Sounds of Italy – Andrea Bocelli

Italy is filled with incredible sights… and sounds. Among the most wonderful – and most Italian – sounds is the voice of Andrea Bocelli. A talented Italian tenor, he has overcome physical adversity to sell more then 65 million albums. He is the touted as the biggest-selling solo artist in the history of classical music. Celine Dion probably summed it up best in her famous line, “ If God would have a singing voice, He would sound a lot like Andrea Bocelli.” She’s probably right as Andrea’s voice is full and powerful – with incredible range – yet he also has the ability to convey love and tenderness.

Andrea has persevered and become successful… but it hasn’t always been adoring audiences and concerts around the world. Andrea started simply. He was born September 1958 in Lajatico, about 40 km south of Pisa. His family owned a small farm, making wine and selling farm machinery. Members of his family still live in the family home today. Andrea was very musically talented. He started studying piano at age six and later learned to play the drums, harp, guitar, trombone, saxophone, trumpet, and flute!

It’s believed that Andrea was born with congenital glaucoma. As a child he had poor eyesight and gradually began losing his sight. At age 12, he totally lost all sight after a futbol accident. But his blindness did not slow him done. He continued his musical growth working with mentors and earning money for lessons by playing piano in local bars. He also earned a law degree before taking up music as his “career.” Despite his loss of sight, he is quite active and enjoys horseback riding and skiing.

To the music… In 1992, the Italian rock star Zucchero held auditions for a duet of the song Miserere from his album of the same name. His goal was to send a demo tape to Luciano Pavarotti… to entice Pavoritti into recording with him. Bocelli made quite an impression! His manager at the time, Caterina Caselli, forwarded the demo tape to Pavarotti. After hearing the tape, Pavarotti encouraged Zucchero to use Bocelli instead of him. Despite this recommendation, Zucchero and Pavarotti did make the song together and it became a huge hit. In 1993, on the Zucchero concert tour, it was Bocelli who accompanied and sang the duet, He was also given a few solo sets during the concerts. One of his most well-received contributions was “Nessun Dorma” from Puccini’s Turandot – which seems only natural since both Puccini and Bocelli are from Tuscany! Below are two videos. The first is Bocelli and Zucchero, reunited to sing the song that launched his career – and the second is “Nessun Dorma”

After winning at the Sanremo Music Festival in 1994, he released his first album, Il Mare Calmo della Sera. It immediately entered the Italian Top Ten, going platinum within weeks. The following year, 1995, he released his next album, titled Bocelli. The album contained a song called “Con te partirò.” This would become the signature-song for Bocelli. It immediately raced to the top of the charts in Europe and did in fact become the best-selling single of all time in Belgium. Here is Andrea Bocelli performing “Con te partirò.”

A beautiful song, but you’re probably thinking, I’ve heard him sing this with English soprano Sarah Brightman. And you’re correct! Sarah had heard Andrea’s solo version and approached him about doing it as a duet at the final bout of German IBF World Light-Heavyweight boxing champion Henry Maske. They changed the name of the song to it’s English translation, “Time to Say Goodbye”, and well, the rest is history! The single debuted atop the German charts and stayed there for 14 straight weeks, quickly selling nearly 3 million copies- beating the previous best seller by more than a million copies. Here is the talented Sarah Brightman and Andrea Bocelli performing “Time to Say Goodbye” in Tuscany.

Their chemistry is brilliant. Notice as her solo starts to end… Andrea cannot help himself, he starts to sing silently along with Sarah. Just an incredible and heart-felt performance. …. In contrast, there is this “version” which shows Andrea has a sense of humor (and Elmo can sing!).

His next chart topper is a beautiful love song. The Italian version is called “Vivo per lei” which translates into English as “I live for Her.” He recorded this version with Italian singer Giorgia for the Romanza album – If you can only have one Bocelli album this is probably the one to buy – I say Italian version because he also recorded this song with Spanish singer Marta Sanchez. It was called “Vivo Por Ella”. Then he did a Portuguese version with Sandy Leah. Next, he recorded the same song with French singer Hélène Ségara and it was titled “Je vis pour elle.” He also did a German version! It’s the 2nd highest selling song of Bocelli’s career (and still #1 for Hélène Ségara). The version I like best is the original, the Italian version… with Giorgia and here it is…

In 1998, Bocelli made his debut in a major operatic role when he played Rodolfo in La bohème at the Teatro Comunale in Cagliari. He soon after released Aria – The Opera Album. He followed up this album with two in 1999, Sognoand Sacred Arias
Sacred Arias. Bocelli focused on Opera over the new few years – performing at concerts and in operatic productions. Here is his version of La Donna Mobile” at the Statue of Liberty concert in 2000. Note the Twin Towers in the background as he sings…

And although the video is not the best, the emotions are close to the surface as Bocelli talks about singing at the first concert after his fathers’ death in 2000. Here, he dedicates “Songo” (Dream) to his father as he says goodbye and closes out the concert in New York, near the Statue of Liberty.

There were some rumors that perhaps Bocelli and Pavoritti were “rivals.” Nowhere near true. Pavarotti was quite comfortably situated in Italian lore and Bocelli was just arriving. Bocelli often credits Pavarotti for launching his career and idolized Pavarotti. They sang together often (first clip), and Bocelli sang at his friends funeral (bottom clip).

Andrea has been quite successful. As a crossover artist, he has sometimes been criticized by the classical community for his technique… but when it sounds like this – who cares! These web-based videos do not do justice to his music. Click on any album below and get a recording of his works – and enjoy! And if you get a chance to see him in concert – especially in Italy – RUN for tickets! For more info on Andrea, head to his website, at http://www.andreabocelli.com/site.html#/en