Bocelli, Andrea

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Andrea Bocelli

Opera singer

Multi-platinum-selling Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli reached a mainstream pop audience with his beautiful operatic renditions, after a film of his live concert in Pisa, Romanza in Concert: A Night in Tuscany, was aired on a PBS fund-raising special at the end of 1997. Since then, Bocelli has aptly catered to both the pop and operatic worlds, appealing to ardent fans of both types of music with his remarkably lovely voice. According to the Boston Herald's Stephen Schaefer, Bocelli has been dubbed the "fourth tenor," the "leading [or singing] Tower of Pisa," and "the most beautiful voice in the world."

Bocelli was already a best-selling pop artist in Europe, with more than ten million copies sold of his debut album, Romanza, and after his exposure through the PBS special, his success in the United States skyrocketed. The PBS production was slated to run only once, but due to its popularity it ran three times. Bocelli's debut album, Romanza, ranked alongside the Titanic soundtrack as one of the two best-selling albums sold during the holidays in 1997, and his second album, Viaggio Italiano, was on top of the Billboard classical charts in early 1998. His roster of fans includes such luminaries as the late Pope John Paul II, Luciano Pavarotti, Isabella Rossellini, Cecilia Bartoli, Julie Andrews, and Madonna. By 1998 Bocelli had performed for the pope on four different occasions. Unlike many of the "crossover" artists in the classical field who often have more success in Europe than in the United States, Bocelli's fame was truly international.

Bocelli was born on September 22, 1958, in the rural farming town of Lajatico, located about 20 miles from Pisa in Italy's Tuscany region. His parents sold farm equipment and grew olives and wine grapes. His family's farm was home to a small vineyard, from which his father, Sandro, still produces Chianti Bocelli. His family members were not especially musical, but they were encouraging when Bocelli displayed an interest in opera music as early as age six. He received piano, flute, and saxophone lessons as a boy. He became totally blind at the age of 12 after hitting his head during a soccer game with friends—Bocelli suffered a brain hemorrhage that resulted in blindness a few days later, and his sight had already been impaired by glaucoma at birth. He told Celestine Bohlen of the New York Times that "I know what colors look like and I have an idea of the world…. I believe we all have a destiny that we can perceive. Mine was singing. I always sang for my friends at school, for birthdays, so I knew inside what my destiny was." Bocelli feels too many people focus on his blindness; he doesn't consider it tragic, and he skis and enjoys horseback riding.

Bocelli went to the University of Pisa and studied law instead of music, but he sang professionally in piano bars while he was in school, which is where he met his wife, Enrica. She was 17 when they met and has told reporters that she first fell in love with Bocelli's voice before falling in love with the man himself. They married in 1992 and had two sons, Amos and Matteo, within five years.

To finance his singing lessons, Bocelli continued to play in piano bars and worked as a lawyer for a year after college. In 1992 Bocelli had his first career break when presented with the opportunity to record "Miserere" (Pity) with the Italian rock star Zucchero Fornaciari, who had originally written the material for Luciano Pavarotti. Bocelli told Bohlen that Pavarotti later heard the recording and "said some nice things about my voice, and since then a lot has happened." The two men became friends, and Bocelli even spent a week at Pavarotti's home. In 1994 Bocelli won first prize at the San Remo Music Festival, viewed by one in every three people in Italy, and the exposure was fortuitous. According to the Wall Street Journal's Matthew Gure-witsch, Bocelli's winning entry, "Il Mare Calmo della Sera," "rose from an intimate, half-murmured rasp to a refrain like a ringing anthem."

In 1995 Bocelli released the single "Con te Partiro," which was immensely popular in Europe. He later re-recorded the single with Sarah Brightman as a duet in English, and its success spread rapidly.

Bocelli prefers singing opera over singing pop music, and studied under Luciano Betterani and Franco Corelli, former trainers for Maria Callas and Luciano Pavarotti. When Alan Niester of the Toronto Globe and Mail asked Bocelli if he enjoyed singing pop music, Bocelli replied, "Not very much, honestly, but I think it's important for many reasons. The first is that pop music has a big, big audience … if one wants to have great popularity … he has to sing these songs. And through the songs it's possible to bring people into the theatres who might not have come any other way." Bocelli has featured pop and canonized material on the same release; on Romanza he included several contemporary songs along with the classical standards "La Donna è: Mobile" and "Nessun Dorma."

Part of Bocelli's appeal is his romantic appearance; he's tall with broad shoulders, a hint of a beard, a gentle, almost self-effacing manner, and a handsome profile. He appears shy when led on stage, and he doesn't take his resounding success seriously. He also has confessed in interviews to having a terror of live performances.

Bocelli's music in the early phases of his career was a hardy blend of opera and popular music. It followed the crossover path cleared in 1990 by the Three Tenors—Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, and José Carreras; the only difference being that Pavarotti, Domingo, and Carreras began in the classical world of opera and moved into the more accessible realm of pop. On the other hand, Bocelli began in piano bars and moved into classical concert halls. During his career Bocelli has performed at Hampton Court Palace near London with Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and at the Royal Albert Hall with Sarah Brightman.

The Roman Catholic Church sponsored a concert pairing Bocelli with Bob Dylan in Bologna, Italy, which was attended by Pope John Paul II, and Bocelli has also performed with Bryan Adams. Bocelli's international agent, Craig Stanley, told Bohlen, "He can sing both operatic arias and love ballads with sensitivity. The bedrock is talent, but he also sings with emotion, from the heart."

For the Record …

Born September 22, 1958, in Lajatico, Italy; son of Sandro (a farm equipment retailer and grower of olives and wine grapes); married, 1992; wife's name, Enrica; children: Amos, Matteo. Education: Law degree from the University of Pisa; studied opera under Luciano Betterani and Franco Corelli.

Had first career break with 1992 recording "Miserere" (Pity), with Italian rock star Zucchero Fornaciari; released single "Con Te Partiro," 1995, and Romanza, 1997; released Viaggio Italiano, 1997; released Aria: The Opera Album, 1998; performed for Pope John Paul II four times; appeared in production of opera Werther in Detroit, MI, 2000; recorded Verdi Requiem mass for Philips label, 2001; continued giving operatic performances; recorded Verdi's Il Trovatore (in role of Manrico) for Philips, 2004; recorded Werther for Decca label, 2005; released Amore, 2006.

Awards: San Remo Music Festival, First Prize, for "Il Mare Calmo Della Sera," 1994; Classical Brit Awards, Album of the Year, for Sentimento, 2003.

Addresses: Record company—Philips Music Group, a division of Polygram Classics, Worldwide Plaza, 825 Eighth Ave., New York, NY 10019. Website—Andrea Bocelli Official Website: http://www.andreabocelli.com.

Bocelli told Bohlen, "You can't explain success. Success lives by mysterious rules: it comes when it wants and leaves when it wants." As for his future, he told Billboard's Paul Verna and Mark Dezzani, "I have no precise idea what will happen. Each person has his own destiny, and destiny cannot be changed. I hope to arrive at some point in my life where I can sing exactly what I like, but this requires a lot of training." What elates Bocelli most about his success is the fact that there are often young children in the audience listening to his opera music. He told Schaefer, "Of this, I am very proud."

Bocelli's training was in opera, his culture was steeped in a love of opera, and he had a strong desire to be taken seriously as an opera singer. The singer prepared the way with two CD releases that were oriented toward classical vocal material: Aria: The Opera Album in 1998, and Sacred Arias in 1999. He appeared in the lead role of Rodolfo in a production of Giacomo Puccini's La Bohème on the Italian island of Sardinia. Then, in 2000, he took the stage at a major theater, the Detroit Opera House, playing the title role in the French opera Werther by Jules Massenet.

Press interest in the event was intense, and Bocelli heightened the publicity impact by announcing that he would donate his fee to the Helppie Institute for Pediatric Health Research. The technical problems associated with mounting a production with a blind singer were easily solved, but reviews of Bocelli's performance were mixed. Opera purists disdained him for his pop success, and listeners and reviewers noted that his voice, which sounded so clear and touching on recordings, was not quite the sort that could fill a hall at high volume. Nevertheless, the appearance went well enough that Bocelli could forge ahead with his classical vocal career. He appeared on a recording of Giuseppe Verdi's Requiem in 2001, and on another of Verdi's Il Trovatore in 2004. In 2005 he reprised his Werther role on a Decca compact disc set.

Of the Il Trovatore recording, Allen Schrott wrote in All Music Guide that "it cannot compare with the many fine versions already on the market, and won't satisfy the expectations of those with the sound of Luciano Pavarotti, Jussi Björling, and Franco Corelli in their ears," but he conceded that "for someone who is often accused of being an operatic poseur, he brings a tenacious high C to the end of 'Di quella pira.' You can't fake that." Many opera writers lauded Bocelli's ability to bring new audiences to the venerable art form.

Meanwhile, Bocelli's pop stardom continued without flagging. He even released a short album, Mistero dell' Amore, in conjunction with the Victoria's Secret lingerie chain, highlighting the strong appeal of his long hair and slight five o'clock shadow to female music buyers. In 2006 Bocelli teamed with Celine Dion producer David Foster to record Amore, a collection of love songs from the 1920s to the 1980s, with Italian, Spanish, French, and English examples. "Italy's Andrea Bocelli could probably sing the want ads and make it sound romantic," quipped Ralph Novak in People, and it seemed that one of classical crossover music's most talented voices had established a durable presence on music sales charts.

Selected discography

Romanza, Philips Music Group, 1997.
Viaggio Italiano, Philips Music Group, 1997.
Aria: The Opera Album, Philips Music Group, 1998.
Sogno, Polygram, 1999.
Sueños, Polygram, 1999.
Sacred Arias, Polygram, 1999.
Per Amore, Polydor, 2000.
Cieli di Toscana, Universal, 2001.
Verdi: Requiem, Philips, 2001.
Sentimento, Universal, 2002.
Andrea, Philips, 2004.
Puccini: La Bohème, Decca, 2004.
Verdi: Il Trovatore, Decca, 2004.
Massenet: Werther, 2005.
Amore, Decca, 2006.