SAN JOSE, CA – The fabulous voice of world’s famous Italian Tenor ANDREA BOCELLI, will be heard again in San José, California, in a one night concert at the SAP Center, on Friday, June 3rd at 8P.M. (Please note that the concert's date was changed from the previously-scheduled date that was Saturday, June 4th) To personally, convey his feelings to his adoring fans in this city, and in California, before his arrival to S.J. Tenor BOCELLI gave this interview to CULTURAL WORLD BILINGUAL, and in a Videa with his wife, (shown at the end of this interview) his personal message to our city.
C.W.B. How do you feel about returning to San José?
TENOR BOCELLI: “I am excited and happy about returning: the affection that your people have shown to me is hard to forget, just like the charm of your great Country. I do not hide my preference for the American public, because they attend concerts to share the joy of listening, celebrating what music can give, because they are a generous and sympathetic audience. And the best way to thank them is to do it personally, through a concert up to their expectations.
C.W,B. Could you tell us something “that is Special" about your concert?
TENOR BOCELLI: “The structure of my concerts is the usual one, the first part will be dedicated to the operatic repertoire: this time the sequence will include world-famous arias such as “La donna è mobile” and the Duetto d’amore from “Rigoletto” by Giuseppe Verdi, “Di quella pira” (from“Il trovatore”, always by Verdi), “Donna non vidi mai” from “Manon Lescaut”, “Che gelida manina” and “O soave fanciulla” from “La Bohème” by Giacomo Puccini.."
"There will be also equally famous pieces that will involve, in addition to the soloists, also the choir for instance the Brindisi from “La traviata”) and pages interpreted by a great female voice that will share the stage with me, soprano Maria Aleida. Just speaking of guests, the concert will be enhanced by the presence of the violinist Caroline Campbell and by the “pop guest” Jordin Sparks. In the second part I will perform many songs from my last album, “Cinema” (from “The music of the Night” to “Maria”, from “Por una cabeza” to “Cheek to Cheek”...) as well as those songs that my audience expects me to sing.”
Tenor ANDREA BOCELLI IN CONCERT (Cinema Live Image)
C.W.B. How do you describe music?
TENOR BOCELLI: “ Music has always been for me a real need, a medicine, a way to make life lighter. I believe, also, that good music brings with itself a strong message of peace and brotherhood. Not by chance, the art of sound has always been an extraordinary kind of prayer. Still today after twenty years of career and with graying hair, singing is always a great joy for me.”
C.W.B. You are from Tuscany, is Tuscany’s original music different from Italian music from other regions of Italy?
TENOR BOCELLI “Every Italian region has important composers, as well as a heritage of popular music with interesting specificities. I can say with a bit of parochialism, that Tuscany is a region where the scenic beauty, in the course of years has surely stimulated human genius: here was born Opera, more than four hundred years ago. And here in Tuscany were born two of the musicians I love most Giacomo Puccini and Pietro Mascagni.”
C.W.B. Being an Attorney, do you think that your degree has helped (or not at all) your career in music? And if yes, How?
TENOR BOCELLI: “The fact of having studied Law, a subject that has been for me a deepening of the rules of civil coexistence, I believe has contributed to my education in ethics and as a citizen, more than a musician…It is true that every time you get on stage, every facet of your “lived life” fatally reverberates on singing.”
C.W.B. You made yourself one of the most successful classical-to-mainstream tenors around the world, to what, in particular, do you attribute your success?
TENOR BOCELLI: “It is likely that through my singing I am able to touch people’s hearts, conveying positive emotions. Besides, my personal tastes almost always coincide with those of my audience.
I have always been told to have the talent of a recognizable voice. My teacher at the Primary school used to warn me “Remember that God has given you a gift and of this gift you have no merit”. Even today I am convinced that she was perfectly right. On my part, if it is a merit, I can say that I have tried to honor this gift with much study and dedication.”
C.W.B. You sing all types of music. What songs make you feel more at “ease” when you sing them?
TENOR BOCELLI: “If you approach it with honesty and conscience, whatever song be it pop or opera, has some difficulties. Even when a song is apparently linear, I believe it is necessary to tackle it with seriousness and humility, trying to give the maximum, to penetrate the secret of a melody that has been able to enter the heart of many people giving back so many emotions.“
C.W.B. What Type of music “Describes Best” Tenor BOCELLI as a person, and why?
TENOR BOCELLI: “My great love is and has always been Opera, and particularly the great masterpieces conceived by my compatriots like Giuseppe Verdi, Giacomo Puccini, Pietro Mascagni, Umberto Giordano and many others.
C.W.B. In your own words, how do you describe yourself?
TENOR BOCELLI: “ I am a normal person, in my habits and in my relationships, despite the particular work that I do. I have had the privilege to make of my biggest passion my profession. I cultivate many interests. I love talking, meet friends, riding boating and swimming. I am also an avid reader and a soccer fan, I also love boxing and I am a lover of top quality wine. I cannot ask for more from life: I know that I am in debt with society and I am trying to multiply my efforts to leave a small positive mark along the adventure of life. They say I am a romantic and passionate temper…perhaps because I believe that life is the most beautiful and amazing gift and that it is worth living it with intensity and courage and above all with optimism: I love every day that God has given me and I am interested in all that surrounds me. “
C.W.B. Who has been the most important person in your life and why?
TENOR BOCELLI “My children, my parents, but also Veronica, the woman of my life. Apart from my family I should also mention many dear friends. One of them is Amos Martellacci, the person to whom I owe much of the little I know. Amos was an extraordinary man who mastered six languages, and who had become the director of a Bank, despite the fact of having only a license of the Primary School! Once he retired, he condemned himself to come to my house morning and afternoon for many years, helping me in my studies at university, until when I started my artistic career. In his honor I gave the name Amos to my eldest son.
C.W.B. How can we, your fans, let you know how much we admire you as a person, How much we love your singing and how dear you are to us?
TENOR BOCELLI “Just the fact of granting me the privilege to be a part of the sound track of your lives is an enormous gift. In arenas, but also on the streets, in a simple greeting, in a handshake I can perceive all your affection and every time I am deeply moved. I can only thank with the whole of my heart and try to give my best on stage. My most sincere and genuine way to express my gratitude is to get once more on a plane, looking for a direct relationship based on the joy of sharing, in a common élan towards beauty, of art, of values, of feelings. “
C.W.B. Do you have any message to the people of San José, who are anxiously waiting for you?
TENOR BOCELLI “I hope not to disappoint the expectations and to offer once more to my dear friends of San Jose a moment of joy and celebration. I have been singing around the world for more than twenty years and yet – I am saying this without any rhetoric – I live every concert with apprehension and above all with the joy of an important moment, of a unique encounter.”
As a marvelous gesture, in the Video below, Tenor Bocelli and his beautiful wife Veronica include their personal message to San Jose.
