were really tough, because we were working and touring so much. We really needed a break from each other," says Marin.

Relations among the four -- with different backgrounds, nationalities, and their own solo careers -- were strained in the first year, he reveals, though always cordial.

"I wouldn't say it was a nightmare, but it was really hard," Marin says. "At the beginning, it was all about ego. When we first met, we didn't know each other. Just imagine: We go to a studio and are told, 'This is the music, these are the guys you will spend the next five years with, 16 hours a day.' Of course, there were many misunderstandings.

"We all stopped our careers, took a big risk. . . . But after this holiday, we have come together again and really feel right for the first time. We are a unit now. Good friends."

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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Popera quartet Il Divo are rejuvenated and hitting the road.
 

Popera quartet Il Divo are rejuvenated and hitting the road.

Photograph by: Courtesy, Sony

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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