Il Divo: Timeless Live in Japan Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.5

Il Divo: Timeless Live in Japan Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 30, 2019

Il Divo’s charms are evidently significant enough to have resulted in tens of millions of album sales, but I should probably admit up front that I personally frequently find myself reacting to them as an over packaged commodity rather than a “real” group. For those who do swoon at the quartet’s lush multi-lingual so-called “crossover” approach, this live concert from Japan should at least satisfy the sonic side of things, even if the video presentation here is curiously wonky looking at times.

Il Divo’s set list for this concert is as follows:

• Overture
• Hola (Hello)
• Aqui Esperandote (Right Here Waiting)
• Pour Que Tu M’aimes Encore
• Angels
• Die Bildnis Aria
• Come What May (Te Amare)
• All of Me
• Love Me Tender
• Quien sera? (Sway)
• Granada
• My Heart Will Go On
• Interview*
• Grazie Amore Mio (Where Do I Begin — Love Story)
• Unforgettable
• Unchained Melody (Senza Catene)
• Smile
• Kingdom Come
• Que Bonito Es Vivir (What a Wonderful World)
• Furusato
• Toi et Moi (The Way We Were)
• I Will Always Love You
• Vesti La Giubba
• La Vida Sin Amor
• Somewhere
• Regresa a Mi (Unbreak My Heart)
• My Way

*Kind of weirdly, this is a slightly different (and shorter) version of the interview that is also included as a supplement (see below).

Il Divo: Timeless Live in Japan Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Il Divo Timeless: Live in Japan is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Eagle Vision, an imprint of Eagle Rock Entertainment, and Universal Music Group with an AVC encoded 1080i transfer in 1.78:1. This is one presentation that can't quite overcome two "built in" aspects of the live performance: some unwise lighting choices (in terms of offering bounteous levels of detail), and, more importantly, the use of a huge pixellated set of screens upstage from the performers. The lighting choices include deep reds, purples, and blues, and those, when combined with lots of "stage fog", can mean detail levels are pretty underwhelming at times (see screenshot 8). More problematic, though, is the crosshatched screens in back of the performers, which end up making whatever is in front of them look like upscales at times. It was hard to get a great screenshot of some of the quasi-stair stepping that occurs, but if you look at the pants legs toward the left side of the frame on screenshot 9, you can at least get an idea of what things can look like, and this was frankly not a very bad occurrence. Other than these oddities, there are generally quite good detail levels in close-ups, and when stage lighting doesn't intrude, the palette looks warm and inviting. The use of lots of fog may add to slight problems with banding and macroblocking, typically toward the edges of the frame.

Il Divo: Timeless Live in Japan Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

This is another disc that Eagle Rock has authored to default to the stereo track, but the surround track nicely opens things up, especially with regard to the strings (I will say it's great to see so many real, live musicians on stage making a few bucks - hopefully - for playing a concert like this). Voices are always prioritized well and are easy to hear. Fidelity is excellent throughout. As fans of Il Divo will no doubt know, that "English" in the audio specs above is misleading, as one of the group's calling cards is the fact that they sing in any number of different languages, sometimes simultaneously.

Il Divo: Timeless Live in Japan Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Interview (1080i; 8:55) is a backstage chat with all four gents.

Il Divo: Timeless Live in Japan Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Fans of Il Divo will find plenty to like about this concert, as the singers are all in fine voices, and the expansive orchestrations are well played by the on stage musicians. Things are expectedly on the glossy side (this concert has more dissolves, montages and screen projections than many an "arena rock" concert video I've reviewed). Video has a few anomalies, but audio is fine, for those considering a purchase.