The Three Tenors from the Holy Land

Last night I went to a concert by "The Three Tenors from the Holy Land" with my friend Olya, nee Belyaieva. It was a real walk down memory lane: many of the songs were the ones my dad used to sing all the time when I was growing up: "Catari," "Funiculi-Funicula," "Santa Lucia." Then there were a few famous Russian arias and songs, including both old and new. The only song I didn't like in the whole concert was from a modern Russian musical based on the Hunchback of Notre Dame. Yuck-yuck-yuck. But the rest of the concert was really great. The three guys are very different, both in their voices and on-stage personas. There's a tiny guy (Vladislav Gorai) who stands very close to the mic and as a result sounds a lot louder than the other two. He was the crowd favorite, and I'm not sure exactly why. Maybe it was because he was so much smaller than the other two, and yet seemed to have a bigger voice? There was a huge guy (Yevgeniy Shapovalov) who is about the size of Pavarotti. He seemed very comfortable with his voice, without the need to be loud all the time. The only thing not to like about him was that he said the cheesy Notre Dame song was his favorite. And then there was my favorite tenor, Felix Livshitz. He had a more lyrical voice, which sounded pure and unforced about 70-80% of the time. And Felix was also the most at-ease and cheerful guy of the three. I know it's probably fake, but I can't help liking a performer who's smiling a lot while on stage, and even dancing a little with his arms (when the song requires it). The pianist (didn't quite catch his name, I should look it up) was superb. He had fun with some of the traditional songs, literally turning them into jazz.
I'm not quite sure why these guys chose to put "Holy Land" in their name instead of Israel. Perhaps they feel Israel isn't quite popular in Europe, where they toured before. In America, they emphasized their Israeli identities. They sang several Israeli pop songs, and to Olya's and my surprise, the Chicago audience of mostly old Russian Jewish immigrants, knew at least some of them!