Andrea Bocelli illness. Andrea Bocelli: I spend my life singing, but I prefer silence

“I was born on September 22, 1958 in the Tuscan village of Lajatico, near Volterra. Under the influence of religious foundations, as well as inspired by the example of my parents, I learned not to submit to the blows of fate, but to try to strengthen my strength in confronting them.
As far as I can remember, absolutely every moment of my life was filled with a passionate love for music. The greatest tenors of Italy - among them Del Monaco, Gigli, and to a greater extent Corelli have always aroused my great admiration and inspired me when I was still very young. Burning with a love for opera, I devoted my entire life to the dream of becoming a great tenor.
Despite the fact that I live in a changing world, I calmly accept everything that life gives me: I enjoy the most simple things and readily accept any challenge of fate. I always try to remain optimistic, following the true meaning of the statement French writer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry: “We truly see only with our hearts. The essence of things is invisible to our eyes."

Andrea Bocelli

Andrea Bocelli was born on September 22, 1958 in the Italian province of Pisa, in Lajatico. His family owned a small vineyard and Andrea's father made a small amount of wine every year, Chianti Bocelli. Already in early childhood Andrea started playing the church organ.
One day, Andrea's parents, Edie and Alessandro, noticed that something was wrong with their child's eyes, and they turned to a doctor who discovered Andrea had hereditary glaucoma, which in the future could develop into complete blindness. Andrea underwent numerous eye surgeries, which helped to slightly delay the progression of the disease.
It was in the hospital that Senora Edie noticed that classical music had a calming effect on her baby, and the whole family began purchasing recordings of classical and opera performers, from which Andrea’s love for opera began, a lifelong love. His parents prepared him for the moment he would become permanently blind by sending him to a school for the blind, where he learned the alphabet for the blind and learned to play the flute. Andrea was always an active and playful child, and it was here, at a school for the blind, while playing football, that he received that ill-fated blow to the eye with a ball, which led to complete blindness.
His parents supported their son and always encouraged him to do what he loved. He was not allowed to feel like he was disabled. The boy rode horseback, rode a bicycle, swam and played with other children. He took piano lessons, and his younger brother Alberto took violin lessons. But most of all Andrea loved singing, and everyone liked the way he sang. He left a school for the blind and attended two more schools, then trained as a lawyer at the University of Pisa, and began his career at the Palazzo Giustizia in Pisa. While still at university, Andrea began earning money by playing the piano and performing songs in bars.
As a teenager, Andrea wins several vocal competitions and also becomes a soloist in the school choir. After graduating from school, he studies at the Faculty of Law of the University of Pisa and receives a law degree.
For Bocelli, absorbed in opera music, the dream and goal of his whole life was the desire to be a great tenor. Franco Corelli takes young man to students. This takes place in Turin, where Andrea comes in search of a dream come true. This was the end of his career as a lawyer. Thus, the young tenor begins serious vocal training during the day, and at night he earns his living by performing in restaurants.
1992 becomes a decisive year for the young tenor. Andrea successfully auditions for the Italian “rock star” Zucchero. A demo recording of the song ends up with Luciano Pavarotti. In 1994, Bocelli successfully debuted at the Sanremo music festival. In September, Pavarotti personally invites the young tenor to participate in concert program in his hometown- Modena. That same year, on Christmas Eve, Andrea Bocelli was honored to perform before the Pope.
One night, while playing in a bar under open air"Boschetto" in Chianni, Andrea met 17-year-old Enrica Cenzatti. Before this he had no shortage of girlfriends, but this was real love. Their wedding took place on June 27, 1992, and Enrica later gave Andrea two sons, Amos and Matteo. For reasons known only to Andrea and Enrique, they officially filed for divorce in early 2002. After the divorce, Andrea met new love– Veronica Berti, a woman who shares many of his interests, including a love of opera, the daughter of the Italian baritone Ivano Berti, now Bocelli’s impresario. At the end of August 2011, the couple announced Veronica’s pregnancy; this would be her first child, and Andrea’s third. The addition is expected in March 2012. There are no weddings expected at the moment. On March 21, 2012, Veronica Berti gave birth to a child to her husband, Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli. The newborn girl was named Virginia.
When you listen to Andrea Bocelli's recordings, you are amazed at the amazing energy of his voice and performance style. It seemed that the singer was reliving moments of melodramatic and romantic stories, about which his musical repertoire narrates. Bocelli's voice literally makes you die and rise from love, soar above the ground and become part of it magical music. Not to mention that powerful flow of vital energy that makes the listener simply love life.
Everyone likes the Italian, whose voice can mix melodrama with a song from San Remo. In Germany, the country that discovered it in 1996, it is constantly present in the charts. In the United States, he is a cult object: there is something human or all too human about him that reconciles the housewife with the system of “stars,” from Steven Spielberg and Kevin Costner to the wife of the vice president. President Bill Clinton, “Bill the Saxophone,” who knows the score for the film “Kansas City” by heart, declares himself a Bocelli fan. And he wanted Bocelli to sing at the White House and at the Democratic meeting. Now Dad Wojtyla has intervened in the matter. The Holy Father recently received Bocelli at his summer residence, Castel Gandolfo, to hear him perform the Jubilee 2000 anthem. And he released this hymn into the world with a blessing. And let it not be said that Bocelli owes his success to the widespread good nature and desire to protect him, caused by his blindness. Of course, physical disability plays a role in this story. But the fact remains: I like his voice.

FAMILY BUSINESS
At home in Lagiatico, province of Pisa, on his family estate, Andrea and his brother Alberto, who is directly involved in this, work in the family tradition to improve the quality of wines own production. As Andrea says, they do this in memory of their father, Alessandro, who at one time devoted all his strength to cultivating the vineyards planted by his grandfather in the lands of Tuscany to produce the famous Chianti.

The wine, mostly red, is called "Le Terre di Sandro" ("Sandro's Land"), in memory of his father, and this year it produced its first harvest. “My brother and I decided to try to make real wine, and the first results exceeded all expectations,” says Andrea. The first harvest is not intended for sale, since its quantity is very small, less than 3000 bottles.
“We kept it just for ourselves,” the singer said. “But we are planning to expand production. In the future we will send some bottles to the American market. We are doing this in memory of the babbo (father), who so passionately continued the work of his ancestors. Wine is a universal cure for fatigue when problems overwhelm us. We We call it "bottles of joy."

Andrea made his first downhill skiing trip with Tomba while on vacation in the mountains (Apennines). Since the descent was not difficult, the singer easily rolled down the mountain twice. But when his companion suggested moving on to a more difficult descent, Andrea refused: “I passed this test with honor and reached the finish line on my feet. Why tempt your fate?”

When asked if he felt fear at the same time, Andrea Bocelli said: “For me, sport has never been a challenge to anyone or anything. I did what I wanted to do, I believe that in general you need to understand what your interest is in, and then develop it, because it helps to enjoy life and fight boredom. My greatest fear is when I go on stage. It’s not just fear, it’s nervous tension. But the fear of physical risk was never truly unknown to me, especially in my younger years."

However, Andrea Bocelli survived the most dangerous moment when he made a parachute jump. "One day I was at an airfield near my house, there were several young people practicing parachute jumping. They asked me if I wanted to jump. I said - I'm free all day today, of course I'll try. It was the only one in "My life once. My father was with me. Obviously, he had a different opinion about what I was going to do. My wife knew nothing. Otherwise, she would no doubt forbid me to jump."

The singer does not believe that by engaging in this type of sport, he is at greater risk due to blindness. "The risk is the same for everyone, regardless of physical characteristics. The risk is whether your parachute opens or not... It's no more risky than crossing a roadway or flying an airplane."

Albums

Studio albums

• 1994: Il Mare Calmo della Sera
• 1995: Bocelli
• 1997: Viaggio Italiano
• 1998: Aria - the opera album
• 1999: Sogno
• 1999: Sacred Arias
• 2000: La Boheme (Puccini)
• 2000: Verdi
• 2001: Cieli di Toscana
• 2002: Sentimento
• 2003: Tosca (Puccini)
• 2004: Andrea
• 2004: Il Trovatore (Verdi)
• 2005: Massenet (Werther)
• 2006: Pagliacci (Leoncavallo)
• 2006: Amore
• 2007: Under The Desert Sky
• 2007: Cavalleria Rusticana(Mascagni)
• 2007: Vivere. Live in Tuscany
• 2008: Carmen (Bizet)
• 2008: Incanto
• 2009: My Christmas
• 2010: Andrea Chenier (Umberto Giordano)
• 2011: Notte Illuminata
• 2011: Andrea Bocelli - Concerto: One Night In Central Park

Operas

• — “La bohème” (G. Puccini), conductor Zubin Mehta (Rodolphe)
• — “Tosca” (G. Puccini), conductor Zubin Mehta (Cavaradossi)
• — “Il Trovatore” (Verdi), conductor Steven Mercurio (Manrico)
• — “Werther” (Massenet), conductor Yves Abel (Werther)
• — “Carmen” (Bizet), conductor Chung Myung-hun
• — “Pagliacci” (Leoncavallo), conductor Steven Mercurio (Canio)
• — “Honour Rusticana” (Mascagni), conductor Stephen Mercurio (Turiddu)
• — “André Chénier” (Giordano), conductor Marco Armigliato (André Chénier)

Singles

Among the fans of the lyric tenor Andrea Bocelli are President Clinton and the Pope, Cindy Crawford, teenagers and housewives, and in 1987 he was named among the most charming men in the world. The singer was mercilessly criticized for his love for the pop genre; he sang with Celine Dionne, Nelly Furtado, Sarah Brightman, and Jennifer Lopez. At the same time, 80 million albums with the singer’s recordings were purchased by both connoisseurs classical genre, and people without music education. In addition, the famous tenor enjoys skiing, horse riding and cycling. It would seem that such a biography is not uncommon for many star performers, if not for one circumstance - Andrea Bocelli lost his sight back in childhood and, according to him, perceives the beauty of the world with his inner gaze.

The future star performer was born in 1958 (September 22). Family farm Bocelli was in the Tuscan village of Lajatico, near Pisa. None of Andrea's relatives was involved in music or singing, and his father had absolutely no musical ear. However, there was a record player in the house with many records, including recordings of opera performers, which stood by the boy’s bed while he was sick.

At the age of six, Andrea could independently pick out a melody on the piano, then he mastered the flute and saxophone, and sang in school and church choirs. Unfortunately, he had big problems with vision, and numerous operations did not bring results. At the age of 12, the irreparable happened - while playing football, Andrea was hit on the head with a ball, after which he completely stopped seeing. Someone else might have withdrawn into their misfortune, but Andrea, by his own admission, was fascinated by the music. He continued to study music, took singing lessons from Luciano Bettarini, participated in various competitions, and in 1971 he became first in a regional singing competition.

After graduating from school, the young man entered the University of Pisa, combining his studies with performances in restaurants and bars. He became interested in French chanson and Sinatra songs, although at the same time most of earnings went to pay for master classes of the famous “prince of tenors” Franco Core

lly. While studying, the young man met his future wife Enrica. In 1992, when Andrea was already married and received a law degree, but had not yet started professional activity and continued his vocal lessons, something happened in his life landmark event. The restaurant performer was cast by the rock singer Zuccherini to record a demo version of his famous composition “Miserere”. When Luciano Pavarotti heard this recording, he could not believe that the performer was not a professional tenor.

IN next year Andrea, after speaking at a private party, met the head music company"Zugar" by Katarina Zugar, who invited him to perform a new composition "Il mare calmo della sera". With this song, which became the title song of his debut album, Bocelli triumphantly won the Sanremo Festival (1994), after which he was invited to perform in Pavarotti's concert, and then in the Christmas concert in the Vatican. Throughout 1995, despite the birth of his first son Amos, Andrea Bocelli spent touring Europe. He sang in capitals and big cities Germany, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain along with famous choirs And symphony orchestras, his vocal partners were John Miles, Bryan Ferry, Ali Jarreau. The album "Bocelli" was compiled from hits of various genres performed by Andrea, which became platinum in many countries.

many countries, and received a double platinum rating in Italy and six times in Belgium. The following year, Andrea Bocelli released two more albums: "Romanza", which was based on his duet with Sarah Brightman in the composition "It's Time to Say Goodbye", and "Viaggio". Latest album Somewhat ironically it was called “music for emigrants”, since it was based on the most popular arias from Italian operas, as well as famous Neapolitan songs performed in a traditional manner. Despite this characteristic, 300 thousand records of "Viaggio" were sold in just a few months.

The singer toured the United States several times, where he enjoyed enormous success: the price of a ticket for his performance reached $500, and in 2010 Bocelli was awarded his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The recording of the opera “La Bohème” (1995), where the popular tenor sang the role of Rudolf, as well as his album of the opera classics “Aria” (1998) were no less successful. Bocelli's fame as an international performer was further strengthened when he performed the song "The Prayer" with Celine Dionne, which formed the basis of the album "Sogno", released in 1999 and brought him a Golden Globe Award. The release of the album and single was again accompanied by recordings of new collections of classics - "Arie sacre" (1999) and "Verdi" (2000), and the album "Cieli di Toscana" (2001) consisted of pop

ardent Italian songs and compositions. To reproaches for his predilection for “pop”, Andrea replied that the main thing in a song is that it pleases the soul, and continued to choose a repertoire of a mixed style.

A large number of performances led to discord in the family - in 2002, Enrica Bocelli, despite the fact that the family already had younger son Matteo (born 1997) filed for divorce, while the children remained with their father. In the same year, the singer began to appear in the company of 18-year-old Veronica Berti, daughter of singer Ivano Berti, who became his impresario. Bocelli's success continued to grow - sold-out concerts, recordings of "Tosca" (2001), "Il Trovatore" (2003), "Werther" (2004), "Carmen" (2005), "Pagliacci" (2006), " Country honor" (2010). At the same time, new pop music albums were released - “Andrea” (2004), “Amore” (2005), etc.

In 2007, Andrea Bocelli toured Russia for the first time, then his performances were repeated in 2011, 2013 and 2014. The last album of the great singer to date was “Cinema” (2015), and the last recorded opera was “Manon Lescaut”. In 2012, Veronica and Andrea had a daughter, Virginia, and in March 2014 they legalized their relationship. A story about the famous tenor would be incomplete without mentioning his charitable foundation, which helps the visually impaired, as well as subsidizes new technologies to expand their capabilities.

Andrea Bocelli. Biography of the great Italian tenor begins 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 colors. Later he would name his first son after his friend.

At the end 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 album Sogno, exalted talented singer 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.

Andrea Bocelli is recognized as one of the best tenors of our time. His ability to sing operatic repertoire as if he were singing songs, and songs as if they were arias from operas, brought him worldwide fame and the love of the public. He is rightfully considered the popularizer of opera music. Thanks to Andrea Bocelli, thousands of people discovered classical music and felt its beauty.

As a musician, Andrea Bocelli did not become famous until he was 34 years old. Moreover, he did not particularly think about a career as a singer and musician. on his life path many obstacles awaited him. The very first - and most terrible, perhaps - is his blindness.

Andrea Bocelli was born on September 22, 1958 in the small Italian village of Laiotico in Tuscany. Since childhood the boy had serious problems with vision. Doctors diagnosed him with glaucoma. The parents were exhausted and did everything possible to save their son’s sight. Andrea underwent 27 operations, but there was no improvement. When the boy was 12 years old, all attempts to restore his vision were dashed by an accident - due to an accidental hit to the head with a ball while playing football, a brain hemorrhage occurred, and Bocelli was completely blind.

Since childhood, the child discovered a talent for music. Already at the age of 6, Bocelli could play the piano, and later learned to play the flute and saxophone. The boy was absorbed in music, and especially opera. He developed a pleasant voice, and as a child Bocelli was a local celebrity, winning several youth vocal competitions and being a soloist in the school choir.

Italy has given the world many wonderful singers, artists, and musicians. The ability to sing in Italy is not a very rare gift, and, of course, not everyone young talents become world famous. Probably, Andrea Bocelli was guided by these considerations when he decided to enroll in the Faculty of Law at the University of Pisa. During the day the young man studied, and in the evenings he worked in restaurants playing the flute and saxophone, and then singing. One day, having learned that his childhood idol Franco Corelli had come to a neighboring town to conduct master classes, Bocelli went to see the maestro. Hearing the young man sing, Corelli realized that he had a rare gift in front of him, and took Bocelli as a student. After graduating in 1980 with a law degree, Bocelli continued studying music and performing in restaurants. He never began his legal career.

The next 12 years were not marked by anything remarkable. Future great singer continued to work part-time in restaurants playing the piano and singing.

In 1992, Italian rock star Zucchero planned to sing the song "Miserere" with Luciano Pavarotti. Before recording the original, it was necessary to sing a demo version. For this purpose, a competitive selection of tenor singers was organized. Andrea Bocelli came to the audition. Inexplicably, he immediately captured the essence and soul of the song, without any effort. When the recording was given to Luciano Pavarotti to listen to, for a long time he could not believe that this voice belonged not to a professional singer, but to an unknown pianist from a restaurant.

Thus began the rise of Andrea Bocelli to world stage. Throughout 1992, he toured with the song "Miserere", often replacing Pavarotti at performances. In 1994 he won the Sanremo festival in the category " New artist", receiving the highest rating.

Andrea Bocelli performed with many world stars: Luciano Pavarotti, Celine Dion, Ali Jarreau, Sarah Brightman and others. But most importantly, he was able to instill a love for classical music in the hearts of a wide range of people. opera repertoire. This is evidenced by the huge circulation of his albums and popularity in the charts. Everyone falls in love with the opera performed by him - even those who are very far from classical music.

Up to the present time the singer busy schedule tours. In February 2017 alone, he plans to visit several cities in the USA and Europe: Orlando, Miami, Duluth, Copenhagen, Oslo, Stockholm.

Perhaps his blindness played a certain role in Andrea Bocelli's dizzying success. Still, this is a very terrible illness, and people sympathized with him and tried to help. But, of course, this alone is not enough to become a celebrity admired by millions of people.

The singer himself believes in fate, but understands it not as predestination, but as a series of actions that lead to one or another result. “I believe that every person has a destiny, a path that he is destined to take through life. There are obstacles along the way, and a person must make choices and decisions. The choice is ours whether to make the right decisions along the way. We will have complete freedom of choice in making decisions, but we cannot change the direction of our path or rewind time.”.

“I don’t think you can become a singer at will. This is decided by those who are next to you. Perhaps you shouldn’t say: “listen, I’ll sing for you,” but if those around you say: “please sing for us,” then...”

His voice cannot be confused with any other: soft and powerful at the same time, very multifaceted, at present he is perhaps the most sought-after Italian voice not only in Europe, but also in the USA. His CDs sell in great demand, and his concerts attract 20,000 spectators. But despite such success, if he is asked a question about himself pleasant memory V musical career, Andrea Bocelli responds like this: “It was a concert at the Macerata arena. An old man came into my dressing room and said: “Signor Bocelli, I have been listening to opera all my life. I debated for a long time whether to go to your concert. But I must admit that your performance of the aria from “The Artesian” was perfect.” It's worth a lot.

Biography

Andrea Bocelli was born on September 22, 1958 in the small town of Lajatico in the province of Pisa and grew up among the Tuscan fields. “As if hypnotized, I listened to excerpts from operas,” Andrea recalls. - At the age of six I was already learning to play the piano, then the flute and saxophone. And I was always asked to sing for relatives.”

“My parents,” Bocelli recalls, “played decisive role in my choice, quickly noticing my musical inclinations. My mother told me, for example, that when I heard music, I immediately stopped crying. My parents and relatives competed in the number of CDs they gave me and noticed what particularly fascinated me opera music, these great voices touched my fantasy.”

Unfortunately, due to congenital glaucoma, Andrea's vision was weak from birth, and at the age of 12 he completely lost the ability to see after an accident when, while playing football and standing at the goal, he was hit by a ball in the very eye that still had some vision ...

After graduating from the Lyceum, Andrea enters the Faculty of Law of the University of Pisa, receives a diploma, but does not stop singing. Moreover, he becomes a student of tenor Franco Corelli. And for financial support, he does not neglect to express himself from time to time in drunk bars. During this period, he meets Enrica, his future wife, who will give him two sons: Amos and Matteo.

Unfortunately, the couple separated in 2002. Currently, Andrea Bocelli is accompanied through life by Veronica Berti, a businesswoman and singer, the daughter of the Ancona baritone Ivano Berti.

Andrea Bocelli and Veronica Berti. Photozimbio. com

The beginning of a musical career

"Official" start singing career Bocelli was almost accidental: he takes part in the test recording of the famous “Miserere”, which Zucchero Fornaciari arranges in 1992 to offer the song to Luciano Pavarotti. The great tenor, listening to Bocelli’s performance, will comment on it like this: “Thank you for the wonderful song, but let Andrea sing it. He's the best fit for her." As you know, Pavarotti will later record this song, but on Zucchero’s European tour it will be Andrea Bocelli who will replace Pavarotti on stage.

A little later, in 1993, Bocelli’s discographic career began. With the song "Miserere", performing both parts, he goes through qualifying round to the music festival in Sanremo. And in 1994 he was invited to San Remo as famous performer, and with the song “Il mare calmo della sera” (“The Quiet Evening Sea”) he receives a record number of votes in the “New Proposals” category. Releases his first album with the same name, which goes platinum within a few weeks.

Worldwide recognition

The following year, 1995, Andrea returned to the festival with the song “Con te partirò” (“I’ll go with you”), which will be included in the Bocelli album and will become a double platinum disc in Italy.

In the same year, taking part in a European tour (“Night of the Proms”), in which Bryan Ferry, Al Jarreau and other celebrities took part, Bocelli already sang in front of an audience of five hundred thousand, not counting tens of millions of television viewers. Worldwide success comes immediately. Singles "Con te partirò" and English version The songs "Time to Say Goodbye" are breaking sales records in many countries, and the albums are receiving awards throughout Europe. In France, this single remained at the top of the charts for six weeks, in Belgium - for twelve weeks! The album "Bocelli" goes four times platinum in Germany (almost two million copies sold) and twice platinum in Italy.

And Bocelli's next album, "Romanza", released in 1996, reaches the heights of incredible international success. Just a few weeks after its release, the disc goes platinum in almost all countries where it was released, and in the press the Tuscan tenor is compared in popularity to Enrico Caruso.

In 1995, the CD "Viaggio Italiano" ("Italian Journey") was released - Bocelli's contribution to the popularization of Italian opera in the world. And already in 1998, the international debut of the classical music disc “Aria” immediately brought him to the top of the charts of both classical and popular music.

Simultaneously with numerous tours during this period, Bocelli received proposals for interpretation and popularization of lyric operas as if from a cornucopia.

“Luck never left me,” the singer comments on this period. In fact, it is precisely these days that it comes out new album“Sogno” (“Dream”), so long-awaited by the public that it immediately soars to first place in the European hit parade and fourth in the American chart. In the discography, such a triumph can be compared, perhaps, with the success of Domenico Modugno’s “Volare” in 1958. In the USA, even the term “Bocellimania” appeared.

The 1999 album "Arie sacre" becomes the classical music disc of the best-selling artist of all time. In 2000, after singing in the Vatican in the presence of the Pope on the occasion of the Jubilee Year, Bocelli released his fourth classic album Verdi, followed by his first complete opera, La Bohème. After such serious works, in 2001 the “light” album “Cieli di Toscana” (“Tuscan Skies”) was born, and three years later a pop disc with simple name“Andrea”, in which, however, in addition to Andrea himself, numerous “guests” take part, including Amedeo Mingi and Mario Reyes.

Bocelli's charity concert at the Colosseum in May 2009 - to help victims of the earthquake in Abruzzo. Photo chronica.it

Recognition comes not only from the public, but also from the state: on February 6, 2006, Bocelli received the Order of Merit for the Italian Republic.

And on March 2, 2010, the singer was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contribution to performing arts(opera).

Andrea Bocelli and his Hollywood star. Photo: crisalidepress.it

It would seem that such a dizzying success could change the views on the life of the Tuscan tenor, alienate him from his family, from friends, from his attachment to the Tuscan fields... But no, as recognition comes from all corners of the world, Andrea never tires of repeating : “Success is just an accident. You can't get too attached to him. There are many other things in life. When I return home, I close the door behind me and have dinner with my loved ones. The only thing I bring with me is my voice, also because I have to practice at least two hours a day.”

Andrea Bocelli with his sons and Veronica Berti. Photo oggi.it

Discography

Studio albums

1997: Viaggio Italiano

1997: Aria - the opera album

1999: Sacred Arias

2001: Cieli di Toscana

2002: Sentimento

2009: My Christmas

Cover album"My Christmas"Photogetmusik.ws

Operas

1995 - “La bohème” (G. Puccini), conductor Zubin Mehta (Rodolphe)

2001 - “Tosca” (G. Puccini), conductor Zubin Mehta (Cavaradossi)

2003 - “Il Trovatore” (Verdi), conductor Steven Mercurio (Manrico)

2004 - “Werther” (Massenet), conductor Yves Abel (Werther)

2005 — “Carmen” (Bizet), conductor Chung Myung-hun

2006 — “Pagliacci” (Leoncavallo), conductor Steven Mercurio (Canio)

2006 — “Honour Rusticana” (Mascagni), conductor Stephen Mercurio (Turiddu)

2010 - “André Chénier” (Giordano), conductor Marco Armigliato (André Chénier)

Solo

1994: “Il mare calmo della sera”

1995: "Con te partirò"/"Vivere"

1995: "Macchine da guerra"

1995: "Per amore"

1999: "Ave Maria"

1999: "Canto della Terra"

2001: "Melodrama"

2001: "Mille Lune Mille Onde"

2004: “Dell’amore non si sa”

2004: "Un nuovo giorno"

2009: "White Christmas/Bianco Natale"

Theater of Silence

In his hometown of Lajatico, Andrea Bocelli organized the original “Theater of Silence” (Teatro del Silenzio), the official opening of which took place on July 27, 2006.

Concert of Andrea Bocelli at the Theater of Silence. Photo lajatico.info

According to the plan, the unique open-air theater is “silent” 364 days a year, and only one day is dedicated to the performance. The structure consists of a "stage" surrounded by beams, and in the center there is an impressive sculpture human face, created by Polish sculptor Igor Mitorai for the play Manon Lescaut, and then donated to the theater.

At the base of the stage there are several granite blocks, and the seats for spectators on “days of silence” are removed and the stalls turn into an artificial lake.

"Theater of Silence" during the "rest" period. Photo trekearth.com

Currently, the “Theater of Silence” is a place that numerous tourists come to see, and once a year Andrea Bocelli performs here.