Italia

This CD is seductive, romantic, beautiful and timeless. I was a fan of Chris Botti before, but now I'm a disciple.

My husband and I saw Chris Botti last weekend in Temecula, CA. He and his band delivery high quality entertainment. Catch them in person whenever you can. As for Italia, we just finished listening to this album for the third time -- in 3 hours. It is beautiful and moving. Nessum Dorma alone is worth the price.

I love every Chris Botti CD I have and this one may be my favorite. I wouldn't have thought I'd like Nessun Dorma on a trumpet...
or Gabriel's Oboe (from the soundtrack of The Mission), but it brings tears to my eyes.

I'm fairly new to Chris Botti's music but am rapidly becoming a big fan. This CD is no exception. Every track on the CD has something to recommend it, but my particular favorites are "Venice" and the title track with a fabulous and haunting vocal accompaniment by Andrea Bocelli. Beyond those two cuts and two others (Ave Maria and Estate'), however, there's not much here in common with the Italian-themed title of the CD. I would also note that Paula Cole's vocals on track 4 (The Very Thought of You) sound rather muffled at the beginning of the song, but this is production issue that doesn't otherwise detract from the quality of piece.

The titular misnomer aside, I found the rather eclectic range of styles (and multiple covers) maybe a little distracting. Offerings go from the crooning of Dean Martin (I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face), to the more typical Botti smooth jazz (The Way You Look Tonight), to Andrea Bocelli (Italia), to the higher sound of the Ave Maria (which is a mixture of church oratorio and Botti's trumpet). In spite of this rather unique blending of styles, though, I am generally very pleased with this CD and would gladly recommend it for your listening pleasure.

This CD is amazing, so well done...love the title track with Andrea Bocelli even though I have no clue what he is singing about...after a day at work, I slip this CD into my car's CD player and my frustrations melt away...lovely, lovely music...