Biography of Andrea Bocelli in English. Andrea Bocelli – Blind Singer of Contemporary Opera

Andrea Bocelli is an Italian singer. He performs both classical and modern music and is considered one of the best tenors today. He strives with all his might to popularize the art of opera. Since childhood, he had problems with vision, and at the age of twelve he finally lost it. This happened after 27 eye surgeries and one hit by the ball. The artist was born on September 22, 1958 in Lajatico, a suburb of Tuscany.

Childhood and university studies

None of the Bocelli family members were interested in music. However, in their house there was a record player and many records with opera compositions. Since childhood, Andrea loved listening to them. Already at the age of six, the boy learned to pick out simple melodies on the piano, and after a while he began to master playing the saxophone and flute. Due to hereditary glaucoma, he often had to spend time in the hospital undergoing numerous operations. But already at the age of twelve, the young man became completely blind while playing football.

Despite this, he continued to be interested in music, gradually becoming inspired by singing. Andrea took lessons from Luciano Bettarini, additionally studied vocals on his own, sang in the school choir and actively participated in all sorts of competitions. Already in 1971, the boy received his first award at a regional competition.

In 1980, Bocelli received a law degree from the University of Pisa. In parallel with his studies, he periodically performed in bars and restaurants. During this period of his life, the young man became interested in French chanson, and he also attended master classes by Franco Corelli. Thanks to their communication, the tenor decided to abandon his legal career and devote his life to music.

The tenor's first performances

In 1992, Andrea came to a casting with the famous rock performer Zucchero. He immediately impressed the Italian by being able to grasp the essence of the song on the fly without any effort. A year later, Bocelli’s performance at a private party was heard by Katerina Zugar, who is the president of the label of the same name. She came to the conclusion that the whole country should hear such a voice and offered cooperation to the young singer. Andrea signed a contract to release his first album.

In 1994, the tenor made his debut at a music festival held in San Remo. His voice received the highest praise from the greatest performers, after which Andrea received an invitation to participate in a Luciano Pavarotti concert. At this concert they performed both in duet and solo, separately from each other. Bocelli subsequently performed in front of famous politicians and celebrities. His audience numbered more than half a million listeners, and his albums went platinum in no time.

In 1996, the tenor released two albums, each of which went platinum. The disc “Viaggio Italiano” was dedicated to immigrants and Italians who popularized opera in the world. The next record, in turn, became Bocelli’s contribution to classical music, where he performed exclusively famous arias. The singer's albums released after this were no less popular, thanks to which he was included in the Guinness Book of Records. Each of the compositions instantly soared to the top of the charts, where they remained for a long time.

Recognition around the world

In 1999, the artist received a Grammy, becoming the first young classical music performer to receive this award in 38 years. Their duet with Celine Dion was nominated for an Oscar, and for this single they also won a Golden Globe Award.

Among the performer's fans are even such famous people as President Clinton, the Pope and popular model Cindy Crawford. In 1987, he received the honorary title of the most charming man in the world. During his career, Andrea managed to sing duet compositions with Nelly Furtado, Jennifer Lopez, Celine Dion, Ariana Grande and many others.

The tenor acts as a kind of intermediary between popular culture and opera. He challenges the public when he refuses to amplify his voice with a microphone. Recently, Bocelli prefers to devote more time to opera singing. Currently his discography includes fourteen albums. The singer was awarded his own star on the Walk of Fame.

Family and personal life

Bocelli's success is associated not only with his talent, but also with his greatest vitality. After losing his vision, the singer did not fall into depression, but continued to work on himself. He constantly smiles and holds charity concerts for his fans.

Music is the meaning of a tenor’s life, and this feeling is conveyed to his listeners. It introduces to the culture even those who initially do not see anything special in opera.

At the same time, the singer tries to lead an active lifestyle. He is an equestrian, enjoys skiing and spending time playing with children. The tenor also respects intellectual entertainment; he especially likes playing chess. His passion for his work made Andrea incredibly attractive to women, many of whom were hopelessly in love with the artist.

The singer met his first wife at a young age, when he performed in restaurants. It was there that he met the girl Enrica, who later gave birth to the tenor’s two beloved children. But a few years later, in 2002, the couple divorced. The reason was disagreement due to the artist’s constant tours.

After the breakup, Andrea entered into a relationship with colleague Veronica Berti. According to the singer, she inspired his creativity, and the girl also accompanied him on tour while serving as a manager. After a twelve-year relationship, a man and a woman finally decided to legalize their relationship.

Despite serious health problems, singer from Italy Andrea Bocelli managed to achieve real heights and become famous throughout the world. He is considered one of the most talented opera performers of our time. So how could a boy from a simple family achieve such dizzying success? Read in this article!

Andrea Bocelli: biography

Andrea was born in September 1958, in the small village of Lajatico, located in Tuscany. Today the performer is sixty years old.

An important moment in the biography of Andrea Bocelli in the photo: he was awarded a Hollywood star on the Walk of Fame.

Health problems

Even in early childhood, Bocelli was diagnosed with a serious eye disease. The boy's vision was falling at an incredible rate, and he was forced to constantly undergo operations.

During rehabilitation from sadness, Andrea was helped by a record player with records of Italian operas. The boy could listen to them for hours on end, imperceptibly starting to hum melodies and memorize them. Over time, Bocelli mastered the piano, flute and even learned to play the saxophone.

At the age of twelve, Andrea suffered a head injury while playing ball. The diagnosis was disappointing: a complication of glaucoma that made the boy completely blind.

Childhood and youth

Andrea Bocelli's family was never interested in music or other creative professions. His parents ran their own farm - they owned a farm with a vineyard.

Despite his illness, Bocelli was not going to give up and persistently strived for his dream. Problems only spurred the boy on and convinced him that he wanted to connect his life with music. Despite his blindness, Andrea continued to lead a normal life, no different from the lives of his peers.

While studying at the law university, the young man simultaneously took music lessons from Luciano Bettarini and, under his strict guidance, participated in musical competitions. Trying to earn money for his studies, Andrea combined studies at the university and singing in various cafes and restaurants. Another teacher, Franco Corelli, also helped Bocelli on his creative path.

Personal life

Family plays an important role in the biography of Andrea Bocelli. Andrea met his first wife, Enrica Cenzatti, while still studying at the law academy. Five years after their meeting, in 1992, the lovers legalized their relationship by tying the knot.

Children appeared in the family just as Andrea’s popularity grew. Constant performances, tours and filming on television did not make it possible to lead a calm and measured family life, so, after some time, the wife filed for divorce.

However, the Italian singer's bachelor life did not last long. Soon Andrea Bocelli and his wife appeared in the biography - he met the eighteen-year-old beauty Veronica Berti, who was the daughter of maestro Ivano Berti. A spark ran between them, and after a short time the couple began to live together. Veronica became for Bocelli not only his wife, but also his director.

The personal biography of Andrea Bocelli is no less important than the history of his creative career. Over time, the older children moved into the family of Andrea and Veronica, and in 2012, Virginia Bocelli, the daughter of Veronica and Andrea, was born.

Creative career

The turning point in the biography of Andrea Bocelli occurred in 1992. The recording of the song "Miserere" by the Italian artist was heard by Luciano Pavarotti, the most famous opera singer of the twentieth century. Luciano was amazed at the skill of the unprofessional performer, and since then Andrea Bocelli's career has rapidly taken off.

Literally a year later, he received his first prize in the “Discovery of the Year” category at a festival held in San Remo. After another, Bocelli entered the top performers in Italy with the musical composition Il mare calmo della sera, which later became a hit on his first album. At home, Andrea's album sold out in millions of copies in record time.

The second album, called Bocelli, also went platinum. It was appreciated by listeners throughout Europe, and Andrea was invited to concerts in Germany, France, and the Netherlands. In 1995, the performer performed before the Pope at the Vatican and received his blessing.

In Andrea's first albums one can find only classical opera songs, while during the writing of the third disc Neapolitan compositions began to appear in the singer's repertoire.

As befits a professional in her field, Andrea has a keen sense of beautiful melodies and voices. In 1999, together with the world famous singer Celine Dion, he performed the hit The Prayer, for which he was awarded the Golden Globe Awards. In a duet with Lara Fabian, nicknamed by critics “the owner of an angelic voice,” Bocelli sang the song Vivo per lei.

However, despite his popularity, the Italian singer performs in duets not only with world-famous pop stars. Andrea Bocelli gave his composition Con te partiro to the French performer Gregory Lemarchal, who suffered from cystic fibrosis. This talented singer died before reaching his twenty-fourth birthday.

Three years ago, in October 2015, Andrea recorded the song E Più Ti Penso together with American pop star Ariana Grande. Subsequently, the video for this composition received more than thirty-four million views on the YouTube video hosting site.

Andrea in Russia

Our country has always loved the work of Italian performers, and Andrea Bocelli was no exception. The Russians really liked the singer’s tenor, Andrea made a huge number of friends in Moscow.

The artist's first concerts in Russia took place in 2007, they took place in Moscow and St. Petersburg. A few more years later, Andrea gladly accepted Gazprom’s invitation to perform at a celebration in honor of the anniversary of a large company.

Bocelli also performed at the sixtieth birthday of Igor Krutoy, with whom they quickly became friends.

Andrea Bocelli now

More recently, at the beginning of 2016, Andrea visited Russia again. During the trip, he met Zara, a Russian pop star. Bocelli appreciated her talent and professionalism and himself invited her to sing a duet with him at a concert in the Kremlin. The colleagues performed three songs - the world-famous singles The Prayer and Time To Say Goodbye, as well as the new duet La Grande Storia.

Today Andrea Bocelli can be called the world's best-selling classical music performer. The artist lives on his estate not far from the city in which he was born. In addition to music, the Italian singer has other passions: for example, Andrea is passionate about horses, and he even has a small horse breeding farm on his farm.

There is still room in today's biography of Andrea Bocelli for his family and his wife, who never cease to please the performer. The singer’s youngest daughter, little Virginia Bocelli, loves singing more than anything else, which brings endless happiness to her father.

Bottom line

The biography of Andrea Bocelli is full of various instructive moments; every fan of his work should read it. Bocelli's story motivates and inspires: it is unlikely that anyone can remain indifferent after reading it. Each of us should remember that, with talent and incomparable perseverance, you can achieve any heights and conquer any heights. This is clearly shown in the biography of Andrea Bocelli: from an ordinary boy suffering from vision problems, the Italian became a world-famous performer of classical music and the author of a huge number of hits. Andrea is called the “golden tenor” and is considered one of the most talented opera performers of our time. All that remains is to wish the singer further development of his career and long life!

Andrea Bocelli. The biography of the great Italian tenor begins on September 22, 1958, when little Bocelli was born in the commune of Laiatico (province of Pisa). Already at the age of 6, Andrea learned to play the piano. Unfortunately, medicine could not defeat glaucoma; after 27 operations, all hopes were killed by an accidental blow to the face with a ball during children's games. Bocelli had just turned 12 years old at that time, and he remained blind for the rest of his life. As a result, the boy began to better perceive the world around him.

His friend Amos Martelacci helped the blind boy study in high school. This friendship helped Bocelli get rid of denial and maximalism; he stopped perceiving reality in black and white. Later he would name his first son after his friend.

After graduating from high school, Bocelli entered the University of Pisa to study law. Then he begins to play often in the evenings in bars and restaurants in Pisa; he is fluent in the saxophone and flute. This is how a young student earns his living and food. But Andrea’s real talent was his clear, soft voice, thanks to which the young man began to gain fans. Then Bocelli began taking singing lessons from Franco Corelli and studying the art of staging the voices of such great tenors as Benjamino Cigli, Mario Lanz, Mario del Monaco and Caruso.

Interesting on the web:

The creative path of Andrea Bocelli is the ascent of the legendary tenor to the pinnacle of fame.

In 1992, a competitive selection was organized to participate in the preparation of the song “Miserere”, in which Luciano Pavarotti became a recognized expert. It was then that Pavarotti heard an audio recording of Bocelli. After that, Luciano performed this recording, but Andrea often began to replace him on European tours.

In 1993, Bocelli won the San Remo Festival, and the following year he performed at this festival in a group of leaders, performing the song l mare calmo della sera. After this, Andrea recorded his first album, which went platinum a few months later. A year later, the tenor again took part in the festival, then his song “I’ll Go With You” became a real bestseller. Thanks to this, singer Andrea Bocelli discovered European horizons. His platinum discs became incredibly popular in Europe, and he began to participate in grandiose concerts on the same stage with great stars. Duet of Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli, included in the Sogno album, elevated the talented singer even higher. The tenor's voice is simply magical, it goes well with other voices, but at the same time stands out with its ringing, special string.

Blind Italian singer Andrea Bocelli today.

Surely nothing can stop the rise of Andrea Bocelli. Photos and interviews with the singer appear everywhere on the Internet and in magazines, his discs sell with amazing success, his songs are listened to by millions. After the tenor made his debut on the stage of the Verona Opera in front of a very influential and picky public, his talent began to unfold in two worlds. To date, the public has recognized Bocelli's voice as divine; it is the best in Italian opera.

The singer is quite rich, but material well-being is of little concern to Andrea Bocelli; he strives for other goals. He himself says that he has fully realized himself as an artist, making his dreams come true and earning a lot of money. Bocelli no longer cares about superficial, unnecessary things. He also called money extremely dangerous and compared it to a useful medicine, which in large doses can lead to death.

The famous Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli was born in September 1958 in the small village of Lajatico, which is located in Tuscany. The boy's family had nothing to do with music. Parents were engaged in their own farming, they kept a farm with vineyards.

Since childhood, Andrea has been diagnosed with an eye disease. His vision was rapidly deteriorating, and he constantly had to undergo operations. During periods of rehabilitation, the boy was saved by a record player with records of Italian operas, which he could listen to for hours. Unbeknownst to himself, Andrea began to hum the famous melodies and learn them. Gradually, the boy mastered playing the piano, flute, and even took saxophone lessons.

At the age of 12, the future singer suffered a head injury while playing ball. The doctors' diagnosis sounded like a death sentence - a complication of glaucoma, which made the child blind. But this did not stop Andrea on the path to her dream. He finally confirmed his intention to become a singer. The young man continued to lead a normal life.

In addition to studying at the law university, he takes lessons from Luciano Bettarini, under whose guidance he performs at local music competitions. In her youth, in order to pay for her education, Andrea had to combine studying with singing in cafes and restaurants. Another teacher who helped Andrea master the art of singing was Franco Corelli.

Creation

The year 1992 turned out to be a turning point in the biography of Andrea Bocelli: his recording of the song “Miserere” ended up with the great tenor, who was amazed at the singing skill of a non-professional. From this time on, Andrea Bocelli's ascent to the Olympus of fame began.

A year later, he received first prize at the Sanremo festival in the “Discovery of the Year” category. A year later, he entered the top Italian performers with the musical composition “Il mare calmo della sera”, which became a hit on the singer’s first album. The collection immediately sold out in millions of copies in Italy.

The second album, entitled "Bocelli", also went platinum and was a huge success throughout Europe. Bocelli is invited to give concerts in Germany, France, and the Netherlands. In 1995, he had the honor of speaking before the Pope at the Vatican and receiving his blessing.

If the singer's first albums presented only classical opera music, then by the time the third disc was written, famous Neapolitan songs appeared in the repertoire of the singer, who sings with his eyes closed.

The fourth collection “Romanza” consisted entirely of hit pop compositions. With the single “Time to say Goodbye,” which the young Italian performs together with, he conquers the whole world, after which he goes on a tour of North America.

Andrea Bocelli has an invariably good taste for beautiful melodies and beautiful voices. In 1999, he sang along with the hit "The Prayer", for which he received the Golden Globe Awards. Together with the Canadian singer, whom all music critics call the owner of an “angelic voice,” Andrea performed the song “Vivo per lei.”

The golden tenor participates not only in duets with stars. So the Italian gave his song “Con te partiro” to a young French singer who was sick with cystic fibrosis. Unfortunately, the talented singer died before he was 24 years old. There are many photos and videos of Gregory Lemarchal left online.

In 2015, Bocelli performed a duet with the rising American star, performing the single “E Piu Ti Penso” with her.

Personal life

While still a law student, Andrea met his first wife, Enrica Cenzatti. Five years after they first met in 1992, the couple got married. The birth of two sons, Amos and Matteo, coincided with the rise of Bocelli's popularity. The singer's constant travel and filming on television began to interfere with his family happiness, and after some time Enrica filed for divorce. In 2002, the family broke up.

But Andrea Bocelli did not remain a bachelor for long. At the age of 33, he met an 18-year-old girl, Veronica Berti, daughter of maestro Ivano Berti. An affair began between the young people, and after some time they began to live together. Veronica became not only the wife of the famous tenor, but also his director.

After some time, Bocelli's older children moved to his new family. And in 2012, the happy family was expecting a new addition: baby Virginia Bocelli was born.

Bocelli in Russia

In Russia, Italian singers have always been received with delight, and Andrea Bocelli was no exception. The phenomenal tenor immediately fell in love with Russians, and he made many friends in Moscow.

His first concerts in Moscow and St. Petersburg took place in 2007. A few years later, Bocelli happily accepted an invitation from Gazprom to perform at a gala evening, which was organized in honor of the anniversary of a large company.

In addition, the singer performs at the 60th anniversary of the composer, with whom he became great friends.

Andrea Bocelli now

At the beginning of 2016, Andrea Bocelli visited Russia again and met a Russian pop star - singer. The Italian musician appreciated the professionalism of the young artist and offered to perform three duets together at her Kremlin concert. In addition to the world-famous singles “The Prayer” and “Time To Say Goodbye”, Andrea Bocelli sang a new duet “La Grande Storia” with Zara.

Today, the best-selling performer of classical music and Italian pop hits lives on his estate near the town in which he was born. In addition to music, the maestro is involved with horses: on his farm there is a small horse breeding facility. His loved ones are his beloved wife Veronica and little daughter Virginia, who loves singing more than anything else, which endlessly pleases her father.

Discography

• "Il Mare Calmo della Sera" - (1994)
• "Bocelli" - (1995)
• "Viaggio Italiano" - (1997)
• "Aria - the opera album" - (1998)
• "Sogno" - (1999)
• "Arie sacre" - (1999)
• "Verdi" - (2000)
• "Cieli di Toscana" - (2001)
• "Sentimento" - (2002)
• "Andrea" - (2004)
• "Amore" - (2006)
• "Incanto" - (2006)
• "My Christmas" - (2009)
• "Notte Illuminata" - (2011)
• "Passione" - (2013)
• "Cinema" - (2015)

Sources: Vkontakte community Wikipedia In 1994, the brightest star lit up at the Italian Sanremo Festival. The world saw Andrea Bocelli. He was over 35 years old at that moment, can you imagine? In fact, Bocelli's breakthrough year was 1992 - it was then that Luciano Pavarotti first noticed him. It happened very interestingly. Zucchero Fornaciari (this is the same guy we know best of all) for this song) needed a tenor to record a demo version of the song Miserere. He co-wrote it with U2's Bono. That's when Andrea came in handy. How did it happen that until the age of 30 the world did not know that somewhere in Italy there was such a magical singer? Andrea Bocelli was born in Lajatico, Italy in September 1958. Already at the age of six he began to learn to play the piano, and later mastered the flute and saxophone. Andrea Bocelli was born in Lajatico, Italy in September 1958. Already at the age of six he began to learn to play the piano, and later mastered the flute and saxophone. Little Andrea He had vision problems since early childhood. He was diagnosed with congenital glaucoma. And when he was 12, he lost the ability to see completely - it’s not always good for boys to play football... Updated 19/08/11 02:49: Despite his obvious musical talents, Bocelli did not consider music as his future career until he graduated from the Faculty of Law of the University of Pisa and received his doctorate. Only then did Bocelli begin to seriously study his voice with the famous tenor Franco Corelli, simultaneously earning money for piano lessons in various groups. As I said, in 1992, Zucchero noticed him. Bocelli recorded Miserere with Pavarotti. And in 1993 he was on tour with Zucchero. I couldn’t find a video from their concerts, so let there be a duet of these two wonderful Italians from 1997. In 1994, Andrea waited for a breakthrough - he took part in San Remo! The song that opens the post brought Andrea victory. The album of the same name became very popular. Bocelli performed at a variety of events and went on tour with Gerardine Trova. Here, for example, all the participants in the annual gala concert sing All for love by Bryan Adams. Bocelli is also among them! In September, he performed for the first time in the opera, and then sang before the Pope! I’m not sure if this is exactly the performance, but it was Adeste Fideles who sang. Then everything turned out just as brilliantly. In November 1995, Bocelli toured the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Spain and France with a production of Night Of Proms, which also featured Brian Ferry, Al Jerr, Supertramp's Roger Hodgson and John Mays. in the video he sings an absolutely gorgeous song about a cable car! At the same time, Bocelli, as the winner of San Remo last year, participated again with a song that EVERYONE now knows! But it sounded completely different in 1996 at the farewell fight of the great boxer Henry Maske. Time to say goodbye? Sarah Brightman and Andrea had a great time seeing off the legendary athlete! Somewhere at the same time, Bocelli recorded a duet with Helen Segara (she, some time after this, became Esmeralda). Next are the concerts. albums. amazing popularity in Europe, participation in opera productions. One of the most significant milestones was his duet with Celine Dion. The song Prayer became the soundtrack to the cartoon The Quest for Camelot and was nominated for an Oscar (received a Globe, by the way)! Updated 19/08/11 02:50: And this is a performance from the Grammys in 1999. By the way, then Bocelli was nominated as best new artist - a rare case for an artist with a classical repertoire. And this is a very interesting video - Bocelli singing at a charity concert for Michael Jackson in Munich in 2000. He still lives in the mode of constant concerts and recordings. I'm going to binge on my favorite moments now. At the closing of the Olympic Games in Turin in 2006. And this is Nessun Dorma on Palace Square in St. Petersburg. It was a free concert in October. There was terrible rain! I couldn’t go. And then I regretted it so much! Updated 19/08/11 02:51: A couple of duets: With Aguilera With Pavarotti With Mary J. Bludge Now to his personal life: Bocelli met his first wife, Enrica Cenzatti, at the beginning of his career. They got married on June 27, 1992. Their first child, Amos, was born in February 1995. Their second son, Matteo, was born in October 1997. Updated 19/08/11 02:52: They separated in 2002. Although not yet divorced, Bocelli lives with his girlfriend and manager, Veronica Berti. But these photographs should prove that the strength of the spirit lies in the person himself!

Updated 19/08/11 02:52: This is my favorite video from Sesame Street: And this is my MOST favorite song: And finally: will you be in New York on September 5th? Go to his free concert in Central Park. And some beautiful photos: Updated 19/08/11 02:53: