photo courtesy of www.bocelli.de
If you happen to know any Italian singers, it’s probably—like me—only a couple people. For me, the one that stands out is Andrea Bocelli. He sings everything from opera to pop– and he does it all blind, with a voice that could very plausibly be from some other planet. His voice seems to come quite effortlessly from his mouth. He is enough to make even the hardest of people soften up – if only just a little. When he sings “The Prayer” or “Because We Believe,” it’s more than enough to bring some to their knees, and give the rest a serious case of goosebumps.
He’s an extraordinary talent that has been recognized
in American culture as well as Italian. This is probably because of his pure
voice, and the fact that in so many of his songs, he mixes both Italian and
English lyrics. His use of both languages seems to help bridge the gap in
cultural differences. But with that voice it wouldn’t matter if he was singing
in his own made-up language; it would still sound beautiful.
Much of the American audience was not familiar
with his career until he met up with David Foster, showed up on American Idol,
or sang at the closing ceremonies when the Olympics were hosted in Italy. Despite
this, his rise to fame actually started when Zucchero (an Italian Rock Star)
was looking for someone to fill in for Pavarotti on a song he was doing. It
seems a little strange to think that someone so huge now was simply trying out
to substitute for Pavarotti when he was really discovered. After that,
Bocelli’s rise to fame was pretty quick. By 1994 he was performing at
Pavarotti’s benefit concert, and by Christmas of that year, he was singing for
the Pope. Of course, taking the man’s voice and incredible power, the fact that
he rose to fame so quickly couldn’t really be all that much of a surprise.
What might come as a surprise to some is the
fact that Bocelli wasn’t originally on the track to become the great singer
that he is today. He studied law for years, and even worked as a lawyer. This
was surprising to me at least, as I could not really picture him as a lawyer.
It’s strange, it seems that “professional singer” has about the same
respectability as a career goal in Italy as it does in America. The expression “Better
get a day-job, kid” doesn’t seem to fit when it comes to Bocelli though. If you
have never heard him sing, and have yet to look him up on YouTube, you should
probably do so now. It’s strange to see that a man so clearly born to do one
thing was at some point told that he should “get a day-job”. I guess that is
something that Italy and America, and most countries have in common –
difficulty noticing and realizing true, raw talent when they see it—or in this
case, hear it.
To check out his music, click the following links:
by Abbie Rosen
Overall I loved your post, He is one of my favorite singers and my family loves his music. I know a bit about him and his overall work, but nothing like what you described in the post. Not only did you talk about his music but also him as a person and many other interesting facts. Great job!
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing to think that he was going to live his life doing a proffesion other than singing since he has such an amazing voice. It really is a common idea to try and get a day job like you said rather than chase a dream that so many people share yet never reach.
ReplyDelete