Andrea Bocelli will be LIVE in Liverpool

THE world’s premiere classical music star, Andrea Bocelli is heading to Merseyside to perform at the Echo Arena this Tuesday, 18 November 2014. The legendary tenor has returned to UK and Ireland with his spellbinding shows featuring the repertoire that has made him famous throughout the world as a unique artist able to cross boundaries between classical and pop.

The biggest selling solo classical artist of all time, Bocelli has performed for four U.S. presidents, 2 popes and the royal family, as well as at ceremonies for the Olympic Games and the World Cup. He has been praised by such luminaries as Luciano Pavarotti, Franco Corelli, Zubin Mehta, Jose Carreras, Lorin Maazel, Renee Fleming and Celine Dion, who once introduced him by saying:- "heard someone say that if God had a singing voice, he would sound a lot like Andrea Bocelli."

He has sold over 80 million albums around the world, his 1999 Sacred Arias album has sold over 5 million copies, making it the best selling classical recording of all time. His pop career, including the much loved Time To Say Goodbye, a duet with Sarah Brightman that reached Number 1 in charts around the world in 1998, may have drawn millions in, but Bocelli has always enthusiastically shared his classical calling.

Thanks to the wish of Andrea to support new young talent, he has invited few special guests to join him on stage in front of thousands over his UK and Ireland Tour. The UK’s hottest classical treasure, Britain's Got Talent graduate and Classical Chart Number 1 Lucy Kay will duet with Andrea Bocelli on Canto Della Terra and Can’t Help Falling in Love. The audience will also have a chance to meet an American chart-topping violinist and YouTube star Lyndsey Stirling who will join the maestro for his UK and Ireland tour. The local Archbishop Beck Chamber Choir from Archbishop Beck Catholic Sports College will also perform on the same stage with classical superstar Andrea Bocelli on18 November 2014. Do not miss your chance to see the opera royalty in propria persona!

Bocelli 2014 UK & Ireland Tour:-

► 14 November 2014, Dublin O2 Arena.
► 18 November 2014, Liverpool Arena.
► 20 November 2014, London O2 Arena.
► 21 November 2014, Birmingham LG Arena.

Are you going to see the English National Ballet's Swan Lake?

OVER Tuesday, 18 November to Saturday, 22 November 2014, the world famous English National Ballet will be performing at the Liverpool Empire, as part of a UK tour of Derek Deane’s critically acclaimed Swan Lake.

The English National Ballet takes has already been in the North West, taking its full production of the show to Manchester back in October, so this will be your last chance to see it in the North West. Swan Lake is arguably one of the most popular ballets created, Swan Lake tells the story of Prince Siegfried’s love for the Swan Queen, Odette, and their battle against the evil magician, Rothbart.

This traditional production brings the romance and high drama of the Russian ballet tradition alive. Originally produced for English National Ballet by Deane, this version premiered at the London Coliseum in 2000 and has since been seen by over 550,000 people around the UK.

This tour ends at the London Coliseum, running at the venue over 7 January to 18 January 2015.

Joining English National Ballet from Boston Ballet, Alejandro Virelles makes his debut as Principal with the Company, performing the role of Prince Siegfried alongside Alina Cojocaru’s Odette/Odile in Derek Deane’s Swan Lake.

Swan Lake also sees lead roles from:- Ksenia Ovsyanick, who was recently promoted to Soloist, and Zdenek Konvalina; Tamara Rojo and the winner of Emerging Dancer 2014 Junor Souza; Fernanda Oliveira and Dmitri Gruzdyev; and Elena Glurdjidze and Arionel Vargas.

PRINCIPAL CASTING
(In the order of Odette/Odile and Prince Siegfried)

►  Tuesday, 18 November 2014 - Alina Cojocaru and Alejandro Virelles.

►  Wednesday 19 November – Tamara Rojo and Junor Souza.

►  Thursday 20 November (mat) – Ksenia Ovsyanick and Zdenek Konvalina.

►  Thursday 20 November (eve) - Elena Glurdjidze and Arionel Vargas.

►  Friday 21 November – Tamara Rojo and Junor Souza.

►  Saturday 22 November (mat) – Shiori Kase and Yonah Acosta.

►  Saturday 22 November (eve) – Laurretta Summerscales and Alejandro Virelles.

This magical show will put you in the mood for Christmas, so do not miss the performance in Liverpool, if you love your ballets...  So to recap, Swan Lake at the Liverpool Empire runs from Tuesday, 18 November to Saturday, 22 November 2014. Performances at 7.30pm, with a materny performance on Thursday, at 2pm and a materny performance on Saturday, from 2.30pm. Tickets cost from:- £10 to £43.90. Call:- 0844 871 3017 or ballet.org.uk/swanlake to book your ticket and for more show dates, times, venues and other information.

Rosetta's probe Philae Mission

IF you watched the live feed from ESA on 12 November 2014, you would have seen the story unfold and you would have hear the words:- "Philae, Philae, Philae!" as the $1.7 billion @esa European Space Agency #Rosetta's probe #Philae Mission has landed on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko After the announcement had been made from #Darmstadt, Germany that:- "the mission was a success. This comet landing mission is a historic chapter in human history as we can confirm that the probe Philae is fully operational. We now look forward to seeing the results as it is just the start of Philae's mission." It is a shame that Colin Pillinger did not have a chance to witness the end of the Rosetta mission and the start of the Philae Mission. Congratulations to all the people involved, past and present. We know firsthand how much work has gone into it, as our Editor's brother Ed was involved in its evolution. Ed Trollope, who is originally from Merseyside and was responsible for the Lander's operations during the Flyby of asteroid Steins in 2008  said:- "I watched the landing live. I was very relieved. It was excellent news that it had landed. Lots of people put a lot of time into making this happen. I'm so pleased to see it arrive and all the hard work getting it to the comet has paid off. It is an amazing mission and shows what we can do as a collective." Sadly, it did not quite go to plan, as Philae:- "did not deploy anchor lines", so it bounced twice, landing the third and last time in the shadow of a cliff. This has caused major issues as it the decreased amount of sunlight falling on the solar panels is putting at risk the full one and a half year mission. Thankfully the team had planned for problems like this and they are trying to work out a solution. Meanwhile, the probe is gathering up as much valuable scientific information as it can, as long as the battery lasts, in case they can’t find a way to correct this. The data harvested by the probe will lead to other missions, and will impact on the development of human space flight and our understanding of the universe. Well done to all the team, past and present and we hope you can relocate Philae and extend the mission to its full potential. Even if you do not, this was an amazing achievement and we are positive, it will keep scientists happy for years to come, as they analyse the data.