Editor Reviews:

Album Description:
Exclusive UK version of Bocelli's third pop release includes the exclusive bonus track 'Tornera La Neve' and CD-ROM. The album also features 'L'Incontro' a duet with Gerard Depardieu. David Foster co-composes some of the tracks on this album as well. 2001.

Amazon.com:
Not content with the simplistic "crossover" formula, superstar tenor Andrea Bocelli has been pursuing alternative paths since he emerged as a vocal phenomenon in the mid-1990s: operatic classics and contemporary popular song. The singer's last few albums have showcased his love for the former (including homages to his beloved Verdi: the Requiem and Verdi aria collection). But Cieli di Toscana ("Tuscan Skies") marks a triumphant return to the pop idiom last explored on Sogno, offering a highly varied series of the kind of beautifully crafted contemporary melodies that initially won Bocelli acclaim.

The familiar cast of songwriter-collaborators (including Francesco Sartori, responsible for the smash success "Time to Say Goodbye") mixes with new blood; Bocelli himself unveils his songwriting talents on "Il Diavolo e l'Angelo." It's a highly produced affair, but behind all the gloss, Bocelli sings with a newfound, relaxed, even mellow quality. There are intimately touching moments--"L'Incontro," a tribute to his first son featuring Bocelli's own poetry as read by U2's Bono--as well as soaring flights of lyricism (the duet "L'Abitudine" with Italian singer Helena). And on "Mascagni," with its quotes from that composer's operas, Bocelli makes another nod to his classical affinities. But whatever the style, Bocelli is a singer who knows how to go straight to his listeners' hearts. --Sarah Chin

Rating : - Confident yet Vulnerable
When he released 'Con te Partiro' in the U.S. in 1997, Andrea Bocelli became a household name for the soaring emotional piece that has become his best-known song. However, on 2001 album "Cieli di Toscana", the crossover artist treats listeners to 14 songs recorded with the voice that has captured the world.

Unlike many of his previous hit records, "Cieli di Toscana" is a pop album, but unlike Madonna or Britney Spears, it is filled with the soul and delicate emotion you would find in more classical music. The album opens with the rich-sounding 'Melodramma' then chills to a more relaxed feel with 'Mille Lune Mille Onde'. From this point on, the record switches from lavish orchestration to tunes that, if they weren't in Italian, could have been hits on U.S. radio.

As with his previous works, "Cieli di Toscana" shows Bocelli's progression and maturity as an artist. He sings with more confidence and emotion than before, but maintains the vulnerability that has made him so popular. This is perhaps best illustrated with 'L'Incontro', a song about the emotion a father feels upon the birth of his child. Opening with a reading of his poetry by Bono, the song is both tender and emotion-filled, yet very mature.

There are no large aria-like pieces, no 'Con te Partiro' type songs on this record, but that does not detract from the high quality of music featured here. As someone who is not an opera fan, this is the type of music that I enjoy most from Andrea Bocelli, the type of music that makes him that much more special.