Bocelli was made a Grand Officer of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic in 2006, and was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on 2 March 2010, for his contribution to Live Theater, and he was awarded a gold medal for Merit in Serbia in 2022. Singer Celine Dion has said that "if God would have a singing voice, he must sound a lot like Andrea Bocelli",[4][14] and record producer David Foster has often described Bocelli's voice as the most beautiful in the world.[15][16]
Early life
Bocelli was born to Alessandro and Edi Bocelli on 22 September 1958.[17][18] His sight was impaired from birth due to congenital glaucoma. He stated that his mother's decision to give birth to him and overrule the doctor's advice was the inspiration for him to oppose abortion.[18]
Bocelli grew up on his family's farm where they sold farm machinery and made wine in the small village of La Sterza, a frazione of Lajatico, Tuscany, Italy, about 40 km (25 mi) south of Pisa.[19] His mother and younger brother Alberto still live in the family home; his father died in 2000.[20]
Bocelli showed a great passion for music as a young boy. His mother has said that music was the only thing that would comfort him. He started piano lessons at age 6 and later learned to play the flute, saxophone, trumpet, trombone, guitar, and drums.[17] His nanny Oriana gave him the first record of Franco Corelli, and he began to show interest in pursuing the career of a tenor.[21] By age 7, he was able to recognize the famous voices of the time and tried to emulate the great singers.[21]
At age 12, Bocelli lost his vision completely after being hit in the eye with a football.[13][22] Doctors resorted to leeches in a last-ditch effort to save his sight, but they were unsuccessful and he remained blind.[23]
Bocelli also spent time singing during his childhood.[24] He gave his first concert in a small village not far from where he was born.[21] He won his first song competition at age 14 with "'O sole mio" at the Margherita d'Oro in Viareggio.[24] He finished secondary school in 1980, and then studied law at the University of Pisa.[25][17] To earn money, he performed evenings in piano bars, and it was there that he met his future wife Enrica in 1987.[17] He completed law school and spent one year as a court-appointed lawyer.[26]
Career
1992–1994: Sanremo and Il mare calmo della sera
In 1992, Italian rock star Zucchero held auditions for tenors to make a demo tape of his song "Miserere", to send to Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti. After hearing Bocelli on tape, Pavarotti urged Zucchero to use Bocelli instead of him. Pavarotti eventually persuaded Zucchero to record the song with Bocelli, and it became a hit throughout Europe. In Zucchero's European concert tour in 1993, Bocelli accompanied him to sing the duet, and he was also given solo sets in the concerts, singing "Nessun dorma" from Giacomo Puccini's opera Turandot.[27] Bocelli signed with the Sugar Music label in Milan after Caterina Caselli heard him sing "Miserere" and "Nessun Dorma" at a birthday party for Zucchero.[citation needed]
In December, Bocelli entered the preliminary round of the Sanremo Music Festival in the category of Giovani, performing "Miserere". He won the preliminary competition with the highest marks ever recorded in the newcomers section. On 28 December, he debuted in the classical world in a concert at the Teatro Romolo Valli in Reggio Emilia.[27] In February 1994, he entered the main Sanremo Festival competition with "Il mare calmo della sera", and he won the newcomers section, again with a record score. Following his win, Bocelli released his debut album of the same name in April, and it entered the Italian Top Ten, being certified platinum within weeks.[27]
In May 1994, he toured with pop singer Gerardina Trovato.[27] In September, he sang at Pavarotti's annual Charity Gala concert, Pavarotti International in Modena, where he sang Ruggiero Leoncavallo's "Mattinata" and sang a duet with Pavarotti, it:Maurizio Morante's "Notte e Piscatore".[27] In September, he made his opera debut as Macduff in Verdi's Macbeth at the Teatro Verdi in Pisa.[28] Bocelli had been an agnostic, but around 1994, partly as a result of immersing himself in the works of Russian author Leo Tolstoy, he returned to the practice of the Catholic faith.[29] He performed the hymn "Adeste Fideles" in Rome before Pope John Paul II in St. Peter's Basilica at Christmas.[27]
1995–1997: Bocelli and Romanza
As winner of the newcomers section at the 1994 Sanremo Festival, Bocelli was invited to return the following year. He entered the main competition with "Con te partirò" and finished in fourth place.[30] The song was included on his second album, Bocelli, produced by Mauro Malavasi and released in November 1995. In Belgium, "Con te partirò" became the best-selling single of all time.[31]
His third album, Viaggio Italiano, was released in Italy in 1996.[30] He was invited to sing a duet with English soprano Sarah Brightman at the final bout of German boxerHenry Maske. Brightman approached Bocelli after she heard him singing "Con te partirò" while she was dining in a restaurant. Changing the title lyric of the song to "Time to Say Goodbye", they re-recorded it as a duet with members of the London Symphony Orchestra and sang it as a farewell for Maske.[32] The single debuted atop the German charts, where it stayed for fourteen weeks. With sales nearing three million copies, and a sextuple platinum award, "Time to Say Goodbye" eclipsed the previous best-selling single by more than one million copies.[30] In 1996 he topped the Spanish singles chart with a duet with Marta Sánchez, "Vivo por ella", the Spanish version of "Vivo per lei", recorded with Giorgia for his 1997 compilation album, Romanza. He also recorded a Portuguese version of the song with Brazilian singer Sandy.[citation needed]
The same year, Bocelli recorded "Je vis pour elle", the French version of "Vivo per lei", as a duet with French singer Hélène Ségara. Released in December 1997, the song became a hit in Belgium (Wallonia) and France, where it reached No. 1 on the charts. To date, it is the best-selling single for Ségara, and the second for Bocelli after "Time to Say Goodbye". On 3 March, he appeared in Hamburg, Germany, with Sarah Brightman to receive the ECHO music award for "Best Single of the Year".[30]
In the summer of 1997, he gave 22 open-air concerts in Germany, and an indoor concert in Oberhausen on 31 August. In September, he performed in concert at the Piazza dei Cavalieri in Pisa for the home video A Night in Tuscany (Italian: una notte nella Toscana) with guests Nuccia Focile, Sarah Brightman and Zucchero. The concert was also Bocelli's first concert to air on PBS, as part of the In The Spotlight series. It also marked Bocelli's debut to American audiences. On 14 September, in Munich, Germany, he received an ECHO Klassik Best Seller of the Year award for his album, Viaggio Italiano.[30][33]
Back in Italy in Bologna on 27 September, he sang at the International Eucharistic Congress. On 19 October, he sang at the TeleFood benefit concert held in the Vatican City to raise awareness about world hunger. On 25 October, he received a Bambi Award in the Klassik category in Cologne, Germany.[30]
1998–1999: Aria: The Opera Album, Sogno and Sacred Arias
Bocelli made his debut in a major operatic role in 1998 when he played Rodolfo in a production of La bohème at the Teatro Comunale in Cagliari from 18 to 25 February.[34] His fifth album Aria: The Opera Album was released in March.[35]
From June to August, he toured North and South America. In September, he received his second Echo Klassik award, this time for Best Selling Classical Album with Aria: The Opera Album.[35] On Thanksgiving Eve, Bocelli was a guest on Céline Dion's television special These Are Special Times in which he joined Dion to sing "The Prayer" and he also sang "Ave Maria" solo. The duet was included on Dion's album These Are Special Times (1998) and was re-issued with the DVD of the TV special in 2007. The song also appeared on the Quest for Camelot soundtrack in 1998 and on Bocelli's album, Sogno, the following year.
From 11 to 24 April, he toured the West Coast of North America, from San Diego to Vancouver, with a final performance at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. Actress Elizabeth Taylor stood by his side on the stage during the encore, while he sang "The Prayer".[37] At the invitation of Steven Spielberg, Bocelli sang in Los Angeles on 15 May before Bill Clinton at an event on behalf of the Democratic Party. At the end of May, he toured Portugal and Spain and sang with Portuguese Fado singer Dulce Pontes. On 27 June, he took part in the Michael Jackson benefit concert for suffering children in Munich's Olympic Stadium.[37]
He also performed at Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills and gave further concerts in Detroit, Cleveland and Chicago, and made an appearance on Jay Leno's first installment of The Tonight Show. Then Mayor of New York CityRudy Giuliani gave him the Crystal Apple award. His seventh album Sacred Arias, which contains exclusively sacred music, was released worldwide on 8 November, and two weeks later reached number one on the US Classic Billboard charts – making Bocelli the first vocalist to hold all top three places on the chart, with Aria, the opera album in second place, and Viaggio Italiano in third place. The album also included the hymn of the Holy Year 2000, which was chosen as the official version by the Vatican in October.[37] To promote Sacred Arias, Bocelli recorded his second PBS concert at the Roman church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva, in Rome, in 1999, singing most of the songs from the album. The special was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Classical Music-Dance Program during the 52nd Primetime Emmy Awards.
In Italy, Bocelli sang in Florence at a meeting of the centre-left Heads of State. Invited by Queen Elizabeth II, he performed at the annual Royal Variety Performance in Birmingham, UK, on 29 November. On 30 November, his book La musica del silenzio, an autobiographical novel, was released in Italy,[37] and in 2017 it was turned into a movie as The Music of Silence, directed by Michael Radford. From 12 to 21 December, he performed six concerts in Barcelona, Strasbourg, Lisbon, Zagreb, Budapest and Messina, some of which were broadcast on local television. He also performed on German television; Wetten, dass..? on 11 December and the José Carreras Gala in Leipzig on 17 December. On 31 December, he finished a marathon twenty-four concerts in thirty days, with a concert at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in New York, welcoming in the new millennium.[37]
2000–2001: Verdi and Cieli di Toscana
At the 42nd Grammy Awards, Bocelli was nominated twice. "The Prayer" was nominated for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals and for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. Bocelli performed it with Dion at the ceremony. His "World Tour 2000" started on 31 March. In May, his Sacred Arias album was voted album of the year by listeners of the Classic FM radio station in the UK. His world tour continued from 12 to 14 May with four concerts in Japan and South Korea. At the end of the UEFA European Football Championship, he performed with Valery Gergiev and Renée Fleming at a concert on the River Maas in Rotterdam. On 6 July, he performed at the Statue of Liberty in New York City for his third PBS special American Dream: Andrea Bocelli's Statue Of Liberty Concert. The concert was a dedication to his father, who died in the beginning of 2000. He was accompanied by the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Maestro Steven Mercurio with special guest Soprano Ana Maria Martinez and a surprise appearance by Sarah Brightman to sing with Bocelli on "Time to Say Goodbye". For the final encore, he dedicated "Sogno" to his late Father. On 17 August, he performed in Giuseppe Verdi's Messa da Requiem at the Verona Arena in Rome.
His seventh album, Verdi, was released on 11 September. In September, he performed three concerts in Australia. He received another Echo Klassik award for "Bestseller of the year" for Sacred Arias. In November, his first complete opera recording, La Bohème, was released. In December, he received another award in Germany, the Goldene Europa for classical music.[38]
In January 2001, Bocelli portrayed the main character in Mascagni's opera L'amico Fritz at the Teatro Filarmonico in Verona and again performed the tenor part in Verdi's Requiem. On 19 March, the Requiem album was released with Bocelli as tenor. From 22 March to 6 April, he toured North America accompanied by Cecilia Gasdia and the Hartford Symphony Orchestra. On 17 June, he performed at the re-opening of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. In July, he performed two concerts in Dublin with Ana María Martínez and the New Symphony Orchestra. At the Scuola Grande di San Rocco in Venice on 4 October, he presented his new album Cieli di Toscana and was recognised for having sold more than 40 million albums worldwide. In October, he opened the celebrations of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Sicilian opera composer Vincenzo Bellini in Catania. On 28 October, he sang Franz Schubert's Ellens dritter Gesang (also known as "Ave Maria", Latin for "Hail Mary") as a representative of the Catholic faith, during a memorial concert at Ground Zero in New York City for the victims of the September 11 attacks there. In November, he received the Platinum Europe Award for one million sales of the album Cieli di Toscana, and at the Italian Music Awards he was given a special award from the Federation of the Italian Music Industry for his merits as an "Ambassador of Italian music in the world". He performed seven more concerts in the US accompanied by Ana María Martínez, and on 23 December, he sang the Italian national anthem as well as works of Bellini and Verdi at the traditional Christmas concert in the Italian Senate, which was broadcast live on television for the first time.[39]
2002–2005: Sentimento and Andrea
In Berlin on 5 February, he received a Goldene Kamera award in the "Music & Entertainment" category. On 6 March, he received two World Music Awards in Monte Carlo: "World best selling classical artist" and "Best selling Italian artist". On 11 March, he gave a concert for peace at the Basilica di San Marco a Venezia in Venice, accompanied by the orchestra of the Teatro La Fenice and conducted by Lorin Maazel. On 15 March, he took part in the opening of Walt Disney Studios Park in Marne-la-Vallée France. On 7 May, Bocelli and Tony Renis received a Telegatto Italian Television award for the soundtrack of the series Cuore. On 23 May he received the 2002 Classical BRIT Award for "Outstanding Contribution to Music".[40] On 27 May, he performed at the Villa Madama in Rome in front of US president George W. Bush and Italian president Silvio Berlusconi. On 28 May, he took part in "Pavarotti & Friends" charity concert in Modena in aid of Angola. In June he again toured the US, then on 26 July and 3 August, he portrayed Lieutenant B.F. Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly at the 48th Puccini Festival in Torre del Lago. On 14 October, he and Lorin Maazel presented his new album Sentimento to a worldwide audience. Further presentations took place in Milan and New York, and the album was released on 4 November, selling over two million copies in 40 days. On 24 October, he started his Sentimento tour in Zürich; the tour took in large arenas in several European and North American cities.[41]
In February 2003, Bocelli performed Madama Butterfly in an exclusive Monte Carlo concert, which was attended by Caroline, Princess of Hanover. In March for the first time he appeared as a producer, at the Sanremo Festival, where the young artists Allunati and Jacqueline Ferry sang for his new record label, Clacksong.[42] In May, his second complete opera, Tosca, was released.[43] It did not attract unanimous praise, though. Andreas Dorschel notices "monochrome timbre" and "little dynamic variability" in Bocelli's performance: "Whatever is suffered by Cavaradossi − torture for instance or the prospect of execution −: Bocelli does not seem to register it, but goes on in the musical equivalent of Stoic indifference."[44] At a private benefit gala for the Royal National Institute of Blind People, Bocelli sang in front of the British Royal Family.[42] A day later, he received two awards for Sentimento at the 2003 Classical BRIT Award held at the Royal Albert Hall in London – "Best selling classical album" and "Album of the year".[45] On 24 May, he performed in a benefit concert for the Arpa Foundation for Film, Music and Art in the Piazza del Campo in Siena, with sopranos Maria Luigia Borsi and Lucia Dessanti, baritone Soo Kyung Ahn, and violinist Ruth Rogers, accompanied by Marcello Rota and the Orchestra Città di Pisa. Three days later, he was again invited to perform at "Pavarotti & Friends" in Modena and sang a medley of Neapolitan songs together with Pavarotti. In June, he continued his Sentimento tour in Athens and Cyprus. In September, he took part in a concert for the Justice ministers and Interior ministers of the European Union at the Parco della Musica in Rome. He then resumed his tour, accompanied by Maria Luigia Borsi, Ruth Rogers and Marcello Rota.[42]
Bocelli won the "Favourite Specialist Performer" award at the UK National Music Awards in October 2003.[46] In November, he once again toured in the United States, this time accompanied by Ana Maria Martinez, Kallen Esperian and Steven Mercurio. In December, he gave his first concert in China and at the end of the month, sang Gounod's Ave Maria at Pavarotti's wedding in Modena.[42]
In Bologna in January, he performed as Werther in four performances of the opera of the same name. In April and May, he toured Asia again, visiting Manila, Hong Kong and Singapore. In May, he took part in a concert at Circo Massimo in Rome organised by Quincy Jones to launch the "We are the Future" project. In June, his third complete opera Il trovatore was released. In July, he played the part of Mario Cavaradossi in Tosca at the 50th Puccini Festival in Torre del Lago, and he took part in the International Olympic Committee (IOC) global campaign for the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.[47]
In September, he performed his "Once in a Lifetime" tour in Australia with concerts in Sydney and Melbourne and one concert in Christchurch, New Zealand, where he was joined on stage by New Zealand soprano Hayley Westenra.[48]
On 15 October, he performed at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, and on 17 October at the Great Hall in Shanghai.[49]
During early 2005, Bocelli was on tour including performances in Madeira, Hungary, Norway, US, UK, Italy and Germany.[50] He also appeared in Sesame Street singing "Time to Say Goodnight", a parody of "Time to Say Goodbye", as a lullaby to Elmo.[51] On 21 March, he performed at the Music for Asia benefit concert in Rome, televised on Italia 1, in aid of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake appeal.[52]
In June, he performed at the Deutsche Opera in Berlin. On 2 July, he performed at the Paris concert as part of the Live 8 event. Also during the second part of the year, he performed in Croatia, Serbia, Italy, the US, Dubai, Switzerland and finally in Scandinavia.[50] On 28 August, he performed at the Faenol Festival held in Vaynol, Wales and organised by Welsh bass-baritoneBryn Terfel.[52] In December, his first contemporary music concert took place at a Lake Las Vegas village resort in Nevada, US, which was recorded for PBS and released as the Under the Desert Sky DVD. He also took part in the Royal Christmas Show, which took place in several cities in the US in December. The album Werther was released in December.
On 26 February, Bocelli sang "Because We Believe" from his Amore album in the Carnevale section of the closing ceremony of the Torino Olympics.[54] He also began another tour with a concert at the Piazza di Castello in Turin.[55] In March, he was honoured by the Italian state with a Grande Ufficiale Italian Order of Merit (Grand Officer of the Italian Republic), given to him by then President of the Italian Republic, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi. The award was presented to him at the Sanremo Festival, where he performed a duet with American singer Christina Aguilera on 4 March.[54][56]
In April 2006, he featured as a guest coach on American Idol, helping the finalists sing the week's themed songs, "Greatest Love Songs". He also performed on that week's results show.[58] American Idol runner-up Katharine McPhee performed at three of Bocelli's concerts in California from 9 to 11 June, singing duets of Somos Novios and The Prayer with Bocelli. They also performed on J. C. Penney Jam: The Concert for America's Kids[59] and recorded duet versions of Somos Novios for the resulting album, and also Can't Help Falling in Love on the CD of the Under the Desert Sky DVD.
In June, he sang the Italian duet version of "Because We Believe", "Ama, credi e vai", with Gianna Nannini at the "großen Fan Party" at the opening of the 2006 FIFA World Cup, in Berlin in front of billions of worldwide television viewers.
Bocelli and Sarah Brightman's duet version of "Con te partirò" was used in the 2007 film Blades of Glory, as an ice skating song. K-1mixed martial arts fighter Yoshihiro Akiyama started using "Con te partirò" as his ring entrance music. On 8 September, Bocelli sang an arrangement of Mozart's Ave verum corpus at the funeral of Luciano Pavarotti in Modena, Italy.
On 21 October 2007, he sang "Con te partirò" on the UK television series Strictly Come Dancing results show, and on 30 October, he sang "The Prayer" during an ITV Special An Audience with Céline Dion. The show was broadcast on 23 December. Alongside fellow Italian singer Laura Pausini, he sang Vive Ya during the 2007 Latin Grammy Awards. The song, originally released in 1997 as a duet in Italian between Bocelli and Italian singer-songwriter Trovatto on Bocelli's Romanza, was also released in English on his 2007 album, The Best of Andrea Bocelli: Vivere, as Dare to Live. The album, Vivere, sold over 3 million copies.
2008: Incanto and Carmen
On 20 January 2008, Bocelli received the Italian TV award Telegatto in platinum for Italian music in the world, in Rome. He sang "La voce del silenzio" – "The voice of silence" – and "Dare to Live" during the ceremony.[61]
In April, he toured in Asia with performances in Tokyo, Taichung, and Seoul.[62]
On 7 May 2008, he sang at Steel Aréna in Košice, Slovakia, in front of 8,000 people.[63] Then on 13 May he sang at the "Teatro delle Muse" in Ancona, Italy, for a charity concert for "Francesca Rava – N.P.H. Italia Onlus", a foundation that helps poor and disabled children around the world.[63]
On 23 May 2008, he sang The Prayer with Katharine McPhee in a Las Vegas tribute concert for Canadian producer and songwriter David Foster. Bocelli later praised Filipina teen-aged singer Charice, whom he first heard perform at that concert.[64][65]
On 2 June 2008, he performed at the Piazza del Duomo, Milan in front of 80,000 people during a concert celebrating the anniversary of the Republic of Italy's formation.[63]
On 20 July, Bocelli held his third concert at the Teatro del Silenzio in Lajatico, his hometown. The concert was a tribute to the cinema of Italy. Its performers included Italian composer and musician Nicola Piovani, Italian ballet dancer Roberto Bolle, Israeli singer Noa, and Charice.[72] Then on 31 July, he performed at a concert in Vingis Park in Vilnius, Lithuania, in front of more than 18,000 people.[73] Australian singer Tina Arena performed two duets with Bocelli – "Canto Della Terra" and "The Prayer" – at the closing stages of the concert.[74]
The Andrea Bocelli & David Foster Christmas Special, the PBS special of the album, first aired on Thanksgiving night in the United States, and continued to be broadcast in the United States and Canada throughout the month of December. In late November, the program was broadcast in Mexico and in the UK and Ireland; it later aired, 15 and 25 December, on Italia 1, in Italy, 19 December, on TVE2 and TROS, in Spain and the Netherlands, and Christmas Eve, on vtm and RTL-TVI, in Belgium and Luxembourg.
On 21 November, a segment of Leute Heute, a German tabloid-program on ZDF, was about My Christmas and Bocelli's meeting in Rome with Pope Benedict XVI and 250 other artists, an event which was broadcast live earlier that day in Italy, by Rai Uno. Bocelli was also joined by the Piccolo Coro dell'Antoniano, in his home in Forte dei Marmi, where they sang "Caro Gesù Bambino", a song from My Christmas which was originally recorded by the choir in 1960. Rai Uno also broadcast the performance later that day, during the Zecchino d'Oro Festival. The following day, Bocelli was among Fabio Fazio's guests, on his popular Italian talk-show, Che tempo che fa, broadcast on Rai Tre. During the program Bocelli talked about his album and performed "The Lord's Prayer", "White Christmas", and "Silent Night". It was also announced that Bocelli would return to the show on 20 December and give a live concert of My Christmas. Bocelli also took part in the annual 2009 José Carreras Gala, on 17 December, where he sang Adeste Fideles, before singing "White Christmas" with José Carreras for the very first time; this was broadcast live, by Das Erste, in Germany. He then returning to Italy, for a concert in the Upper Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi, on 19 December, which was broadcast directly after the Urbi et Orbi blessing of Pope Benedict XVI, 25 December, on Rai Uno.
In Brasil, following the success of the South American leg of the Incanto tour, where over 100,000 people attended his free concert at the São Paulo's "Parque Indipendencia", earlier in the year,[84] it was announced that Bocelli would hold another Open-Air, entrance free, concert in Florianópolis, on 28 December, where a crowd of about a million people was expected to attend. However, due to financial and political reasons, the concert was later canceled on short notice, along with all the other events scheduled for Christmas in the city.
On 2 March, he was honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contribution to Live Theater, at 7000 Hollywood Boulevard, in front of the Roosevelt Hotel.[87] The previous day, Bocelli, along with David Foster, were honored by L.A. Italia Film, Fashion and Art Fest during a ceremony at the Grauman's Chinese Theatre, in Hollywood, where The Story Behind The Voice, a documentary about Bocelli's life and career was shown.[88]
In April, he returned to Scandinavia for a concert in Telenor Arena in Bærum, Norway, on 8 April, a concert in Forum Copenhagen in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 9 April, and finally a concert in the Ericsson Globe, in Stockholm, Sweden, on 11 April. He was joined by Heather Headley and 120 musicians from the Stockholm Concert Orchestra, in all three concerts, and by Swedish mezzo-sopranoMalena Ernman in his Swedish concert.[90][91][92]
On 18 May, during the 2010 World Music Awards, Bocelli performed "Un Amore Cosi Grande" from his 2008 album, Incanto, and received his seventh World Music Award, for "Best Classical Artist".[108]
On 9 July, Bocelli headlined the "Celebrate Africa: The Grand Finale" Concert at the Coca-Cola Dome, in Johannesburg, South Africa, to mark the end of the World Cup, two days before the final.[111][112]
On 25 July, Bocelli held the fifth and final edition of the Teatro del Silenzio, in his hometown of Lajatico, Tuscany. Bocelli's guests included Spanish Catalan tenor José Carreras, and Italian rock singer Zucchero. Sculptures by Swiss artist Kurt Laurenz Metzler, who attended the concert, were exhibited during this year's edition. Bocelli was also awarded the Pisano Doc, during the dress rehearsal for the concert, on 24 July, and received the 2010 Premio Lunezia nel mondo, during a private ceremony held on 21 July, for "the musical-literary quality of his songs."
2011: Metropolitan Opera recital, and Central Park concert
In January, Bocelli gave three concerts in Germany. The concerts in Munich, Berlin, and Hamburg were all part of the Notte Illuminata Tour, launched in Pisa, at the Teatro Verdi, December 2010. In February, Bocelli performed a recital on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera house as part of the tour.[124]
In late March, early April, as part of the 2011 Latin leg of his Incanto tour, Bocelli gave concerts in Bogotá, and Panama City.
In May 2011, Bocelli held 5 concerts in East and Southeast Asia, and was joined by New Zealand soprano Hayley Westenra during the tour.[125] He first gave a concert in Jakarta, Indonesia.[126] Bocelli held two other concerts in Taipei, and two concerts in Beijing.[127]
In June and July, Bocelli gave two open-air concerts at historic sites, the first at Masada, in Israel,[128] with all proceeds dedicated to support the residents of the Israeli regions of Galilee and Negev,[129] and the second at Syracuse's ancient Greek theatre, in Sicily,[130] with all proceeds donated to the Fiamme di Solidarietà (Flames of Solidarity) organization, to raise awareness of issues concerning the poorest and most marginalized in Italy.[131]
On 17 November, he performed at the Children in Need Rocks Manchester concert, gaining critical acclaim for receiving a standing ovation from a crowd of pop and indie music fans.
On 15 December 2017, Ed Sheeran released a collaboration with Bocelli titled "Perfect Symphony". The song is a duet version of Sheeran's song "Perfect", with many of the original English lyrics sung in Italian.[147]
In June 2018, Bocelli released the single "If Only", his first after fourteen years.[148] On 20 September 2018, Bocelli released the single "Fall On Me" which features vocals from his son Matteo. The two performed the song on 22 October episode of Dancing With the Stars.[149] An English version of the song was released in October and was featured in the Walt Disney Pictures film The Nutcracker and the Four Realms as the end credit song. Both songs appear on Bocelli's album Sì, released on 26 October 2018.[150]
On 3 July 2019, Bocelli performed at the opening ceremony of the 2019 Summer Universiade in Naples with three songs including "Fall On Me" with his son Matteo.
On 12 April 2020, during the national COVID-19 lockdowns in Italy, Bocelli performed an Easter Sunday concert from an empty Milan Cathedral, accompanied by cathedral organist Emanuele Vianelli.[154] The performance, titled "Music For Hope - Live From Duomo di Milano", was streamed live over YouTube, where it continues to be available for replay.[155] About 5 million people tuned in for the livestream performance and, by 13 April 2020, over 32 million views were logged on the archived video.[156]
On 10 March 2024, Andrea Bocelli with his son Matteo performed "Time to Say Goodbye" during the annual "In Memoriam" tribute at the 96th Academy Awards.
Voice
Bocelli is a widely popular singer with a substantial fan base worldwide. However, he is also a polarizing figure in classical music, whose voice and performances
have routinely been the subject of negative reviews by critics. Italian spinto tenor Franco Corelli praised Bocelli's voice after hearing it for the first time during a master class in 1986, in Turin, and he later gave Bocelli private lessons.[161][162][14]
Puerto Rican soprano Ana María Martínez, who regularly performs with Bocelli, said, "More than anything, Andrea has something that is unique in that he brings this light that is always around him. And this purity of heart and beauty of sound just touches the listener. It can't be described."[162]
Celine Dion said while introducing him during her Christmas Special for These Are Special Times, in 1998, that "if God would have a singing voice, he must sound a lot like Andrea Bocelli,"[4][14] and David Foster, a producer of the album, often describes Bocelli's voice as the most beautiful in the world. Similarly, jazz singer Al Jarreau, who performed with Bocelli on the "Night of the Proms" tour in Europe in 1995, described him as "the most beautiful voice in the world,"[163] and American talk show host Oprah Winfrey commented on her talk show that, "when I hear Andrea sing, I burst into tears."[161][162] After attending Bocelli's concert at the Hollywood Bowl in 2009, British-American actress Elizabeth Taylor said, "My mind, my soul were transported by his beauty, his voice, his inner being. God has kissed this man and I thank God for it."[164] Taylor had been a passionate fan of Bocelli's since the beginning of his music career in the mid-1990s.[165] Other fans include Albert II, Prince of Monaco, who invited the tenor to sing at his wedding, as well as Sarah, Duchess of York, and actress Isabella Rossellini.[163]
Bocelli's voice, more specifically his interpretation of opera, has been regularly criticized by classical music critics. These include Bernard Holland of The New York Times and Andrew Clements of The Guardian.[166] In 1999, The New York Times chief music critic Anthony Tommasini in his review of Bocelli's North American opera debut at the Detroit Opera House in the title role of Massenet's Werther commented, "The basic colour of Mr. Bocelli's voice is warm and pleasant, but he lacks the technique to support and project his sound. His sustained notes wobble. His soft high notes are painfully weak. Inadequate breath control often forces him to clip off notes prematurely at the end of phrases."[166] In December 2000, Tommasini again criticised Bocelli, this time for his La bohème album when he stated that Bocelli "still has trouble with basic things, like breath support" and his voice had been "carefully recorded ... to help it match the trained voices of the other cast members in fullness and presence."[167]
In describing Bocelli's singing, The New York Times music critic Bernard Holland noted, "the tone is rasping, thin and, in general, poorly supported. Even the most modest upward movement thins it even more, signalling what appears to be the onset of strangulation. To his credit, Mr Bocelli sings mostly in tune. But his phrasing tends toward carelessness and rhythmic jumble... The diction is not clear."[168] Furthermore, Holland observed that "The critic's duty is to report that Mr Bocelli is not a very good singer." The Associated Press reported "Passion? Yes. Power. No. Bocelli's voice – though robust in spirit and precisely in tune, even in the upper register – had a thin quality that never opened up."[169] Similarly, classical music critic Andrew Clements found Bocelli's studio opera recordings consistently disappointing in quality: "Bocelli's profoundly unmusical contribution, with its unvaryingly coarse tone, wayward intonation and never a phrase properly shaped, fatally undermines all their contributions."[170]Anne Midgette of The New York Times agreed, noting "a thinness of voice, oddly anemic phrasing (including shortchanging upper notes of phrases in a most untenorial manner), a curious lack of expression."[171]
During a 2009 performance in New York, the music critic Steve Smith wrote "For cognoscenti of vocal artistry the risks involved in Mr. Bocelli's undertakings, both then and now, need no explanation. Substantial technical shortcomings masked by amplification are laid bare in a more conventional classical setting. Mr. Bocelli's tone can be pleasant, and his pitch is generally secure. But his voice is small and not well supported; his phrasing, wayward and oddly inexpressive."[172]
In 2010, Joe Banno of The Washington Post gave an unfavorable review of Bocelli's Carmen recording, describing the oft-noted failings in Bocelli's vocal resources on full display in this performance: "Bocelli, to be fair, possesses an essentially lovely tenor and knows his stuff when it comes to selling a pop ballad. And Decca's close miking of his puny voice inflates his sound to near-Franco Corelli-like dimensions. But his short-breathed, clumsily phrased, interpretively blank and often pinched and strained singing makes his Don Jose a tough listen."[173]
"Art, Science and Peace Prize" 2015 from PIER FRANCO MARCENARO founder of "Man Center" and "School of Spirituality" for Andrea Bocelli art which elevates the spirit.[181]
Personal life
Bocelli met his first wife, Enrica Cenzatti,[182] while singing at piano bars early in his career.[24] They were married on 27 June 1992. Their first child, son Amos, was born 22 February 1995.[183] Their second son, Matteo, was born on 8 October 1997.[184] The couple separated in 2002.[1]
Bocelli lives with his second wife and manager, Veronica Berti. They met in 2002. In September 2011, the couple announced that Berti was expecting her first and Bocelli's third child, a daughter,[185] in the spring. His daughter Virginia was born 21 March 2012.[186]
On 30 April 2000, Bocelli's father, Alessandro Bocelli, died. His mother encouraged him to honor his commitments, and so he sang for Pope John Paul II, in Rome, on 1 May, and immediately returned home for the funeral. At his 5 July performance, filmed for PBS as American Dream—Andrea Bocelli's Statue of Liberty Concert, Bocelli dedicated the encore Sogno (Dream), from his 1999 album Sogno, to the memory of his father.[38]
On 12 November 2022, Andrea, Matteo and Virginia (aged 10) sang together at The Royal Albert Hall at the UK Festival of Remembrance.[188]
Bocelli is a self-declared fan of Italian football club Inter Milan. In an interview in Pisa, he told a group of Inter fans that "My passion for Inter started during my college years, when Inter was winning everything in Italy and the world. When Inter won the Champions League in 2010, I was with my friends and I was listening to the game on the radio, and everything was a little bit in advance so I was celebrating before them. That night I was also brought to tears of joy. The treble is a feeling no one in Italy will be able to equal".[191]
On 12 November 2023, Bocelli performed 'Hallelujah' with his daughter Virginia on the BBC One programme "Strictly Come Dancing". Bocelli performed 'Oh Holy Night' with his son Matteo on the December 2023 theatrical release of "Christmas with the Chosen: Holy Night".
In 2006, Bocelli convinced the municipality of his hometown Lajatico to build an outdoor theatre, the "Teatro del Silenzio".[192] He serves as its honorary president and performs usually for one night only, every July; the rest of the year, the theatre doesn't operate.
Bocelli is the author, and co-author, of numerous works available in Italian, English, and other languages. Some books are available in Braille and others in large print.[205] The list below is limited to his English language books which are widely available.
Bocelli, A. (2002) [1999]. The music of silence: a memoir by Andrea Bocelli. New York: HarperCollins. OCLC54699002. Braille edition, ISBN not available.
^ abcdDay, Carol (10 November 1997). "Blind Ambition". People. Archived from the original on 16 April 2019. Retrieved 22 July 2017. Bocelli's parents, Alessandro, 68, and Edi, 59, sold farm equipment and produced wine in tiny Lajatico, in Tuscany about 20 miles from Pisa.