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Biography
"What I crave most, what I hope to achieve, is to communicate with the
listener; to touch them in the same way that I was touched as a child
by my favourite singers, who touched my heart, inspired me, could make
me cry and make me dream."
Andrea Bocelli possesses a very special gift; a voice that communicates
directly with the heart. He sings with the universal language of
the heart and soul, transcending the disparate languages of the spoken
word. That’s certainly the way millions of listeners feel about
his voice. Friend and singing partner Celine Dion put it another
way; “If God had a singing voice, it would sound a lot like Andrea
Bocelli”.
Andrea Bocelli would most likely prefer that his talents were described
in a little more modest terms. But nevertheless, Bocelli is truly
unique in touching such a vast audience, despite singing in a language
that the majority do not understand. This truly unique, incredibly
communicative voice has made Andrea Bocelli a phenomenon on the modern
musical landscape, forging a groundbreaking musical career that spans
the pinnacles of both the worlds of classical and popular music.
His achievements have been truly without precedent, his impact on the
music industry truly seismic.
In his innovative pop career, with albums ‘Romanza‘, ‘Sogno‘, ‘Cieli di
Toscana‘ and ‘Andrea‘, Andrea has become one of the world’s top music
stars with his truly distinctive, original new musical style, the like
of which had not been heard before. “Popular music is the
soundtrack to the lives of so many; a medium through which powerful
emotions can be shared with an enormous audience. It should be
approached with the same integrity and quest for perfection that one
would with any musical genre. For me, popular music should be based on
a genuine inspiration that comes from the experiences of life, conveyed
from the heart and soul.”
In his classical recording career, with solo albums including ‘Viaggio
Italiano’, ‘Aria‘, ‘Sacred Arias‘, ‘Verdi‘ and ‘Sentimento‘, as well as
complete recordings of works including ‘Verdi Requiem’, ‘La Boheme’,
‘Il Trovatore’, ‘Tosca’ and ‘Werther’, Andrea Bocelli has become the
most successful classical recording artist of all time.
With the unprecedented success of his classical career, Andrea Bocelli
has caused core classical repertoire to “cross over” to the top of
international pop charts and into previously uncharted territory in
popular culture. However, while Bocelli might cause opera to
“cross over”, his approach is distinctly not “crossover”. That’s
a very important distinction in appreciating the achievements of Andrea
Bocelli and his place in the world of music. For Andrea,
‘updating’ Puccini with funky electronic beat is plain heresy; the
suggestion that translating the lyrics of a rock or pop classic into
Italian and adding a string section somehow makes it opera, simply
ridiculous. Andrea works, whether in classical and popular music,
with huge artistic integrity and professionalism.
The story of Andrea’s life has been of nearly as much interest to his
admirers and the media as his musical career. A modest character,
Andrea would prefer to focus on the music, but for all those with an
interest in the man, his story is documented in the semi
autobiographical memoir ‘The Music Of Silence’.
Andrea was born in Lajatico, rural Tuscany, not far from the ancient
city of Pisa. Andrea regards himself as not just from Tuscany,
but also of Tuscany. Describing himself a “product of the
countryside”, he considers his character and personality owe much to
Tuscan family life and the culture and traditions of the region.
He describes his childhood and upbringing as an idyllic existence in
the Tuscan countryside, surrounded by the simplest pleasures of family,
friends, nature and music.
An early fascination with the passion and storytelling of opera,
garnered through old 78s and radio broadcasts, encouraged by family and
friends, developed into a burning adult ambition. Andrea devoured
opera recordings and the Italian musical traditions, dreaming of
following in the footsteps of his idols; celebrated Italian tenors
including Mario Del Monaco, Beniamino Gigli and especially Franco
Corelli. While a child, Andrea’s beautiful natural voice had made
him something of a local celebrity. However his musical dreams
were to be interrupted by the realities of adult life. More to
placate his family and their concerns for his future, rather than to
pursue any burning ambition, he graduated from the University of Pisa
in law and practiced as a state appointed defense attorney for a short
time.
Now, having proved himself on the terms of others, Andrea forged ahead
with life on his own terms. The legal career was put indefinitely
on hold, to devote his life to his musical dreams. Andrea studied under
a number of maestros, most notably achieving a personal triumph and a
source of much encouragement when accepted as a pupil for master
classes by his hero, tenor Franco Corelli.
Having impressed a legend of one era, Andrea was then to impress a
legend of the present. In 1992, Italian rock star Zucchero was
preparing a ‘demo track’ of "Miserere", a duet to be recorded with the
great Luciano Pavarotti. However auditions for a tenor to record
a demo to illustrate the song to Pavarotti were proving
fruitless. Tenors with perfect operatic technique were
nevertheless simply unable to relate to the language of pop
music. An unknown singer, a young local man known for his
passion for opera was suggested. Effortlessly, Andrea Bocelli
captured the very essence of the song. As Zucchero later said,
“He just had this ‘soul’”. Zucchero’s manager, Michele Torpedine
traveled to the US to meet Pavarotti. The maestro was wowed by
the young tenor on the demo track. A friendly impasse was
reached, with the maestro steadfastly rejecting Michele''s assertions
that the voice was of an unknown, rather than a rising opera
star. In fact, Pavarotti suggested, why should he record the song
when Zucchero and Torpedine had discovered such a fabulous new talent?
Andrea soon found himself sitting together with his new manager Michele
Torpedine and Caterina Caselli Sugar, the president of Sugar Music, one
of Italy’s leading music companies, discussing plans for an assault on
the world of popular music. Andrea’s career exploded in
sensational style, with victory in the prestigious Sanremo Song
Festival, Italy’s most important annual music event which introduces
new artists and songs. Televised to a massive audience, Andrea’s
victorious performance of the song ‘Il Mare Calmo Della Sera’
introduced him to the Italian public, turning him from unknown to a
sensation, literally overnight. His domestic career began with a
string of successful pop hits on the Sugar label, including debut album
‘Il Mare Calmo Della Sera’ and the follow up ‘Bocelli’.
Andrea’s voice was soon attracting attention outside Italy. His
international breakthrough hit was the beguiling ‘Con Te Partirò‘ and
in it''s duet arrangement with Sarah Brightman, ‘Time To Say Goodbye
(Con Te Partirò)‘. The solo version topped the French singles
chart. The duet topped Germany’s single chart for fourteen weeks
and with sales of nearly three million copies, ‘Time To Say Goodbye‘
remains Germany''s best selling single of all time.
In 1996 and 1997 Bocelli exploded on album charts across the world,
with the international debut album, ‘Romanza‘, a collection of
passionate popular song. Conquering first Europe, then remarkably
charts across the English-speaking world, the album amassed a multitude
of platinum and multi platinum awards, with sales in excess of fifteen
million copies.
Firmly established by the international success of ‘Romanza‘, Andrea
now had a platform and a position to share his passion for opera with a
huge audience. The international release of two classical albums
followed, both projects close to Andrea’s heart. The first,
‘Viaggio Italiano‘, was a tribute to the tradition of the Italian
tenor, featuring popular arias and Neapolitan song. In 1998
followed ‘Aria‘, a disc of more challenging repertoire, such tenor
showpieces as Donizetti’s “Pour mon ame”, with it’s nine high
C’s. Andrea described the album as the “soundtrack to his
childhood”. By the standards of the classical recording industry
it was a stunning success, scaling the heights of international pop
charts.
1999 began with a Grammy nomination, in the “Best New Artist” category,
the first time a classical artist had been nominated in the category
for 38 years. ‘The Prayer’, a duet with Celine Dion for animated
movie “The Quest For Camelot”, won the Golden Globe for Best Song and
was nominated for an Academy Award. Andrea and Celine performed
the song at both the Academy Award and Grammy Award
ceremonies.
In March of 1999 Andrea released second pop album ‘Sogno‘.
The album entered the upper reaches of pop album charts around the
world, confirming Andrea’s position at the pinnacle of the world of
popular music. In the US following the release of ‘Sogno‘, four
of Andrea Bocelli’s albums featured simultaneously on the US pop album
chart; a unique feat, the like of which had previously only been
achieved by artists including Garth Brooks, U2, Led Zeppelin and The
Beatles. With this incredible chart success, and a North American
concert tour breaking box office records, the US media coined the
phrase “Bocellimania”.
In the fall of 1999, ‘Sacred Arias’ was to become Andrea’s most
successful classical album to date. Sacred Arias has become the
biggest selling album by a classical soloist of all time. Upon
release Andrea captured not just the No 1 position on numerous
international classical album charts, and placings at the upper reaches
of international pop album charts, but simultaneously held the No 1, 2
and 3 positions on the US classical album chart, an unprecedented first
that saw him achieve a listing in the Guinness Book Of Records.
In fact Bocelli was to take up almost permanent residency of the No 1
spot on the US classical chart, week in, week out for virtually three
and a half years. Most weeks he also held the No 2 spot.
The year 2000 saw Andrea involved in some incredible international
events. It began with Andrea’s interpretation for the Vatican of
the new hymn to herald the arrival of the year 2000. Concerts
were staged at The Eiffel Tower and at The Statue Of Liberty, where
Andrea became the first artist ever to perform at the foot of the
monument. In July, Andrea gave the official concert of the Euro
2000 soccer tournament in Rotterdam Harbour. In September Andrea
participated in the Sydney Olympic celebrations, bearing the Olympic
Torch in Sydney Harbour, then performing to tens of thousands as the
Sydney Harbour Bridge exploded in a breathtaking firework
display. An Australian tour culminated with a sold out concert at
the Sydney Opera House.
In 2000 Andrea released ‘Verdi‘, his fourth classical recital
disc. This was followed by the realization of yet another
ambition, with the release of his first complete opera recording, ‘La
Boheme‘. With Zubin Mehta and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra,
the recording paired Andrea with Barbara Frittoli in an acclaimed all
Italian recording of the work, which became the biggest selling opera
recording of all time.
2001 began with the release of another complete work, an all star
recording of the ‘Verdi Requiem‘, with the Kirov Orchestra conducted by
Valery Gergiev, featuring soprano Renee Fleming, mezzo Olga Borodina
and bass Ildebrando D’Arcangelo. The year ended with another
successful pop album, “Cieli di Toscana”. In the fall of that
year the world will never forget, was a moment Andrea will never
forget. Having enjoyed participating in some of the most
prestigious and glitzy events of recent years, Andrea was to perform
his most poignant and solemn musical duty when New York mayor Rudolph
Giuliani requested that Andrea come to New York, to sing ‘Ave Maria’ as
part of the memorial service amongst the still smoking devastation of
Ground Zero.
In 2002 came the romantic yet melancholy sound of ‘Sentimento’,
combining the voice of Andrea Bocelli with the exquisite violin of
Maestro Lorin Maazel. A musical exploration of the much forgotten
early 20th century tradition of songs for solo violin and tenor voice,
‘Sentimento’ was another huge success on international pop and
classical charts. At the prestigious British ‘Classical Brits
Awards’ in 2003, the album claimed two awards including “Album Of The
Year”. Andrea appeared at the event and to close the show, a
surprise duet with Welsh baritone Bryn Terfel ‘raised the roof’ of
London’s Royal Albert Hall, becoming the most memorable moment in the
history of the event.
In 2003 came the release of Andrea’s third full work, ‘Tosca’. A
packed concert schedule this year took Andrea from China to Madison
Square Gardens, to yet another unique and memorable location with a
concert at The Pyramids in Egypt. Towards the end of the year
came a moment Andrea will treasure for ever. In a career in which
Andrea has sung for both Popes of our time, Presidents, Premiers, Prime
Ministers, Princes, Kings and Queens, in December of 2003 Andrea had
the very personal pleasure and honor of singing ‘Ave Maria‘ during the
wedding service of his friend Luciano Pavarotti.
2004 saw the release of fourth full work ‘Il Trovatore’. Highly
acclaimed, the disc was selected as an ‘Editor’s Choice’ in the highly
respected international classical music journal ‘Gramophone’.
Andrea’s year included appearances ranging from the Nobel Peace Prize
Concert to the celebrated New York Thanksgivings Day Parade.
Andrea was selected to front a global TV information campaign for
International Olympic Committee alongside figures of inspiration Nelson
Mandela and Kofi Annan. Fall of 2004 saw a return to popular
music, with the release of fourth pop album ‘Andrea’, reuniting Andrea
with long time collaborators Mauro Malavasi and Peppe Vessicchio, also
teaming up with new musical friends including Celso Valli and Guy
Chambers.
2005 began with the release of fifth full work ‘Werther’ and a hectic
recording schedule in which Andrea was to make a new pop album, new
classical album and new opera recording. Andrea was honored to be
asked to participate in Live 8 in Paris.
Even though Andrea’s career develops at a hectic pace, in an action
packed and constantly challenging world, he lives his life with
serenity and contemplation, taking inspiration from classics of
literature and philosophy. He sums up his approach to life
referring to a quote from “The Little Prince” by French novelist
Antoine de Saint-Exup?İry: “You see clearly only through your heart. The
essential is invisible to they eye”.
© Universal
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