Timeless Journey of Andrea Bocelli | Perspective

are you going to bug me i might get a mug you it's that gorgeous one and i believe i can run for decent marathon download valee now [Music] hello and welcome to legends of opera where we shall be delving into the lives of the incredible singers who have given us the heritage of opera [Music] [Music] was born with a beautiful voice and handsome good looks unfortunately his eyesight was very poor and after a head injury playing football he lost his sight completely despite this he went to university to study law and became an attorney however his love of music continued and he sang in local bars to fund singing lessons [Music] he is such a brilliant pure voice he sold over 80 million albums i mean that's incredible [Music] andrea buchelli has taken opera and classical music and giving it to people who wouldn't otherwise be able to have it he's embedded that music in their consciousness and made it a part of their life a demo recording of bocelli singing miserere was heard by luciano pavarotti and he invited the young singer to record it with him as a duet which became a hit across europe [Music] andrea bocelli became a hugely successful recording artist singing opera and popular music he is invited around the world to give upper concerts and in new york performed the statue of liberty concert his third pbs special [Music] [Music] he is always invited to perform at state events such as at milan's duomo cathedral for the anniversary of the republic of italy and performed with placido domingo for the centenary of the arena di verona he is not a classic opera singer as stagecraft is difficult for him but when it comes to singing arias on the concert stage his voice is unmistakably gorgeous there's no doubt that andrew pacelli is one of the world's greatest tenors [Music] [Applause] [Music] andrea pochelli was born in 1958 in a small village in tuscany his parents alessandro and eddie had a farm and a vineyard andrea was the elder and had a younger brother alberto whichelli was born with congenital glaucoma that did affect his vision his mother quickly realized that when his eyesight was giving him trouble when it was bothering him the way to soothe him was to put classical music on the record player he learned all the arias on the radio he listened he could identify everybody by the time he was five he also learned how to play the piano the sax the guitar the drums trumpet he just became sort of this music person where he he took his own self and put it inside that music the problem was compounded at the age of 12 when he was playing in goal in a football match and he got struck in the head by the football which caused a brain hemorrhage the result of that was that he went completely blind it was devastating for him but he continued to learn music but this time using braille he was clearly a very intelligent young man he went to the university of pisa and then after that to law school he was always interested in music and throughout his student days he was performing in bars and giving concerts because he still loved to sing and he loved to play when he graduated he did become an attorney and a court-appointed lawyer but he didn't last in the profession very long only just over a year in 1992 andrea bocelli married his childhood sweetheart enrique they went on to have two sons amos and matteo [Music] [Applause] [Music] when he heard his lifelong hero franco corelli was auditioning students for a master class nothing could stop him from attending during the class corelli praised bocelli's beautiful voice these encouraging words provided the inspiration for pocelli to pursue a career in music vircelli began to be recognized for his singing and was noticed by italian rock star tzukero zukero was planning on having his song misery recorded by pavarotti but he needed to send him a demo tape with a tenor on it so he got pacelli to sing missouri sent it to pavarotti pavarotti heard it and he said you don't need me you need this guy this he's quite good enough to do it zoccaro then went back to bed brought him and said no no i i really really wanted to do it and the result of that was that pacelli and pavarotti did duet of misery which was the first proper recording he did it was an enormous hit all over europe then zucchini decides they're going to do a tour which they do and uh he signs him to his record label sugar music and this is the beginning this was a big big hit across europe and changed a lot of the landscape as well [Music] oh in 1993 performed at reggio emilia at the theater the teacher romelu valley from then he went to the san remo festival where he won the top spot at this stage he was clearly on a roll [Music] in 1994 but he had something of a bumper year he recorded his first album he went on tour with the pop singer giordino travato and he sang at pavarotti's charity gala including a duet with pavarotti himself [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] i think pavarotti realized the young man's potential as a singer and took him under his wing pepperotti was very impressed with buchelli's voice which he heard as as a beautiful lyric italian tenor and uh and i'm sure pavarotti could see that that machelle would be able to sing opera and indeed he then went it went ahead and he has sung something like seven uh operas on on the operatic stage [Music] in 1995 released the album bocelli which sold over 11 million copies from his album coachella he did the single kante partiro which was enormous hit so much so that it was then re-recorded in english the english version was called time to say goodbye with sarah brightman and the london symphony orchestra and that was an even bigger hit it sold in minions it was it was a thing that really put him on the international map [Music] foreign [Music] oh [Music] my god time to say goodbye has sold more than 12 million copies worldwide following the success of that single in particular he then went on a huge concert tour the one thing about boccelli is that he's he's seems to be absolutely tireless i mean he works all the time if he's not recording in the studio he's touring and he's doing concerts he seems never to stop [Music] brought out his first compilation album romanza in 1997 and performed live at a night in tuscany at piazza the concert was bochelli's first pbs special and marked his debut to american audiences [Music] [Music] oh [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] was now a global star the commercial success attained through his album romance had propelled him onto the international scene [Music] boccelli was by now an incredibly established singer and he had his oprah debut in 1998 at the cagliari theater in la boheme [Music] [Music] being totally blind of course has has difficulty in performing on stage and he is extremely nervous so when he gets onto an operatic stage to to perform he's got he's got a double difficulty to to overcome and despite his his wonderful voice and the fact that he is a genuine opera singer uh the the the physical difficulties uh make it really quite hard for him [Music] he went to america to sing at the john f kennedy center in washington dc and the day after he was invited to the white house to sing for president clinton clearly he'd made an impact in the states the new york daily news ran the line that he was a young pavarotti people magazine chooses him as one of their 50 most beautiful people in the world which is the high honor americans seem to love him and whenever he's doing a concert or a platform console then pbs will record it and air it and it always gets millions of viewers [Music] bocelli returned to rome and sang his favorite sacred arias inside the stunning santa maria sopra minerva [Music] our oh [Music] one of his most successful early recordings was sacred arias went into the billboard classical chart and it received classical awards so i think this very much establishes the fact that he is a genuine classical artist as well as an operatic artist [Music] sacred arias if anything changed his whole profile it raised it even higher it's sold in absolute millions [Music] it was such a great success that it won the emmy for outstanding classical music sacred arias remains today one of the highest selling classical music albums of all time [Music] at the end of 99 bacelli had his american opera debut at the michigan opera theater in were the jewels matinees opera but unfortunately although the ordinances loved him the critics weren't that impressed there were some complaints from the local person the new york times in the chicago tribune that his voice was weak that it was swallowed up but he didn't quite have the presence that was required [Music] they loved his top notes they think that he has a very sweet and soulful voice which he does um but in fact for the the broader more dramatic elements um they took him to task over it in the late 1990s but charlie continued touring and performing he was a great hit and collaborating with pop stars he collaborated with celine dion on the song the prayer it was an enormous commercial hit and in fact ever since that decision he's become one of the most commercially successful crossover opera artists he's basically introduced the idea of an operatic voice to a much wider public who would only probably be interested in pop and rock and i think that that is definitely to his credit [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] okay it was nominated for an oscar it got the grammy it won the golden globe this guy every pop star wanted to sing with him and the amazing thing about that is pop stars are very very cautious about how they perform who they perform with celine dion who considers him almost sacred that she saw him as a partner for herself is a great honor to him and to the world of music [Music] [Applause] [Music] jesus [Music] [Applause] [Music] in 2000 pachelli embarked on a great world tour and came to america for american dream angio bucelli's statue of liberty concert his third pbs special [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] her defense here [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] me [Music] worked with director larry weinstein to create tuscan skies the songs had been written to reflect his childhood experiences [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] fear [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] became the producer of the san remo festival in italy at this event mochelli was awarded the order of merit of the italian republic he sang at san remo with christina aguilera [Music] i think that he does a very very good job and his voice is so well suited to the music of puccini for example that that he does it extremely well in my opinion [Music] the mitre rolls which were very much in alfredo krause's repertoire were rigoletto i think had butcherly gone a little bit more into that area of repertoire he may have been accepted a little bit more by the critics who i think felt that he didn't really suit the more dramatic roles like vladimir's in aida and khalaf in turin dot [Music] porcelli performs to the british war family at the royal national institute for the blinds gala and he then receives two classical brit awards the next day so he's a huge success in italy in america in britain across the world [Music] he then went to china for his first ever concerts in china and returned to perform at his best friend's pavarotti's wedding then later sadly he sang at pavarotti's funeral so he he paid homage to the great man certainly deservedly [Music] by this stage he is so successful and so popular that he is top of the list for anybody who has um any kind of huge charity event or huge ceremonies like the torino olympics he went on to sing because we believe at his under the desert sky concert at lake las vegas [Music] [Music] is [Music] in 2007 pachelli sang at the concert for diana to commemorate 10 years of her death in london [Music] and [Music] [Applause] [Music] he's particularly good and particularly sought after singing in big commemorations big celebrations big stadiums some opera singers don't like that but chelly thrives on it and thrives on the big audiences he really does work brilliantly and he enjoys that kind of environment he was promoted by the world music awards as the world's best-selling classical artist [Music] in 2008 he performed in the dromo in milan and [Music] to celebrate the foundation of italy for centenary which was a very very very major important event so he again shows his place as the the the ambassador of italian music he's right at the top there's no doubt about that [Music] he then appears in the triatro del opera in rome as don jose in carmen which was another opera that he also recorded and again it must have been a huge effort for him with his nervousness and so on to tackle a role as demanding as don jose in carmen but he did it and all pros to him [Music] my trees [Music] and his brother alberto built an amphitheater in the beautiful tuscan countryside they named it teatro del silencio for one night in july the theater erupts with music and celebration as they welcome the world to their community and vineyard [Music] my [Music] oh [Music] greenery [Music] in 2009 pbs broadcasted a christmas special of pocelli's album my christmas the album sold over 3 million copies in the united states alone [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] a [Music] oh [Music] in 2010 andrea bocelli was given his own star on the hollywood walk of fame in recognition of his contribution to live theater [Music] all of these things continue the honors just pile up for this man his singing is so loved by so many millions of people [Music] he's very very good at charities he's got a big heart and of course he's a huge draw you know the name of andrea bocelli atop any of those charity events will bring huge amounts of money to them [Music] alongside his other charity commitments mochelli set up the andrea pacelli foundation to help fight poverty and empower people in communities around the world he continued to nurture young talent after giving 60 children from haiti an opportunity to showcase their singing in new york creating voices of haiti [Music] the weather couldn't dampen the spirits of the crowds gathered in new york for boccelis one night in central park he finished off the night by singing nesendorma pbs broadcasted the concert nationwide [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] me [Music] in 2017 bucelli hosted celebrity night at the coliseum in rome only 400 guests attended in order to avoid damage to the ruins and all money raised was donated to charity [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] wonderful [Applause] [Music] you [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] for the single fall on me [Music] is [Applause] [Music] bocelli continues to perform all around the world his audiences truly love him ladies and gentlemen andrea bocelli and he attracts crowds thousands and thousands and thousands of people more so than any other classical artists [Music] [Music] he has a very singular operatic voice the one thing that of course that he he can't do as well as a lot of opera singers is actually perform in a full-length opera on stage simply because of his disability he's at his best under concert conditions and in the recording studio for that i think we must be really really grateful [Music] is incredible he's a phenomenon he's so popular he can sing in six languages italian french spanish portuguese english and latin and he's recorded 20 albums where i think he is absolutely brilliant he's breathtaking is in the big stadium performances [Music] he's contributed to these operas staying alive and so therefore andrea porcelli is a great not only a great asset to classical music he's one of his greatest ambassadors and will live forever because of that [Music] [Applause] [Music] here [Music] is [Music] password [Applause] uh [Music] uh [Music] [Applause]

Channel: Perspective

Views: 433,489

Keywords: Perspective, blind musician, classical compositions, emotional performances, enduring legacy, expressive singing, family influence, famous duets, glaucoma diagnosis, life struggles, music partnership., musical genius, musical journey, musical versatility, operatic career, operatic legend, operatic tenor voice, tenor vocalist, timeless music, unique voice, vocal talent

Id: Hl9tUtADGj4

Length: 44min 30sec (2670 seconds)

Published: Tue Apr 19 2022