''Ancora'' is the third studio album released by

classical crossover Crossover is a term applied to musical works or performers who appeal to different types of audience. This can be seen, for example, (especially in the United States) when a song appears on two or more of the record charts which track differ ...

vocal group

Il Divo Il Divo (; ) are a multi-national classical crossover vocal group. The male quartet, which originated in the United Kingdom in December 2003, consists of tenors Urs Bühler, David Miller, and Sébastien Izambard. It also included baritone ...

. The album was released in the United Kingdom and other parts of Europe on 7 November 2005, excluding the United States and Latin America. The album was later released in the United States and Latin America on 24 January 2006. It debuted at number one on the ''Billboard'' 200 on the week of releases. The album contains one song partially in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

, one song performed in Italian, two songs performed in French, two songs performed in English, and six songs performed in Spanish, excluding the bonus track. The album features the single " I Believe in You", performed with Céline Dion, that is also featured on her international album, '' On Ne Change Pas''. This was recorded in both

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

and

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

with producers

Per Magnusson Per Magnusson (born 30 May 1969) is a Swedish music producer and songwriter. His musical career took off in 1994 as one of the original team members of the now-legendary Cheiron Productions, meeting great international success working with Boyzo ...

, David Kreuger and

Steve Mac Steve McCutcheon (born 15 January 1972), known professionally as Steve Mac, is a British record producer, songwriter and musician. A multi-award-winning producer, he is one of the most prolific songwriters and record producers in modern British ...

, who were also the producers of their first album. Released on 7 November 2005 in the UK, it hit number one both in the UK and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

within one week. ''Ancora'' was released in the US on 24 January 2006. It entered the

Billboard albums chart The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists ...

at number 1, selling more than 150,000 copies during its first week of sales. Highlights include "Isabel", "

I Believe in You (Je crois en toi) "I Believe in You (Je crois en toi)" is a duet by Celine Dion and Il Divo, released as the third and last single from Dion's ''On ne change pas'' album (2005), and first and only from Il Divo's ''Ancora'' (2005). At first, on 23 January 2006 "I ...

", a duet with Céline Dion, a Spanish version of Secret Garden's "

You Raise Me Up "You Raise Me Up" is a song originally composed by the Norwegian-Irish duo Secret Garden. The music was written by Secret Garden's Rolf Løvland, and the lyrics by Brendan Graham. After the song was performed early in 2002 by the Secret Garden a ...

" (Por ti seré), and a Spanish

cover Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of co ...

Eric Carmen Eric Howard Carmen (born August 11, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and keyboardist. He was first known as the lead vocalist of the Raspberries. He had numerous hit songs in the 1970s and 1980s, first as a member of the Rasp ...

's " All by Myself". Two of the tracks on the non-American release of this CD, " O Holy Night" and a version of Schubert's "

Ave Maria The Hail Mary ( la, Ave Maria) is a traditional Christian prayer addressing Mary, the mother of Jesus. The prayer is based on two biblical passages featured in the Gospel of Luke: the Angel Gabriel's visit to Mary (the Annunciation) and Mary's s ...

", also appear on 2005's '' The Christmas Collection''.

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end chart

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 2005 albums Columbia Records albums Il Divo albums Syco Music albums