Andrea Bocelli: Because I Believe (2024) Movie Script
1
I've always had faith in my own destiny.
Are you ready, Maestro?
I was born with an affinity for music,
and it grew
like my hands, my arms and my legs.
The first thing I do in the morning
when I get on my feet,
is to test my voice.
If my voice sounds good,
I relax and wait for the concert.
This place brings back memories
of a great concert 33 years ago.
The three most famous tenors
in the world sang here.
Virginia?
In 1990, an historical concert
took place here.
For the first time, the three most
important tenors in the world,
Pavarotti, Domingo and Carreras,
sang together.
And it was broadcast all over the world.
This is the place.
Can you show me... Where's mum?
Can you show me
where the stage is?
Let's take your dad to the stage.
They sang here,
was the public over there?
Which one is the long side?
The one facing the audience, of course.
Like any other stage,
but it's a narrow rectangle.
It's very long, rather narrow.
And behind you,
there's a wonder.
The echo of that concert
still resonates within me.
I feel the weight of that responsibility.
Andrea, let's change your trousers.
What?
Forget about it!
Who cares?
-No, Andrea.
-There's no difference.
Please, do me this favor.
I don't want to change my trousers.
-These feel good.
-But these will look better.
No! Where is Veronica?
Where is she?
She's coming, Andrea.
Tell me, Andrea.
I don't want to change my trousers.
Who said that you should change?
You said he had to change his suit?
Who said that?
-Alessandro.
-No.
-You did!
-Calm down, behave.
Don't change a thing,
just put a waistcoat on.
I didn't say it.
Behave.
Mmm.
As a child, I'd dream of
making a living with music.
My biggest dream was
to be accompanied by an orchestra.
Reality has exceeded my dreams.
I am very attached
to the land where I come from,
but mostly to my language.
The hardest thing for me,
when I'm around the world,
is to speak in languages
other than my own.
This is the first property bought
by my ancestors in 1831.
My ancestors were farmers
under Prince Corsini.
My parents sold
farming equipment,
from tractors to bolts.
I remember my father
as a great gentleman.
My mother was one
of the feistiest people I've ever met.
She was a great saleswoman.
I came out different.
This one must be closed so the horse
doesn't run away,
or Emiliano will tell me off.
Nevado!
Come here.
Open your mouth, come on.
Show me your teeth.
See.
Sorry.
How to complicate simple things...
Good, first step is done.
Hang on, I'll put it properly.
Something is not working.
In the rush, it was assembled
the wrong way.
Yes. This goes below, like this.
This one goes this way up.
Now it should be all right.
It was the wrong way round.
So,
the correct notch should be
the most used one.
Come on,
Let's see if...
it's the right notch.
We're good to go now.
Behave, little horse.
Emiliano, come here to check
how many mistakes I've made.
I put the strap the wrong way round.
Exactly, but I noticed it.
But do tell them!
I did it on purpose
to see if you'd notice.
To make my life harder!
But the horse is now saddled.
As a child, I used to dream
day and night about horses.
My grandfather expressed his wish
to buy me a horse before dying.
As soon as he passed away,
my dad set off to a farm
and he returned home with a Haflinger
horse, apt for a boy.
When I came back from boarding school,
I found this huge surprise.
My father told me,
"She is yours."
That was one of my greatest joys.
From that day on, I started riding
and falling, then I learned.
It was my greatest obsession as a child,
and it stuck with me.
Ordinary people think,
"How can he go horse-riding on his own?"
This nonsense comes from ignorance.
I spent most of my life outdoors,
doing all things a country boy does.
This is what I'm used to.
I was obsessed with riding.
When I was young, I even got lost once.
One morning, before going to university.
I woke up really early
and went galloping in the woods,
in our stunning countryside.
I was minding my own business,
and I realized I was totally lost.
I tied my horse and waited
for someone to look for me.
I won't tell you what my father
said to me after they found me.
I'd always go out alone.
I was quite reckless.
Zero fear.
Music has helped me to live well.
It's made my life beautiful.
My favorite musical genre is opera,
always has been.
Opera is music's heaven.
It reaches the sublime.
And it's one of the highest forms of art
humans have ever achieved.
To stage an opera, it takes
thousands of years of study.
Because there are
80 or 90 musicians,
who have studied, on average,
eight to nine years each.
Then, there's the choir,
the singers,
the conductor, the director...
I said a thousand years,
but that's not enough.
Virgi?
-Are you still painting?
-Hi, Virgi.
Of course.
Hi, Pierpa.
Go ahead.
We should listen to this music on our
knees.
It was recorded in San Carlo
in the '60s.
It all started when
I was a newborn in hospital.
My eyes would hurt a lot.
By chance, in the room next door,
a Russian man had a record player.
My mother noticed
that when he played music,
I'd stop crying.
That was a huge discovery.
They noticed that I preferred
the opera records.
When I was a young boy,
I learned very soon
how to play vinyl on my own,
I had this record player
and I'd play the record,
and then I'd circle around the table
like a nut case.
Oriana was my nanny,
I was very close to her.
I must have been six or seven years old.
One day she came home
with a newspaper.
"Franco Corelli stuns La Scala."
She told me, "You must ask for his record,
"so we can listen to it together."
That was the fateful meeting
with Franco Corelli.
Which changed my life.
It was love at first sight.
I was gobsmacked by his voice.
It was like something went through me.
He was my virtual teacher,
and later,
he became my real teacher as I met him
at a masterclass he held in Turin.
My lessons with Corelli
were a revelation.
He put his hand on my shoulder
and said, "You have a beautiful voice."
It was one of the most
moving moments in my career.
His most valuable lesson
was on expression.
Let's discuss Caracalla.
It started as a tribute to
the Three Tenors concert.
That's the inspiration.
Marco,
very important...
How did Inter Milan play yesterday?
Yesterday was a great victory
for Inter Milan.
So, we've drafted an idea,
involving two sopranos,
and one baritone here as well.
The first half will be our usual opera,
and the second half will be a mix of
Neapolitan songs and operetta.
There'll be no pop.
The first song could be
the overture from Candide.
Then La donna mobile
and Di quella pira with the choir.
Something's not right here...
Hang on, let me read it first,
then we'll discuss.
So, after the Andrea Chnier duet,
we'd break it with Toreador
sang by the baritone.
No, you can't have Andrea
just coming on at the end,
he can't just do four minutes.
This doesn't work.
You need two or three more songs
with Andrea.
You can't come in at the end.
We've never had you on and off,
singing just one song in the first half.
Do you get it?
You can't just sing O soave fanciulla.
This won't do.
You need to sing
at least two or three songs.
People come to hear you, not others.
Have the baritone in the second half.
What do you think?
Yes, sure.
How about the encore?
Con te partir?
Are you feeling okay?
No.
No, no.
He's got a fever.
Bye, guys.
-Are you happy?
-It's been lovely.
But meetings that go over 20 minutes
are useless.
Hi, Andrea.
I couldn't wait to be here!
I just couldn't wait!
Grazie.
-So?
-Hi, welcome to Caracalla.
-Thank you.
-Let's hope all is well.
How come?
I've struggled terribly with my voice
since the beginning of the year.
Now it's slowly getting better.
I saw a specialist here in Rome.
He really probed me.
Basically, he put a straw up my nose,
with a small balloon at the end,
which inflates once inside.
And then, it starts vibrating,
ten minutes inside each nostril.
Well, you have no idea
what came out of there.
-Incredible.
-Fabulous.
He told me that I have the healthiest
vocal chords he's ever seen.
-Thank God!
-No excuses.
At my age, I could stop.
It's not true.
I've been hearing this for 22 years.
When I met him he'd say, "I'm retiring."
I've lost weight, though.
That's true.
You look really good.
-I lost a lot.
-All good.
But you've gained weight since your
wedding.
My wife is Sicilian.
She cooks well.
You do realize that
tomorrow night when I am singing,
my team is playing
in the Champions League final?
It only happens once in a blue moon.
Yeah, I remember.
Your team...
I'm considering listening to the match
on my earpiece whilst I sing.
Really?
And if Inter Milan scores...
Did you hear
the team's line up?
No.
Deko and Lautaro,
but Lukaku starts
on the bench.
Lautaro Martinez makes a pass
to his teammates.
The Champions League final
has started...
An attempt from Stones,
he touches the ball...
It's not working, damn!
Do you have a wi-fi for him?
Nil-nil.
This thing is not working!
What's the score?
Nil-nil.
-Bernardo centers the ball...
-No!
Goal...
-Have they scored?
-Yeah...
The game is over.
No, there's still 30 minutes to go.
But now their morale will be low.
Manchester City wins
their first Champions League!
I don't like losing.
I don't possess this quality.
I greatly admire those
who can lose philosophically.
Losing is not for me.
But I'm a lucky man.
I was born and raised
in a loving family.
I've had partners who have loved me,
and I really love my job.
I can now say I've spent
more than half my life with you.
-You can't say the same.
-No.
So far!
But, I hope, one day,
to say the same.
After your mother, I'm the woman
who's been around the longest.
Well, one day,
I hope to say the same.
Shortly after we met,
I was due to travel to America.
-Back then, it was early days...
-Those were the early days.
Our desire was burning.
So, I asked her,
"Will you come to America with me?"
I'll never forget her reply,
"I'm happy to join you,
if you give me a job.
"I don't want to sponge off you."
I smiled, because I thought that
she was already doing enough.
I had to earn my place on that trip.
I told her I'd find her a job,
though I didn't know what.
But she sought it out herself,
the way determined people do.
She said,
"I see what needs doing."
Just saying,
I can't stay too long in one place.
Thank God, your work
keeps you on the move.
We're a perfect match...
For now!
Once you stop moving for work,
you'll have to do it for love.
Bye!
-You'll have to stick around for a bit.
-Don't count on it.
I was clear from the start!
You know that.
So was I.
Maestro, can you tell us about
your performance at the King's Coronation?
You must be very proud to represent Italy
at such an historic event.
In a few days,
an historic event will take place.
The Coronation of King Charles.
I've had the honor of being invited.
More than proud,
I'm delighted.
These invitations, like awards too,
are a tangible manifestation
of admiration and affection.
This is what we live for.
-Thank you very much, Maestro.
-You are welcome.
Virgi?
-I'm painting.
-What?
A plant.
Is it like a tree?
No, it's more like a bunch of leaves.
So, it's a bush?
Dad...
have you always believed in yourself?
What a difficult question you ask.
I've always been happy with who I am,
and what I have.
What do you mean
by believing in myself?
I know my limitations,
as well as my strengths.
Can you tell me
what's been the best moment of your life?
No, because luckily I've had many.
Starting with the birth of you three,
so, that makes it three already.
And your worst moment?
Worst moment?
Well, I've had
difficult moments in my life.
Starting from when I was a child...
and I had to leave my family,
to go to a boarding school,
very far away from home.
Perhaps that was the saddest moment
in my life.
As a child...
I was considered
extremely short-sighted.
I could see everything
but only from up close.
I remember extremely well
the world I saw.
Colors, everything.
How could I forget those memories?
So, Bocelli?
How are the grapes this year?
It's looking good.
We have a beautiful colonnade.
We've got eight of grandfather's
rows of vineyard left.
My brother, Andrea,
aged three and a half,
due to congenital glaucoma,
had already been operated on
13 times in Turin.
It was torture.
We have raised beds here.
The salads are easily reachable, see?
It's high enough.
Aged six, no local school would take him.
So at seven, Andrea went to a boarding
school for the visually impaired.
He would come home
only in the holidays.
We'd go visit him once a month.
Aged 12, I was still in boarding school.
One day, playing football,
I was the goalkeeper.
No idea why,
as I'd never been goalie before,
and I never would be goalie again.
A ball hit me right in the face.
From that blow,
a hemorrhage...
and the rest is history.
That's when he lost...
That's when darkness fell.
I could see my son would never go far
if I were overprotective.
But it was hard for
his grandparents to see this,
or his aunt to see it.
They only saw a "poor blind boy."
I could never accept
this idea of the "poor boy".
Above all, Andrea never
accepted any form of pity.
He'd say,
"What's the point of pity?"
We've raised him on these principles.
With courage.
With a lot of courage.
My mother feared
I wouldn't be able to fend for myself.
She worked really hard
to provide me
with tranquility and stability.
What kind of keyboard is this?
Odd one. I've never seen it.
-Are there curtains there?
-Yes.
Then I can't warm up my voice here.
-What should I do?
-Nothing.
You can't do anything about it.
This is pointless,
I'm gonna end up ruining it.
What's the problem?
These are sound absorbant,
so you project your voice,
and it doesn't bounce back.
By pushing it, you strain it.
Andrea, tomorrow we could put up
some sound reflecting surfaces.
The less time I spend in this room,
the better.
I'll somehow warm my voice up last minute.
Sound propagates by hitting
all the obstacles in its path.
If you pay attention,
you can hear it bounce back.
It's a skill we all have,
but you don't develop it.
Ha!
Good.
Well done,
I hadn't heard it before.
Yes, I've played it before.
-I don't think so.
-Yes!
-I'd say it's 90% there.
-Yes.
Something is missing, but overall...
There's still uncertainty in the leaps.
She adds some variations based
on her musical taste.
Her memory is good,
she learns quickly.
The musicality helps her.
Yes, she's got that.
-Daddy...
-That's the one thing you cannot learn.
Daddy, when did you start playing the
piano?
-Who?
-You.
I was eight years old.
-Would you like to play?
-No.
You should study more
because you have musicality.
When you receive a gift,
you have to nurture it.
You have to value it.
My ability to sing is nothing but a gift,
that manifested itself early on.
A sign of destiny.
As a boy, my family,
friends and relatives
would ask me to perform
by the fireplace.
That was my first stage.
And whether it was
at church on Sundays,
at birthday parties,
or any other celebration,
any excuse was invented to make me sing.
From Andrea Chnier,
Andrea Bocelli will sing
Un d, all'azzurro spazio.
The first big applause I received,
was at boarding school.
I must have been
ten years old.
At boarding school,
they realized I could sing early on.
So they convinced me
to go on stage and sing a song.
I chose O sole mio.
It was chaotic when I started singing,
so no one noticed me to begin with.
But then, at the key moment...
I realized silence had fallen in the room.
This silence continued
throughout my singing,
followed by a massive applause.
It truly stunned me.
Since that day,
I was always asked to sing this
and that to entertain.
Let's not count calories tonight.
You shouldn't use parmesan.
It should just be pecorino romano.
We're putting both in.
Okay.
I've remained firmly attached
to my old friends.
I will add bacon,
but no onion or garlic.
'Cause I don't want Romans
turning in their graves.
-You need to add garlic.
-Why garlic?
It goes in the saut.
No!
You've spent too much time in the US.
I used to add a lot of it.
A lot of it.
I used to chop it all up.
It was his specialty.
Carbonara with garlic is almost worse
than carbonara with cream.
Andrea is like a brother to me.
I've known Andrea since I was born.
He lived next to me,
we grew up together.
He was one of us,
he had to be with us.
-When's dinner?
-Come over here, Adriano.
I'm afraid of the dog.
Come here, that's nonsense.
The only time Adriano and I argued
was over a dog.
He was afraid of my wolfdog.
He'd tell him, "Bite him!"
You did tell him that.
No, I'll stay over here.
Go to Adriano.
If it bites me...
-I knew it.
-Look how it stands up!
Adriano, I have a horse
I'd love you to ride.
Yeah, right.
The kind of horse
I'd dream of as a kid,
but couldn't afford.
We met in our first year of secondary
school,
during the teenage years,
the first heartbreaks, the first torments,
in 1971.
It's been 52 years.
Too long.
We've been acquainted
for over half a century.
-Crazy.
-It's all very sad.
Why don't you tell us
how you met Adriano?
My meeting with Adriano
isn't funny, it's rather moving.
Move us!
There were mostly girls in our class.
And very few male specimens.
-I imagine your disappointment.
-I was extremely happy.
They placed me right next
to a high caliber bullet.
The famous blonde?
Mm-hmm.
Two hours later, we had French
in another classroom.
I was a bit disoriented.
I thought, "Who can take me there?"
As I was figuring out
a solution to my problem,
I felt a firm hand on my shoulder,
and a voice said,
"Do you want to sit together
in French class?"
"Absolutely."
From that moment, the friendship we
built...
still endures.
I remember he appeared in front of us
he was wearing a tie, a white shirt,
hair slicked with water, dark sunglasses.
Despite his outfit and this armor he put
on,
you could glimpse what lay within him.
A whole world was there.
Andrea was there.
He needed to come out of his shell.
When I was 15 or 16...
I was trying to fit in.
Adriano is the person who taught me
all the little things.
Opening up an unknown world for me.
Even when it came to fashion.
I remember he took me to a store
where I bought
my first Levi's outfit.
That was a revolution!
By dressing like that,
I felt immediately more accepted.
The saying, "Clothes don't make the
man..." I don't know if I agree.
They do make the man a bit.
Even body language
is something blind people often lack.
We talked about gestures a lot.
With his hands he felt how I moved.
He touched my face when I smiled
he felt my smile,
when my grin would fade or not.
He picked up many gestures
in those times we spent together.
With the lightheartedness
of a 14-year-old.
He says he still carries
this knowledge with him.
Maestro!
Carbonara without garlic!
Good, but I think it lacks garlic.
Cheers!
In the beginning of high school,
my classmates listened to hits of the
time.
I was the odd one out.
We'd tease each other.
They'd say, "Stop yelling,"
when I sang opera.
And I'd reply,
"You listen to these voiceless singers."
It was a constant battle.
After many years of musical exclusion,
that was the time when
I attempted to get into pop music.
I realized other genres offered
other wonderful types of music.
My passion for music
became a proper job
the moment I made some money out of it.
This dates back
to my first year at university
when I was studying law.
When, to make ends meet,
I accepted the offer to play in a piano
bar.
My first piano bar was
The Boccaccio Club,
25 kilometers from my house.
Every day except for Mondays.
Three hours every night
and sometimes four on a Saturday.
No rest, we can say.
So, I paid my dues.
I would sing all the classic pop hits.
I loved Frank Sinatra, Charles Aznavour,
Ornella Vanoni, Mina.
I started having fun
and earning cash,
to indulge myself occasionally,
buying instruments,
for instance.
Most importantly,
it gave me the chance to meet girls,
which was something
we all longed for.
During my piano bar days,
I got the urge to go back
to studying piano.
My friendship with Andrea
dates back to 1986.
I was introduced to Carlo.
He had graduated in piano,
so, he played really well.
So I asked him,
"Why don't you give me lessons?
"I want to get good."
He was dragging his feet.
He didn't want me as a student!
He was convinced
I'd waste his time.
He thought, "He's just a piano-bar
player."
I'd come up with
the craziest excuses,
"I have to bring my dog to the vet."
"I have to drive my Mum to my sister's."
Did you give piano lessons?
Yes, but he was a piano-bar player!
Whilst I was used to teaching
Chopin, Bach, Beethoven.
-Why waste my time?
-With a piano-bar guy?
But he was so persistent...
and, finally, I ran out of excuses.
One day I agreed,
"Okay, come for a lesson."
I learned a lot with him.
I got to play everything.
He got to play proficiently,
at a diploma level.
Within five or six years.
-Because I was focused.
-He studied six hours per day.
-Any flaws?
-I am full of flaws.
First of all, I'm stubborn.
I've always refused
to move away from home
to Milan or Rome.
So you give up...
Simply because I'm happy here.
I like it here.
Game menu, button.
Let's see if this match is the one.
Look for an opponent.
Everything started when no one believed
anything would happen,
before I turned 30.
Thanks to Zucchero
one of the biggest Italian rock stars.
D4.
Zucchero was going to record
in a studio in Modena.
I'd been to that studio myself
to record a demo.
So, when Zucchero turned up
to record Miserere...
he heard my recordings,
and asked for me immediately.
I came up with Miserere,
because I was feeling miserable.
I was feeling terrible, depressed
and had just separated.
All the usual family problems
that, sadly, many of us have.
I was looking
for a tenor voice,
to present the song I'd written
for Luciano Pavarotti.
I had to work to persuade
Luciano Pavarotti.
He convinced me
by sending me a demo.
Bocelli was singing on it,
who was young and ambitious.
Promising.
When I heard the tenor on the tape,
I rang him and told him,
"If you have the guy from the tape,
you don't need me.
"Because he's really good."
It seemed like a great opportunity,
but then we got the news
that Maestro Pavarotti had accepted.
The dream vanished.
This song Miserere came out.
It was Luciano Pavarotti's version.
He can either take me with the queen...
yes.
My mother used to tell me,
"You'll never amount to anything,
you do nothing to be someone.
"You don't make any effort."
Perhaps I was a bit lazy
living in the countryside,
where I was born and bred.
I was happy with my pets,
my horses, my friends.
I wasn't motivated
to send audition tapes around Italy.
It was mostly my mother who sent them out.
She never got encouraging responses.
I found myself surrounded
by a gloomy atmosphere,
especially from my parents and all.
I told my mum,
"I am not saying this to comfort you,
"but I think it's happening soon."
It was something I felt inside,
that I cannot explain, just like you
can't explain a color or a sound.
There's no explanation.
I felt it. Period.
Miserere was successful.
We toured various stadiums.
But Luciano declined it
because he was very busy.
So, I summoned Andrea
to sing the tenor part.
Andrea Bocelli!
I witnessed an incredible reaction,
from a young audience.
When the audience saw me live on stage,
they decided it was time
to give me a chance.
It's always up to the audience to decide.
I've always been fatalistic
especially in those moments.
I let things happen...
as God wished for them to happen.
The idea of merging pop and opera could
work.
And that's when I reached out
to Caterina Caselli.
Who was an independent label,
and who did an
extraordinary job on Andrea.
Good morning, how is it going?
Caterina is an excellent talent scout.
Having been a singer and artist,
I think she realized she could
create a new Andrea Bocelli.
I met him in '93
at Zucchero's concert.
I was very far from the stage.
I hear someone singing Miserere,
and I think, "This is not Pavarotti."
Then he sang Nessun dorma,
and I thought, "I've found him!"
I saw him,
he was as handsome as Omar Sharif.
I thought, "This is what
I've been looking for."
Because I'd always thought,
that the Italian bel canto
would work abroad.
So, I went back to my office,
without even a contract,
but I wanted to find a song for Andrea
which would have wide vocal range.
Fifteen days later, we had a song...
that we presented in Sanremo.
Good evening, welcome to Sanremo!
Sanremo is a big festival.
The whole of Italy watches it.
The song's title is
Il mare calmo della sera.
Andrea Bocelli is at the piano.
Let's go for it. What will be, will be.
Yes, you're anxious,
so, let's see what comes out.
We had the perfect song
for Sanremo
because it gave him
the chance to express
his two musical languages.
Singing both the rock part
and the bel canto part.
Bel canto is the voice
which is ideal for opera.
Because it sounds smooth.
Like the sea,
it's liquid.
The way he can switch
from a rasping voice,
such as mine...
And also sing the tenor's notes.
This is what really impressed me
about Andrea.
Thank you!
It was the first time that an unknown
singer,
had such a success amongst people
who didn't know who he was.
He was well over
30 years old.
Sanremo makes sense only
if you go against the flow.
If you go to Sanremo
you have to stand out,
like I did, or Andrea did,
like Vasco did at the time.
Yeah, but there's one difference.
I won and you came last.
Don't forget it.
Andrea had "swing"
which most other opera singers
don't really have.
Probably due to his experience
playing in piano bars.
Enrica, how did you two meet?
I met him around five years ago
in a piano bar.
The first thing that struck me
was his voice.
Andrea, who made the first move?
-She did.
-I did.
Mr. and Mrs. Bocelli,
were you immediately supportive
of Enrica's and Andrea's union?
Andrea was quite grown up,
it was finally time for him to settle.
So, it's good he's settled now.
Did you agree immediately, madam?
-Listen...
-The truth, please.
Of course.
I think parents shouldn't
interfere in their kids' lives.
But she interferes big time!
Eh!
Andrea's parents were very surprised
by his success.
I had reached a respectable age.
At that age, one must work.
You've got to do something.
You can't depend on your family.
I didn't like to, so, I thought,
"This is my last attempt."
His father berated him for being
too obsessed with opera.
"You must try other music!"
Finally, Andrea gave in.
He's always claimed,
"Opera is my heart.
"But pop music is my legs."
Caterina understood that the audience
would appreciate my work.
Something most other record producers
saw as dated.
When we presented him
with Con te partir,
Andrea wasn't too convinced.
"I don't like the music arrangement,
"it's too electronic."
I told him, "Look Andrea,
"it's extraordinary."
We sold 100,000 copies after the release.
Not much was happening.
After one year of not much happening,
my friend, Paul Young,
called and said,
"Zucchero, do you know
Maske, the boxer?
"He's fighting in Germany
for the world title."
They wanted me to sing a song live.
This will be the final fight
- of his career.
- Ah!
"Damn, what a great opportunity,
but I can't make it."
But Andrea came to my mind.
Maske checked out Con te partir
and he loved it.
But because he'd already
committed to Sarah Brightman,
it was translated into English becoming,
Time To Say Goodbye.
Maske lost the fight.
And he announced on live TV,
that it was time to say goodbye.
"I'm retiring."
Farewell.
I first heard Bocelli
around the time that he did
"Time to Say Goodbye"
with Sarah Brightman in Germany
at a boxing match.
Which was a very,
slightly bizarre combination
that the two of them would sing
after a boxing fight in a ring.
And there's something
about the...
fusion of the--
of the two voices together.
As soon as you heard him
singing the duet,
you want to hear him again.
It was a worldwide smash hit.
Even though Germans are
regarded as a bit cold-hearted,
they were all crying.
The next day,
people were queueing up
to buy the single
of Time to Say Goodbye.
And I got screwed over,
'cause I slid down to number 2.
The following day we sold
110,000 albums in one day.
We sold 3.7 million
copies of the single.
To this day, it is an unbeaten record.
This song was top of charts
in France for six weeks,
you won three gold records,
in Belgium, it's become
the greatest hit of all time,
it was number 1 for 12 weeks.
What is your relationship
with Con te partir?
It's conflictive.
It's become
a form of torture for me.
Because I hear it too often.
Artists move on during their career
to do different things.
And obviously, he felt at that point in
his career that he wanted something else.
A huge, completely
international audience.
This success propelled us to the US.
Con te partir is for Bocelli,
what New York, New York
was for Liza Minnelli.
My success started at an age
when for many it comes to an end.
It unfolded like in a fairy tale,
almost unreal.
Overnight, that country boy,
who I used to be,
and who I still am, to be honest,
became famous all over the world.
But truly in a short period of time.
Andrea Bocelli has sold more than
ten million albums
in the US and worldwide.
He has a phenomenal voice.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Andrea Bocelli.
...Andrea,
the world's best-selling tenor.
In that short
period of time, Andrea,
you have sold so many records.
Are you surprised by that?
Yes, of course,
because it's really impossible
- to imagine this.
- This Italian tenor
became
an international sensation.
...if I can make it there.
I want you to meet
a new friend of mine.
He's handsome,
he's romantic. Hey,
he's Italian.
That is true.
What is the collaboration
like, Andrea,
when you work with a guy
like David Foster?
Well,
it's very difficult.
- because, because...
- Thanks.
- Because David...
- We've known that for years.
Because David has a big energy.
And we--
He made me work too much.
It's great. I think Andrea
is like one of the--
He is my favorite singer
of all time.
It is a great achievement that
he comes from another country,
he sings in another language.
And that, especially America, I mean, the
whole world embraced him,
but America, just,
they couldn't get enough of him.
You know, it was like,
they just...
They devoured him.
Andrea, do you remember
the Central Park concert?
The entrance was
on the Columbus side,
there were nearly 100,000 people,
queuing up to come see your dad.
I remember it very well.
It kept on raining...
But when I sang Ave Maria,
it stopped raining.
Your Ave Maria or Schubert's?
Schubert's.
In terms of global success,
I think the peak of my career
was the Central Park concert.
Manhattan was blocked
because of people coming to my concert.
For me, a country boy,
it was like a fairy tale.
A dream, something suspended
between reality and fantasy.
How does it go?
Let me spare my voice.
Thank you.
So, Dad likes to rest his voice
for, like, a long time
before, you know, the concert,
'cause he likes to keep it very fresh
whenever he goes on stage.
Here we are at Madison!
Are you guys ready?
From the outside
it doesn't look so big.
Which way should we go?
- This way to the back room.
- Thank you.
Everyone has performed
at Madison Square.
Frank Sinatra,
Maestro Pavarotti,
all the great opera
and pop performers.
Now the audience will have to
make do with me.
Is my coffee ready?
You know that I become nervous
if I don't have coffee.
First we warm up the cup.
Thank you.
I suffered from stage fright,
for many years.
A kind of fear that can't be put into
words.
An unmanageable anxiety.
Vicious palpitations wouldn't let go of
me, even on stage.
It would last for the entire concert,
until the last obstacle.
This would happen,
because my technique wasn't perfect.
How cute are these tiny ears?
The turning point
was when I met Maestro Pavarotti.
When I first rehearsed
with this great artist,
I realized that he didn't struggle at all,
whilst I struggled a lot.
That's when I figured
he had perfect technique.
I didn't.
Today, thanks to
the technical awareness,
which I have attained
through a lot of effort,
I'm stressing this,
"through a lot of effort."
I don't have that kind of anxiety anymore.
The technique of projecting your voice
must be learned.
Or rather, re-learned.
Because newborns know the technique.
They can scream all day
without losing their voice,
because they're doing it in the right way.
They're screaming from their diaphragm.
-Can I warm up my voice?
-Larisa.
Look.
Great.
- Okay.
- Thank you, thank you.
- Okay, I'll leave you alone.
- Can I be your pianist?
- Is it okay?
- Please!
- Please!
- Okay.
Once you've learned the technique,
you need to train your muscles.
It's like going to the gym.
Instead of your arms and legs
lifting weights,
it's all about the cricothyroid muscles
which govern
your vocal chords.
Andrea
is an amazing opera singer.
He's, like, the all-time best.
His sound touches your soul.
You know what that does
to an individual?
It can change your life.
You know, you can be going
through depression.
You know what music does with depression.
It changes that.
- Thank you guys so much.
- Without this--
Without this energy,
he won't be up there.
- God bless. Honestly, I'm so happy.
- Thank you.
- We'll take it. Let me hug you.
- Oh, thank you so much.
Greet this guy,
he's one of your biggest fans.
- Pleased to meet you.
- Pleased to meet you, sir.
He can't talk, he's speechless.
Mum, how many people were there yesterday?
Yesterday...
12,000.
Daddy, you said 17,000!
They told me 17,000 yesterday.
Wait, wait!
I don't remember.
Where were we yesterday?
At Long Island.
Long Island!
Your dad is right.
Your daddy's right.
What difference does it make?
A lot!
What difference does it make,
if it's 2,000 or 17,000?
You need to make the same effort.
Are you coming back today? Ah.
What is it?
What is it, love?
There are so many people out there.
I'm so nervous.
I'm anxious and cold.
Virginia is young,
but she's always shown
good musical talent.
What will she do with it?
Who knows.
Perhaps something entirely different.
Tonight, I will play for a very young,
bright girl.
Lovely singer...
because it's my daughter,
Virginia.
Okay.
Virginia, are you ready?
I hope so.
You hope so?
Are you tranquil?
- Not really.
- Not really?
I'll try my best.
Okay, thank you.
I think Virginia is a lot like her father.
Especially when it comes to determination,
and the drive to perform well.
She plays the piano because she knows
it'll make her daddy happy.
Then, gradually, in her life
she will figure out what makes her happy.
Her happiness
will be our happiness.
I'm so excited, guys. I...
I didn't expect it
to go that well.
- Yes!
- Bye!
All in all,
it isn't that fun to be a singer.
It's rather monotonous.
At the beginning, being backstage
in TV studios was really tough.
They felt like prisons to me.
Success is following you all over the
world, does it weigh on you?
Success is definitely a burden.
Whenever, backstage, I feel wistful.
I get nostalgic about the times
when I happily played,
people chatted and smoked,
listening absent-mindedly to my music.
It was pleasant.
It allowed me to perform freely,
without masks or pretenses.
It was a year full of lengthy travels.
I don't know how many hours
I spent on a plane
I'm sick of it.
The higher you go,
the more the responsibility,
the less you feel like you're at the top,
rather, you feel on the brink.
I went through a difficult time.
I felt very anxious.
Andrea became really successful.
Quite a burden to bear.
You find yourself alone.
Loneliness is not a friend.
When I met Andrea Bocelli,
he was already famous.
Andrea was separated
from his first wife, Enrica.
At the time, I could see this man
was quite devastated
by the end of his marriage.
We started a new
chapter of life together.
From the start,
I was passionate about this job.
My enthusiasm fueled Andrea
as his own enthusiasm
had worn off by then.
He'd never enjoyed travelling,
particularly the way he was travelling,
shipped from one place to another,
like a package,
not knowing what was going on around him.
It wasn't a particularly bright time
of his life.
When you're successful,
the people that approach you
aren't always good for you.
His first manager was Michele Torpedine.
Is Andrea easy to manage?
Andrea is not difficult to manage,
but it's all the work that's piled up on
him.
Andrea is very amenable.
But...
luckily, there's a lot going on for
Andrea,
both in terms of pop and opera music.
Andrea is still quite easy.
He is very down-to-earth.
I'm coming into Andrea's living room.
Here we meet some friends.
Ah, Michele Torpedine is here.
You've been part of the family
for quite a while, haven't you?
-I hope so.
-Of course you are.
If you're truly passionate
and those who work with you also are,
then you end up close to them.
It's inevitable.
A very clever man for sure,
with an instinct for new talents.
As his record shows.
But many things happened.
Shall we call them "misunderstandings"?
Many misunderstandings.
I'm the one who realized
the cause of our misunderstandings.
Simply, I noticed that every time
I came into a meeting,
as soon as I walked in,
the conversation stopped.
That raised questions.
When I started pointing it out to Andrea,
I said, "We should be checking things
more."
At a certain point, it became clear
that we had to make a clean break.
After that break-up,
we found ourselves truly alone.
Perhaps, through my eyes,
he could see things
that he had never seen before.
In 2005,
we started again from scratch.
I was very worried about it.
I lost a lot of hair that year.
I was very young at the time,
I hadn't even seen a contract before.
But Andrea said,
"Don't worry, I've done my math."
"I believe I can trust you."
Where are you?
Don't venture too far from me.
Let me hold you for a while,
'cause this is how we live life.
A bit you,
and a bit me.
-You can't always be alone.
-Go away!
You really are a man.
Yes, entirely.
-Turn right.
-Go!
No, I don't trust you.
No!
No.
These are the rules of attraction.
-Indeed.
-Let go of me.
No.
-I told you to let me go.
-No!
Regardless of whether he could see,
Andrea has always been impressive.
When I had the chance to meet
other visually impaired people,
I realized he was Batman.
Or Superman.
And here we see Alberto Tomba
and Andrea Bocelli.
I've always been terrified by boredom.
Every moment of boredom
is a lost moment from life.
Kamikaze,
Andrea! Kamikaze!
Thus, I've always tried to be curious
about everything.
Even things
I didn't care about at first.
The more things you learn, the better.
I even jumped with a parachute.
I jumped from 5,000 meters.
There's no challenge
that appears too extreme
for Andrea Bocelli.
With his wife by his side,
nothing can stop
this amazing singer's ascent.
Maestro! Maestro!
After 2005,
we re-structured ourselves.
There was stability.
We started over,
and here we are.
Andrea Bocelli
has the Guinness World Record
for holding number one,
two, and three spots
on the classical album charts,
all at the same time.
Daddy's brought you something.
So, Virgi...
what do we have here?
Bunnies.
What's there?
Bunnies in there!
Ah!
Go on, take a look, Virginia.
There's two!
Yes, there are two.
Virginia, are you happy?
Yes.
Give a little kiss to daddy,
who gave you these.
Go fetch them.
-Should mummy help you?
-No, she'll manage.
Certainly, Veronica and my family
have helped me overcome
the hardest times.
They've given me the drive
to seek new horizons.
Okay, then.
My, my.
- Awesome. I think that's-- that's good.
- Yeah.
I heard this song,
thanks to my sons,
Amos and Matteo.
It's exactly
what I wanted to do.
It's exactly
how I pictured it as well.
Really cool.
It's a big sign of approval for me,
that a 26-year-old man,
less than half my age,
has responded to
my musical language.
This language is still reaching
other important international artists
of his generation.
Wembley, will you make
some noise for Andrea Bocelli?
Thank you, Ed.
I think that embracing
various musical genres
is like a child who's bilingual.
Most people find it odd,
or rather impressive.
To me,
it's the most normal thing
in the world.
Throughout his career,
he's been labelled as a pop tenor.
For him, it's been a crusade...
to rid himself of this pop tenor label.
Bocelli started as a tenor
who sang pop music.
And now he is trying out opera.
If he can perform opera with
the same intensity as he does pop,
it'll be a huge achievement.
Because opera is harder than pop.
You sing without a mic.
However, he's got great skills and great
artistic and musical sensibility.
I wish him all the best.
Good evening, Bocelli,
joining us from Cagliari,
where he's performing La Bohme.
Good evening, everyone.
A warm hug to Maestro Pavarotti.
Undoubtedly, if he hadn't supported me,
I wouldn't be here performing La Bohme.
For sure.
He moves me.
And...
switch camera,
because I am feeling emotional.
The first times I performed opera roles,
I was so in love with that musical genre,
I had so dreamt of singing
those roles as a boy,
of being a protagonist on an opera stage,
that all my psychological
and physical energy
went into getting
into the role.
In Detroit, when he performed Werther,
he had to walk
to the middle of the stage,
and pick up a glass
that was handed to him.
Under the carpet,
they placed a rope,
so, that he could feel the end
of the rope with his foot.
You have to sing, perform well,
sing in tune...
Without seeing, I mean...
It's extraordinary.
The reception from the public
was extremely warm,
but I knew that we would fall
under great criticism
from the cognoscenti
or the people
really in the opera world.
I knew they came
with their swords drawn.
I think that even there
probably
was some jealousy
and resentment
on the side
of the classical music,
you know, cognoscenti,
as it were,
because he achieved
a type of success worldwide
that I think...
all of us
who are in the business
have desired on some level.
High-end opera
is still the preserve
of a very small group of people.
But when the composers wrote
Bohme or La Traviata,
they didn't intend it
to be heard
by a minimal,
exclusive audience.
Those tunes are for everybody.
Bocelli
takes classical opera
and takes the spirit
to the general public.
Opera has been a great challenge for me,
which I won.
Perhaps, it helped
with my self-esteem.
It made me realize
Goethe was right,
When you believe,
everything you thought was impossible,
comes within reach.
There's nothing impossible
in this world.
We decide in our minds
if something is possible or not.
I've always been tied to my roots,
to my land.
So I've always been happy
to come back where it all started.
One day, an architect visited our home.
A visionary,
very quirky, covered in scarves.
He showed us photos
of a field with three rocks.
And said,
"You are Andrea Bocelli.
"The world should come to you,
you shouldn't be going to them."
The place where Andrea is happiest
is Teatro del Silenzio
because he feels at home there.
And the world comes to listen to him.
Amid the sheep and the fields.
-Good evening.
-Andrea Bocelli. I'm going to perform.
Bocelli! Whoo-hoo!
I love you!
Greetings from Chile.
I've travelled a long way to see you.
You can't help coming back, it's your
home.
We are all tied to the place
we were born and raised.
It's a concert I perform for my homeland.
Your two souls, pop and opera
once again, together, combined.
Enrico Caruso gifted us with some great
songs
in addition to his opera work.
Beniamino Gigli did the same.
Mario Del Monaco, too.
So did Franco Corelli. All of them.
And in my own way,
I try to carry on this tradition.
It's a butterfly.
Lights will be projected onto it.
So we've named the concert "Reflections".
-"Reflections"?
-Yes.
What kind of title is that?
How can you link that to a repertoire?
That...
That's my problem, I see.
I was thinking of a more cheerful name.
Look, our intention is
to rely on laser technology,
a distinctive light show.
My opinion about lighting is tenuous.
You see this kind of thing
in any show in America.
If you come all the way to Tuscany,
the epitome of Italy, tradition,
elegance, refinement...
This is a little wannabe
rather than "Tuscany".
People come to see things here
that don't happen
anywhere else in the world.
My love.
I need to get a dress.
My love, will you give me some strength?
Am I going to make it?
Let's hope so!
Let's hope so?
Come on!
Thank you.
Hi, Andrea.
-How are you?
-Very well.
-So?
-Shall we dramatize the scene?
All right.
-Sure.
-Let's go for it.
Did my wife tell you anything?
No, she didn't.
She said, "I'll tell her to feel free."
-All right.
-Always free.
Look, Veronica is here.
Here we are!
-I urge you to...
-Absolutely.
If we count on him, we are ruined.
He's so buttoned up.
What's on stage stays on stage.
You got my wife's consent.
Say no more, all clear.
-All right.
-I told him yesterday,
"Look she's shy,
she's stays far from you."
-"You tell her."
-"No, you tell her!"
It's not true.
-Can I introduce you to my boyfriend?
-Of course.
Very nice to meet you.
My name is Andrea, too.
-You too?
-She won't get it wrong then!
Exactly.
-Very well.
-On stage and off stage.
People ask me,
"Aren't you jealous?"
No, I'm not. It would be silly.
If it's a nice person,
someone pleasant
whom you can sing about love with
and be inspired from,
all the better.
I am confident enough
not to be affected by it.
To this day.
Did you notice how beautiful
the trills and high notes were?
You are so stubborn in thinking that
your voice gets worse as you get older...
-No, it's not true.
-It's true.
If you didn't have it,
in these performances,
it would be toned down.
It wouldn't turn out
as clean as it does.
I must reassure you once more.
Also...
Addio fiorito asil came out great.
The high notes were awesome!
I had you up there for a while.
Dad, you were brilliant!
Thank you, my love.
Was the voice all right?
Yes.
To think that I've been doing this job
for 30 years
means that I'm more
than halfway through my life.
It doesn't really make me sad,
I was just joking.
Today, thank God, I feel well.
I'm already regretting saying it,
out of superstition.
But I've said it.
I can't really explain why
I'm so attached to Andrea.
I've always loved him very much.
When we meet up,
we don't necessarily talk about music,
we talk about life.
He seems unchanged to me.
He seems very down-to-earth.
Andrea is very close
to his childhood friends.
I think this is very important
for anyone who is successful.
Remembering who he used to be,
is the perfect antidote
to remain grounded.
We always knew he had a gift.
We also knew that it was
a difficult world.
That he would remain unknown seemed...
impossible.
But I honestly never would've thought
that he'd come this far.
We knew he'd win Sanremo!
"Go and get a Law degree."
My father would say.
"Dad, but I have to sing."
"Yes, of course.
You'll do that, we all know."
It's incredible, he's done it all.
And he's done it well, no?
When you live with someone
who's in the spotlight,
who's got strong morals,
you feel the pressure too.
When I'd like to give
my opinion as Veronica Berti,
I have to remember that I'm not
speaking as Veronica Berti,
I am speaking as Veronica Bocelli.
In our world,
a "just reward" doesn't exist.
If you've got gifts,
you're born with them.
It's not that you "deserve" them.
If someone is born with a beautiful voice,
or with the strength of a bull
that makes him a heavyweight champion,
it's not that he deserves it.
But the opposite of "deserve" exists.
When you're born with talents, but have no
desire to bring them to fruition.
In life, we are all called upon
to give the best of ourselves.
And one should treat others,
the way one would
like to be treated.
It's that simple.
Thank you.
Grazie.
Grazie.
Thank you very much.
I've always had faith in my own destiny.
Are you ready, Maestro?
I was born with an affinity for music,
and it grew
like my hands, my arms and my legs.
The first thing I do in the morning
when I get on my feet,
is to test my voice.
If my voice sounds good,
I relax and wait for the concert.
This place brings back memories
of a great concert 33 years ago.
The three most famous tenors
in the world sang here.
Virginia?
In 1990, an historical concert
took place here.
For the first time, the three most
important tenors in the world,
Pavarotti, Domingo and Carreras,
sang together.
And it was broadcast all over the world.
This is the place.
Can you show me... Where's mum?
Can you show me
where the stage is?
Let's take your dad to the stage.
They sang here,
was the public over there?
Which one is the long side?
The one facing the audience, of course.
Like any other stage,
but it's a narrow rectangle.
It's very long, rather narrow.
And behind you,
there's a wonder.
The echo of that concert
still resonates within me.
I feel the weight of that responsibility.
Andrea, let's change your trousers.
What?
Forget about it!
Who cares?
-No, Andrea.
-There's no difference.
Please, do me this favor.
I don't want to change my trousers.
-These feel good.
-But these will look better.
No! Where is Veronica?
Where is she?
She's coming, Andrea.
Tell me, Andrea.
I don't want to change my trousers.
Who said that you should change?
You said he had to change his suit?
Who said that?
-Alessandro.
-No.
-You did!
-Calm down, behave.
Don't change a thing,
just put a waistcoat on.
I didn't say it.
Behave.
Mmm.
As a child, I'd dream of
making a living with music.
My biggest dream was
to be accompanied by an orchestra.
Reality has exceeded my dreams.
I am very attached
to the land where I come from,
but mostly to my language.
The hardest thing for me,
when I'm around the world,
is to speak in languages
other than my own.
This is the first property bought
by my ancestors in 1831.
My ancestors were farmers
under Prince Corsini.
My parents sold
farming equipment,
from tractors to bolts.
I remember my father
as a great gentleman.
My mother was one
of the feistiest people I've ever met.
She was a great saleswoman.
I came out different.
This one must be closed so the horse
doesn't run away,
or Emiliano will tell me off.
Nevado!
Come here.
Open your mouth, come on.
Show me your teeth.
See.
Sorry.
How to complicate simple things...
Good, first step is done.
Hang on, I'll put it properly.
Something is not working.
In the rush, it was assembled
the wrong way.
Yes. This goes below, like this.
This one goes this way up.
Now it should be all right.
It was the wrong way round.
So,
the correct notch should be
the most used one.
Come on,
Let's see if...
it's the right notch.
We're good to go now.
Behave, little horse.
Emiliano, come here to check
how many mistakes I've made.
I put the strap the wrong way round.
Exactly, but I noticed it.
But do tell them!
I did it on purpose
to see if you'd notice.
To make my life harder!
But the horse is now saddled.
As a child, I used to dream
day and night about horses.
My grandfather expressed his wish
to buy me a horse before dying.
As soon as he passed away,
my dad set off to a farm
and he returned home with a Haflinger
horse, apt for a boy.
When I came back from boarding school,
I found this huge surprise.
My father told me,
"She is yours."
That was one of my greatest joys.
From that day on, I started riding
and falling, then I learned.
It was my greatest obsession as a child,
and it stuck with me.
Ordinary people think,
"How can he go horse-riding on his own?"
This nonsense comes from ignorance.
I spent most of my life outdoors,
doing all things a country boy does.
This is what I'm used to.
I was obsessed with riding.
When I was young, I even got lost once.
One morning, before going to university.
I woke up really early
and went galloping in the woods,
in our stunning countryside.
I was minding my own business,
and I realized I was totally lost.
I tied my horse and waited
for someone to look for me.
I won't tell you what my father
said to me after they found me.
I'd always go out alone.
I was quite reckless.
Zero fear.
Music has helped me to live well.
It's made my life beautiful.
My favorite musical genre is opera,
always has been.
Opera is music's heaven.
It reaches the sublime.
And it's one of the highest forms of art
humans have ever achieved.
To stage an opera, it takes
thousands of years of study.
Because there are
80 or 90 musicians,
who have studied, on average,
eight to nine years each.
Then, there's the choir,
the singers,
the conductor, the director...
I said a thousand years,
but that's not enough.
Virgi?
-Are you still painting?
-Hi, Virgi.
Of course.
Hi, Pierpa.
Go ahead.
We should listen to this music on our
knees.
It was recorded in San Carlo
in the '60s.
It all started when
I was a newborn in hospital.
My eyes would hurt a lot.
By chance, in the room next door,
a Russian man had a record player.
My mother noticed
that when he played music,
I'd stop crying.
That was a huge discovery.
They noticed that I preferred
the opera records.
When I was a young boy,
I learned very soon
how to play vinyl on my own,
I had this record player
and I'd play the record,
and then I'd circle around the table
like a nut case.
Oriana was my nanny,
I was very close to her.
I must have been six or seven years old.
One day she came home
with a newspaper.
"Franco Corelli stuns La Scala."
She told me, "You must ask for his record,
"so we can listen to it together."
That was the fateful meeting
with Franco Corelli.
Which changed my life.
It was love at first sight.
I was gobsmacked by his voice.
It was like something went through me.
He was my virtual teacher,
and later,
he became my real teacher as I met him
at a masterclass he held in Turin.
My lessons with Corelli
were a revelation.
He put his hand on my shoulder
and said, "You have a beautiful voice."
It was one of the most
moving moments in my career.
His most valuable lesson
was on expression.
Let's discuss Caracalla.
It started as a tribute to
the Three Tenors concert.
That's the inspiration.
Marco,
very important...
How did Inter Milan play yesterday?
Yesterday was a great victory
for Inter Milan.
So, we've drafted an idea,
involving two sopranos,
and one baritone here as well.
The first half will be our usual opera,
and the second half will be a mix of
Neapolitan songs and operetta.
There'll be no pop.
The first song could be
the overture from Candide.
Then La donna mobile
and Di quella pira with the choir.
Something's not right here...
Hang on, let me read it first,
then we'll discuss.
So, after the Andrea Chnier duet,
we'd break it with Toreador
sang by the baritone.
No, you can't have Andrea
just coming on at the end,
he can't just do four minutes.
This doesn't work.
You need two or three more songs
with Andrea.
You can't come in at the end.
We've never had you on and off,
singing just one song in the first half.
Do you get it?
You can't just sing O soave fanciulla.
This won't do.
You need to sing
at least two or three songs.
People come to hear you, not others.
Have the baritone in the second half.
What do you think?
Yes, sure.
How about the encore?
Con te partir?
Are you feeling okay?
No.
No, no.
He's got a fever.
Bye, guys.
-Are you happy?
-It's been lovely.
But meetings that go over 20 minutes
are useless.
Hi, Andrea.
I couldn't wait to be here!
I just couldn't wait!
Grazie.
-So?
-Hi, welcome to Caracalla.
-Thank you.
-Let's hope all is well.
How come?
I've struggled terribly with my voice
since the beginning of the year.
Now it's slowly getting better.
I saw a specialist here in Rome.
He really probed me.
Basically, he put a straw up my nose,
with a small balloon at the end,
which inflates once inside.
And then, it starts vibrating,
ten minutes inside each nostril.
Well, you have no idea
what came out of there.
-Incredible.
-Fabulous.
He told me that I have the healthiest
vocal chords he's ever seen.
-Thank God!
-No excuses.
At my age, I could stop.
It's not true.
I've been hearing this for 22 years.
When I met him he'd say, "I'm retiring."
I've lost weight, though.
That's true.
You look really good.
-I lost a lot.
-All good.
But you've gained weight since your
wedding.
My wife is Sicilian.
She cooks well.
You do realize that
tomorrow night when I am singing,
my team is playing
in the Champions League final?
It only happens once in a blue moon.
Yeah, I remember.
Your team...
I'm considering listening to the match
on my earpiece whilst I sing.
Really?
And if Inter Milan scores...
Did you hear
the team's line up?
No.
Deko and Lautaro,
but Lukaku starts
on the bench.
Lautaro Martinez makes a pass
to his teammates.
The Champions League final
has started...
An attempt from Stones,
he touches the ball...
It's not working, damn!
Do you have a wi-fi for him?
Nil-nil.
This thing is not working!
What's the score?
Nil-nil.
-Bernardo centers the ball...
-No!
Goal...
-Have they scored?
-Yeah...
The game is over.
No, there's still 30 minutes to go.
But now their morale will be low.
Manchester City wins
their first Champions League!
I don't like losing.
I don't possess this quality.
I greatly admire those
who can lose philosophically.
Losing is not for me.
But I'm a lucky man.
I was born and raised
in a loving family.
I've had partners who have loved me,
and I really love my job.
I can now say I've spent
more than half my life with you.
-You can't say the same.
-No.
So far!
But, I hope, one day,
to say the same.
After your mother, I'm the woman
who's been around the longest.
Well, one day,
I hope to say the same.
Shortly after we met,
I was due to travel to America.
-Back then, it was early days...
-Those were the early days.
Our desire was burning.
So, I asked her,
"Will you come to America with me?"
I'll never forget her reply,
"I'm happy to join you,
if you give me a job.
"I don't want to sponge off you."
I smiled, because I thought that
she was already doing enough.
I had to earn my place on that trip.
I told her I'd find her a job,
though I didn't know what.
But she sought it out herself,
the way determined people do.
She said,
"I see what needs doing."
Just saying,
I can't stay too long in one place.
Thank God, your work
keeps you on the move.
We're a perfect match...
For now!
Once you stop moving for work,
you'll have to do it for love.
Bye!
-You'll have to stick around for a bit.
-Don't count on it.
I was clear from the start!
You know that.
So was I.
Maestro, can you tell us about
your performance at the King's Coronation?
You must be very proud to represent Italy
at such an historic event.
In a few days,
an historic event will take place.
The Coronation of King Charles.
I've had the honor of being invited.
More than proud,
I'm delighted.
These invitations, like awards too,
are a tangible manifestation
of admiration and affection.
This is what we live for.
-Thank you very much, Maestro.
-You are welcome.
Virgi?
-I'm painting.
-What?
A plant.
Is it like a tree?
No, it's more like a bunch of leaves.
So, it's a bush?
Dad...
have you always believed in yourself?
What a difficult question you ask.
I've always been happy with who I am,
and what I have.
What do you mean
by believing in myself?
I know my limitations,
as well as my strengths.
Can you tell me
what's been the best moment of your life?
No, because luckily I've had many.
Starting with the birth of you three,
so, that makes it three already.
And your worst moment?
Worst moment?
Well, I've had
difficult moments in my life.
Starting from when I was a child...
and I had to leave my family,
to go to a boarding school,
very far away from home.
Perhaps that was the saddest moment
in my life.
As a child...
I was considered
extremely short-sighted.
I could see everything
but only from up close.
I remember extremely well
the world I saw.
Colors, everything.
How could I forget those memories?
So, Bocelli?
How are the grapes this year?
It's looking good.
We have a beautiful colonnade.
We've got eight of grandfather's
rows of vineyard left.
My brother, Andrea,
aged three and a half,
due to congenital glaucoma,
had already been operated on
13 times in Turin.
It was torture.
We have raised beds here.
The salads are easily reachable, see?
It's high enough.
Aged six, no local school would take him.
So at seven, Andrea went to a boarding
school for the visually impaired.
He would come home
only in the holidays.
We'd go visit him once a month.
Aged 12, I was still in boarding school.
One day, playing football,
I was the goalkeeper.
No idea why,
as I'd never been goalie before,
and I never would be goalie again.
A ball hit me right in the face.
From that blow,
a hemorrhage...
and the rest is history.
That's when he lost...
That's when darkness fell.
I could see my son would never go far
if I were overprotective.
But it was hard for
his grandparents to see this,
or his aunt to see it.
They only saw a "poor blind boy."
I could never accept
this idea of the "poor boy".
Above all, Andrea never
accepted any form of pity.
He'd say,
"What's the point of pity?"
We've raised him on these principles.
With courage.
With a lot of courage.
My mother feared
I wouldn't be able to fend for myself.
She worked really hard
to provide me
with tranquility and stability.
What kind of keyboard is this?
Odd one. I've never seen it.
-Are there curtains there?
-Yes.
Then I can't warm up my voice here.
-What should I do?
-Nothing.
You can't do anything about it.
This is pointless,
I'm gonna end up ruining it.
What's the problem?
These are sound absorbant,
so you project your voice,
and it doesn't bounce back.
By pushing it, you strain it.
Andrea, tomorrow we could put up
some sound reflecting surfaces.
The less time I spend in this room,
the better.
I'll somehow warm my voice up last minute.
Sound propagates by hitting
all the obstacles in its path.
If you pay attention,
you can hear it bounce back.
It's a skill we all have,
but you don't develop it.
Ha!
Good.
Well done,
I hadn't heard it before.
Yes, I've played it before.
-I don't think so.
-Yes!
-I'd say it's 90% there.
-Yes.
Something is missing, but overall...
There's still uncertainty in the leaps.
She adds some variations based
on her musical taste.
Her memory is good,
she learns quickly.
The musicality helps her.
Yes, she's got that.
-Daddy...
-That's the one thing you cannot learn.
Daddy, when did you start playing the
piano?
-Who?
-You.
I was eight years old.
-Would you like to play?
-No.
You should study more
because you have musicality.
When you receive a gift,
you have to nurture it.
You have to value it.
My ability to sing is nothing but a gift,
that manifested itself early on.
A sign of destiny.
As a boy, my family,
friends and relatives
would ask me to perform
by the fireplace.
That was my first stage.
And whether it was
at church on Sundays,
at birthday parties,
or any other celebration,
any excuse was invented to make me sing.
From Andrea Chnier,
Andrea Bocelli will sing
Un d, all'azzurro spazio.
The first big applause I received,
was at boarding school.
I must have been
ten years old.
At boarding school,
they realized I could sing early on.
So they convinced me
to go on stage and sing a song.
I chose O sole mio.
It was chaotic when I started singing,
so no one noticed me to begin with.
But then, at the key moment...
I realized silence had fallen in the room.
This silence continued
throughout my singing,
followed by a massive applause.
It truly stunned me.
Since that day,
I was always asked to sing this
and that to entertain.
Let's not count calories tonight.
You shouldn't use parmesan.
It should just be pecorino romano.
We're putting both in.
Okay.
I've remained firmly attached
to my old friends.
I will add bacon,
but no onion or garlic.
'Cause I don't want Romans
turning in their graves.
-You need to add garlic.
-Why garlic?
It goes in the saut.
No!
You've spent too much time in the US.
I used to add a lot of it.
A lot of it.
I used to chop it all up.
It was his specialty.
Carbonara with garlic is almost worse
than carbonara with cream.
Andrea is like a brother to me.
I've known Andrea since I was born.
He lived next to me,
we grew up together.
He was one of us,
he had to be with us.
-When's dinner?
-Come over here, Adriano.
I'm afraid of the dog.
Come here, that's nonsense.
The only time Adriano and I argued
was over a dog.
He was afraid of my wolfdog.
He'd tell him, "Bite him!"
You did tell him that.
No, I'll stay over here.
Go to Adriano.
If it bites me...
-I knew it.
-Look how it stands up!
Adriano, I have a horse
I'd love you to ride.
Yeah, right.
The kind of horse
I'd dream of as a kid,
but couldn't afford.
We met in our first year of secondary
school,
during the teenage years,
the first heartbreaks, the first torments,
in 1971.
It's been 52 years.
Too long.
We've been acquainted
for over half a century.
-Crazy.
-It's all very sad.
Why don't you tell us
how you met Adriano?
My meeting with Adriano
isn't funny, it's rather moving.
Move us!
There were mostly girls in our class.
And very few male specimens.
-I imagine your disappointment.
-I was extremely happy.
They placed me right next
to a high caliber bullet.
The famous blonde?
Mm-hmm.
Two hours later, we had French
in another classroom.
I was a bit disoriented.
I thought, "Who can take me there?"
As I was figuring out
a solution to my problem,
I felt a firm hand on my shoulder,
and a voice said,
"Do you want to sit together
in French class?"
"Absolutely."
From that moment, the friendship we
built...
still endures.
I remember he appeared in front of us
he was wearing a tie, a white shirt,
hair slicked with water, dark sunglasses.
Despite his outfit and this armor he put
on,
you could glimpse what lay within him.
A whole world was there.
Andrea was there.
He needed to come out of his shell.
When I was 15 or 16...
I was trying to fit in.
Adriano is the person who taught me
all the little things.
Opening up an unknown world for me.
Even when it came to fashion.
I remember he took me to a store
where I bought
my first Levi's outfit.
That was a revolution!
By dressing like that,
I felt immediately more accepted.
The saying, "Clothes don't make the
man..." I don't know if I agree.
They do make the man a bit.
Even body language
is something blind people often lack.
We talked about gestures a lot.
With his hands he felt how I moved.
He touched my face when I smiled
he felt my smile,
when my grin would fade or not.
He picked up many gestures
in those times we spent together.
With the lightheartedness
of a 14-year-old.
He says he still carries
this knowledge with him.
Maestro!
Carbonara without garlic!
Good, but I think it lacks garlic.
Cheers!
In the beginning of high school,
my classmates listened to hits of the
time.
I was the odd one out.
We'd tease each other.
They'd say, "Stop yelling,"
when I sang opera.
And I'd reply,
"You listen to these voiceless singers."
It was a constant battle.
After many years of musical exclusion,
that was the time when
I attempted to get into pop music.
I realized other genres offered
other wonderful types of music.
My passion for music
became a proper job
the moment I made some money out of it.
This dates back
to my first year at university
when I was studying law.
When, to make ends meet,
I accepted the offer to play in a piano
bar.
My first piano bar was
The Boccaccio Club,
25 kilometers from my house.
Every day except for Mondays.
Three hours every night
and sometimes four on a Saturday.
No rest, we can say.
So, I paid my dues.
I would sing all the classic pop hits.
I loved Frank Sinatra, Charles Aznavour,
Ornella Vanoni, Mina.
I started having fun
and earning cash,
to indulge myself occasionally,
buying instruments,
for instance.
Most importantly,
it gave me the chance to meet girls,
which was something
we all longed for.
During my piano bar days,
I got the urge to go back
to studying piano.
My friendship with Andrea
dates back to 1986.
I was introduced to Carlo.
He had graduated in piano,
so, he played really well.
So I asked him,
"Why don't you give me lessons?
"I want to get good."
He was dragging his feet.
He didn't want me as a student!
He was convinced
I'd waste his time.
He thought, "He's just a piano-bar
player."
I'd come up with
the craziest excuses,
"I have to bring my dog to the vet."
"I have to drive my Mum to my sister's."
Did you give piano lessons?
Yes, but he was a piano-bar player!
Whilst I was used to teaching
Chopin, Bach, Beethoven.
-Why waste my time?
-With a piano-bar guy?
But he was so persistent...
and, finally, I ran out of excuses.
One day I agreed,
"Okay, come for a lesson."
I learned a lot with him.
I got to play everything.
He got to play proficiently,
at a diploma level.
Within five or six years.
-Because I was focused.
-He studied six hours per day.
-Any flaws?
-I am full of flaws.
First of all, I'm stubborn.
I've always refused
to move away from home
to Milan or Rome.
So you give up...
Simply because I'm happy here.
I like it here.
Game menu, button.
Let's see if this match is the one.
Look for an opponent.
Everything started when no one believed
anything would happen,
before I turned 30.
Thanks to Zucchero
one of the biggest Italian rock stars.
D4.
Zucchero was going to record
in a studio in Modena.
I'd been to that studio myself
to record a demo.
So, when Zucchero turned up
to record Miserere...
he heard my recordings,
and asked for me immediately.
I came up with Miserere,
because I was feeling miserable.
I was feeling terrible, depressed
and had just separated.
All the usual family problems
that, sadly, many of us have.
I was looking
for a tenor voice,
to present the song I'd written
for Luciano Pavarotti.
I had to work to persuade
Luciano Pavarotti.
He convinced me
by sending me a demo.
Bocelli was singing on it,
who was young and ambitious.
Promising.
When I heard the tenor on the tape,
I rang him and told him,
"If you have the guy from the tape,
you don't need me.
"Because he's really good."
It seemed like a great opportunity,
but then we got the news
that Maestro Pavarotti had accepted.
The dream vanished.
This song Miserere came out.
It was Luciano Pavarotti's version.
He can either take me with the queen...
yes.
My mother used to tell me,
"You'll never amount to anything,
you do nothing to be someone.
"You don't make any effort."
Perhaps I was a bit lazy
living in the countryside,
where I was born and bred.
I was happy with my pets,
my horses, my friends.
I wasn't motivated
to send audition tapes around Italy.
It was mostly my mother who sent them out.
She never got encouraging responses.
I found myself surrounded
by a gloomy atmosphere,
especially from my parents and all.
I told my mum,
"I am not saying this to comfort you,
"but I think it's happening soon."
It was something I felt inside,
that I cannot explain, just like you
can't explain a color or a sound.
There's no explanation.
I felt it. Period.
Miserere was successful.
We toured various stadiums.
But Luciano declined it
because he was very busy.
So, I summoned Andrea
to sing the tenor part.
Andrea Bocelli!
I witnessed an incredible reaction,
from a young audience.
When the audience saw me live on stage,
they decided it was time
to give me a chance.
It's always up to the audience to decide.
I've always been fatalistic
especially in those moments.
I let things happen...
as God wished for them to happen.
The idea of merging pop and opera could
work.
And that's when I reached out
to Caterina Caselli.
Who was an independent label,
and who did an
extraordinary job on Andrea.
Good morning, how is it going?
Caterina is an excellent talent scout.
Having been a singer and artist,
I think she realized she could
create a new Andrea Bocelli.
I met him in '93
at Zucchero's concert.
I was very far from the stage.
I hear someone singing Miserere,
and I think, "This is not Pavarotti."
Then he sang Nessun dorma,
and I thought, "I've found him!"
I saw him,
he was as handsome as Omar Sharif.
I thought, "This is what
I've been looking for."
Because I'd always thought,
that the Italian bel canto
would work abroad.
So, I went back to my office,
without even a contract,
but I wanted to find a song for Andrea
which would have wide vocal range.
Fifteen days later, we had a song...
that we presented in Sanremo.
Good evening, welcome to Sanremo!
Sanremo is a big festival.
The whole of Italy watches it.
The song's title is
Il mare calmo della sera.
Andrea Bocelli is at the piano.
Let's go for it. What will be, will be.
Yes, you're anxious,
so, let's see what comes out.
We had the perfect song
for Sanremo
because it gave him
the chance to express
his two musical languages.
Singing both the rock part
and the bel canto part.
Bel canto is the voice
which is ideal for opera.
Because it sounds smooth.
Like the sea,
it's liquid.
The way he can switch
from a rasping voice,
such as mine...
And also sing the tenor's notes.
This is what really impressed me
about Andrea.
Thank you!
It was the first time that an unknown
singer,
had such a success amongst people
who didn't know who he was.
He was well over
30 years old.
Sanremo makes sense only
if you go against the flow.
If you go to Sanremo
you have to stand out,
like I did, or Andrea did,
like Vasco did at the time.
Yeah, but there's one difference.
I won and you came last.
Don't forget it.
Andrea had "swing"
which most other opera singers
don't really have.
Probably due to his experience
playing in piano bars.
Enrica, how did you two meet?
I met him around five years ago
in a piano bar.
The first thing that struck me
was his voice.
Andrea, who made the first move?
-She did.
-I did.
Mr. and Mrs. Bocelli,
were you immediately supportive
of Enrica's and Andrea's union?
Andrea was quite grown up,
it was finally time for him to settle.
So, it's good he's settled now.
Did you agree immediately, madam?
-Listen...
-The truth, please.
Of course.
I think parents shouldn't
interfere in their kids' lives.
But she interferes big time!
Eh!
Andrea's parents were very surprised
by his success.
I had reached a respectable age.
At that age, one must work.
You've got to do something.
You can't depend on your family.
I didn't like to, so, I thought,
"This is my last attempt."
His father berated him for being
too obsessed with opera.
"You must try other music!"
Finally, Andrea gave in.
He's always claimed,
"Opera is my heart.
"But pop music is my legs."
Caterina understood that the audience
would appreciate my work.
Something most other record producers
saw as dated.
When we presented him
with Con te partir,
Andrea wasn't too convinced.
"I don't like the music arrangement,
"it's too electronic."
I told him, "Look Andrea,
"it's extraordinary."
We sold 100,000 copies after the release.
Not much was happening.
After one year of not much happening,
my friend, Paul Young,
called and said,
"Zucchero, do you know
Maske, the boxer?
"He's fighting in Germany
for the world title."
They wanted me to sing a song live.
This will be the final fight
- of his career.
- Ah!
"Damn, what a great opportunity,
but I can't make it."
But Andrea came to my mind.
Maske checked out Con te partir
and he loved it.
But because he'd already
committed to Sarah Brightman,
it was translated into English becoming,
Time To Say Goodbye.
Maske lost the fight.
And he announced on live TV,
that it was time to say goodbye.
"I'm retiring."
Farewell.
I first heard Bocelli
around the time that he did
"Time to Say Goodbye"
with Sarah Brightman in Germany
at a boxing match.
Which was a very,
slightly bizarre combination
that the two of them would sing
after a boxing fight in a ring.
And there's something
about the...
fusion of the--
of the two voices together.
As soon as you heard him
singing the duet,
you want to hear him again.
It was a worldwide smash hit.
Even though Germans are
regarded as a bit cold-hearted,
they were all crying.
The next day,
people were queueing up
to buy the single
of Time to Say Goodbye.
And I got screwed over,
'cause I slid down to number 2.
The following day we sold
110,000 albums in one day.
We sold 3.7 million
copies of the single.
To this day, it is an unbeaten record.
This song was top of charts
in France for six weeks,
you won three gold records,
in Belgium, it's become
the greatest hit of all time,
it was number 1 for 12 weeks.
What is your relationship
with Con te partir?
It's conflictive.
It's become
a form of torture for me.
Because I hear it too often.
Artists move on during their career
to do different things.
And obviously, he felt at that point in
his career that he wanted something else.
A huge, completely
international audience.
This success propelled us to the US.
Con te partir is for Bocelli,
what New York, New York
was for Liza Minnelli.
My success started at an age
when for many it comes to an end.
It unfolded like in a fairy tale,
almost unreal.
Overnight, that country boy,
who I used to be,
and who I still am, to be honest,
became famous all over the world.
But truly in a short period of time.
Andrea Bocelli has sold more than
ten million albums
in the US and worldwide.
He has a phenomenal voice.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Andrea Bocelli.
...Andrea,
the world's best-selling tenor.
In that short
period of time, Andrea,
you have sold so many records.
Are you surprised by that?
Yes, of course,
because it's really impossible
- to imagine this.
- This Italian tenor
became
an international sensation.
...if I can make it there.
I want you to meet
a new friend of mine.
He's handsome,
he's romantic. Hey,
he's Italian.
That is true.
What is the collaboration
like, Andrea,
when you work with a guy
like David Foster?
Well,
it's very difficult.
- because, because...
- Thanks.
- Because David...
- We've known that for years.
Because David has a big energy.
And we--
He made me work too much.
It's great. I think Andrea
is like one of the--
He is my favorite singer
of all time.
It is a great achievement that
he comes from another country,
he sings in another language.
And that, especially America, I mean, the
whole world embraced him,
but America, just,
they couldn't get enough of him.
You know, it was like,
they just...
They devoured him.
Andrea, do you remember
the Central Park concert?
The entrance was
on the Columbus side,
there were nearly 100,000 people,
queuing up to come see your dad.
I remember it very well.
It kept on raining...
But when I sang Ave Maria,
it stopped raining.
Your Ave Maria or Schubert's?
Schubert's.
In terms of global success,
I think the peak of my career
was the Central Park concert.
Manhattan was blocked
because of people coming to my concert.
For me, a country boy,
it was like a fairy tale.
A dream, something suspended
between reality and fantasy.
How does it go?
Let me spare my voice.
Thank you.
So, Dad likes to rest his voice
for, like, a long time
before, you know, the concert,
'cause he likes to keep it very fresh
whenever he goes on stage.
Here we are at Madison!
Are you guys ready?
From the outside
it doesn't look so big.
Which way should we go?
- This way to the back room.
- Thank you.
Everyone has performed
at Madison Square.
Frank Sinatra,
Maestro Pavarotti,
all the great opera
and pop performers.
Now the audience will have to
make do with me.
Is my coffee ready?
You know that I become nervous
if I don't have coffee.
First we warm up the cup.
Thank you.
I suffered from stage fright,
for many years.
A kind of fear that can't be put into
words.
An unmanageable anxiety.
Vicious palpitations wouldn't let go of
me, even on stage.
It would last for the entire concert,
until the last obstacle.
This would happen,
because my technique wasn't perfect.
How cute are these tiny ears?
The turning point
was when I met Maestro Pavarotti.
When I first rehearsed
with this great artist,
I realized that he didn't struggle at all,
whilst I struggled a lot.
That's when I figured
he had perfect technique.
I didn't.
Today, thanks to
the technical awareness,
which I have attained
through a lot of effort,
I'm stressing this,
"through a lot of effort."
I don't have that kind of anxiety anymore.
The technique of projecting your voice
must be learned.
Or rather, re-learned.
Because newborns know the technique.
They can scream all day
without losing their voice,
because they're doing it in the right way.
They're screaming from their diaphragm.
-Can I warm up my voice?
-Larisa.
Look.
Great.
- Okay.
- Thank you, thank you.
- Okay, I'll leave you alone.
- Can I be your pianist?
- Is it okay?
- Please!
- Please!
- Okay.
Once you've learned the technique,
you need to train your muscles.
It's like going to the gym.
Instead of your arms and legs
lifting weights,
it's all about the cricothyroid muscles
which govern
your vocal chords.
Andrea
is an amazing opera singer.
He's, like, the all-time best.
His sound touches your soul.
You know what that does
to an individual?
It can change your life.
You know, you can be going
through depression.
You know what music does with depression.
It changes that.
- Thank you guys so much.
- Without this--
Without this energy,
he won't be up there.
- God bless. Honestly, I'm so happy.
- Thank you.
- We'll take it. Let me hug you.
- Oh, thank you so much.
Greet this guy,
he's one of your biggest fans.
- Pleased to meet you.
- Pleased to meet you, sir.
He can't talk, he's speechless.
Mum, how many people were there yesterday?
Yesterday...
12,000.
Daddy, you said 17,000!
They told me 17,000 yesterday.
Wait, wait!
I don't remember.
Where were we yesterday?
At Long Island.
Long Island!
Your dad is right.
Your daddy's right.
What difference does it make?
A lot!
What difference does it make,
if it's 2,000 or 17,000?
You need to make the same effort.
Are you coming back today? Ah.
What is it?
What is it, love?
There are so many people out there.
I'm so nervous.
I'm anxious and cold.
Virginia is young,
but she's always shown
good musical talent.
What will she do with it?
Who knows.
Perhaps something entirely different.
Tonight, I will play for a very young,
bright girl.
Lovely singer...
because it's my daughter,
Virginia.
Okay.
Virginia, are you ready?
I hope so.
You hope so?
Are you tranquil?
- Not really.
- Not really?
I'll try my best.
Okay, thank you.
I think Virginia is a lot like her father.
Especially when it comes to determination,
and the drive to perform well.
She plays the piano because she knows
it'll make her daddy happy.
Then, gradually, in her life
she will figure out what makes her happy.
Her happiness
will be our happiness.
I'm so excited, guys. I...
I didn't expect it
to go that well.
- Yes!
- Bye!
All in all,
it isn't that fun to be a singer.
It's rather monotonous.
At the beginning, being backstage
in TV studios was really tough.
They felt like prisons to me.
Success is following you all over the
world, does it weigh on you?
Success is definitely a burden.
Whenever, backstage, I feel wistful.
I get nostalgic about the times
when I happily played,
people chatted and smoked,
listening absent-mindedly to my music.
It was pleasant.
It allowed me to perform freely,
without masks or pretenses.
It was a year full of lengthy travels.
I don't know how many hours
I spent on a plane
I'm sick of it.
The higher you go,
the more the responsibility,
the less you feel like you're at the top,
rather, you feel on the brink.
I went through a difficult time.
I felt very anxious.
Andrea became really successful.
Quite a burden to bear.
You find yourself alone.
Loneliness is not a friend.
When I met Andrea Bocelli,
he was already famous.
Andrea was separated
from his first wife, Enrica.
At the time, I could see this man
was quite devastated
by the end of his marriage.
We started a new
chapter of life together.
From the start,
I was passionate about this job.
My enthusiasm fueled Andrea
as his own enthusiasm
had worn off by then.
He'd never enjoyed travelling,
particularly the way he was travelling,
shipped from one place to another,
like a package,
not knowing what was going on around him.
It wasn't a particularly bright time
of his life.
When you're successful,
the people that approach you
aren't always good for you.
His first manager was Michele Torpedine.
Is Andrea easy to manage?
Andrea is not difficult to manage,
but it's all the work that's piled up on
him.
Andrea is very amenable.
But...
luckily, there's a lot going on for
Andrea,
both in terms of pop and opera music.
Andrea is still quite easy.
He is very down-to-earth.
I'm coming into Andrea's living room.
Here we meet some friends.
Ah, Michele Torpedine is here.
You've been part of the family
for quite a while, haven't you?
-I hope so.
-Of course you are.
If you're truly passionate
and those who work with you also are,
then you end up close to them.
It's inevitable.
A very clever man for sure,
with an instinct for new talents.
As his record shows.
But many things happened.
Shall we call them "misunderstandings"?
Many misunderstandings.
I'm the one who realized
the cause of our misunderstandings.
Simply, I noticed that every time
I came into a meeting,
as soon as I walked in,
the conversation stopped.
That raised questions.
When I started pointing it out to Andrea,
I said, "We should be checking things
more."
At a certain point, it became clear
that we had to make a clean break.
After that break-up,
we found ourselves truly alone.
Perhaps, through my eyes,
he could see things
that he had never seen before.
In 2005,
we started again from scratch.
I was very worried about it.
I lost a lot of hair that year.
I was very young at the time,
I hadn't even seen a contract before.
But Andrea said,
"Don't worry, I've done my math."
"I believe I can trust you."
Where are you?
Don't venture too far from me.
Let me hold you for a while,
'cause this is how we live life.
A bit you,
and a bit me.
-You can't always be alone.
-Go away!
You really are a man.
Yes, entirely.
-Turn right.
-Go!
No, I don't trust you.
No!
No.
These are the rules of attraction.
-Indeed.
-Let go of me.
No.
-I told you to let me go.
-No!
Regardless of whether he could see,
Andrea has always been impressive.
When I had the chance to meet
other visually impaired people,
I realized he was Batman.
Or Superman.
And here we see Alberto Tomba
and Andrea Bocelli.
I've always been terrified by boredom.
Every moment of boredom
is a lost moment from life.
Kamikaze,
Andrea! Kamikaze!
Thus, I've always tried to be curious
about everything.
Even things
I didn't care about at first.
The more things you learn, the better.
I even jumped with a parachute.
I jumped from 5,000 meters.
There's no challenge
that appears too extreme
for Andrea Bocelli.
With his wife by his side,
nothing can stop
this amazing singer's ascent.
Maestro! Maestro!
After 2005,
we re-structured ourselves.
There was stability.
We started over,
and here we are.
Andrea Bocelli
has the Guinness World Record
for holding number one,
two, and three spots
on the classical album charts,
all at the same time.
Daddy's brought you something.
So, Virgi...
what do we have here?
Bunnies.
What's there?
Bunnies in there!
Ah!
Go on, take a look, Virginia.
There's two!
Yes, there are two.
Virginia, are you happy?
Yes.
Give a little kiss to daddy,
who gave you these.
Go fetch them.
-Should mummy help you?
-No, she'll manage.
Certainly, Veronica and my family
have helped me overcome
the hardest times.
They've given me the drive
to seek new horizons.
Okay, then.
My, my.
- Awesome. I think that's-- that's good.
- Yeah.
I heard this song,
thanks to my sons,
Amos and Matteo.
It's exactly
what I wanted to do.
It's exactly
how I pictured it as well.
Really cool.
It's a big sign of approval for me,
that a 26-year-old man,
less than half my age,
has responded to
my musical language.
This language is still reaching
other important international artists
of his generation.
Wembley, will you make
some noise for Andrea Bocelli?
Thank you, Ed.
I think that embracing
various musical genres
is like a child who's bilingual.
Most people find it odd,
or rather impressive.
To me,
it's the most normal thing
in the world.
Throughout his career,
he's been labelled as a pop tenor.
For him, it's been a crusade...
to rid himself of this pop tenor label.
Bocelli started as a tenor
who sang pop music.
And now he is trying out opera.
If he can perform opera with
the same intensity as he does pop,
it'll be a huge achievement.
Because opera is harder than pop.
You sing without a mic.
However, he's got great skills and great
artistic and musical sensibility.
I wish him all the best.
Good evening, Bocelli,
joining us from Cagliari,
where he's performing La Bohme.
Good evening, everyone.
A warm hug to Maestro Pavarotti.
Undoubtedly, if he hadn't supported me,
I wouldn't be here performing La Bohme.
For sure.
He moves me.
And...
switch camera,
because I am feeling emotional.
The first times I performed opera roles,
I was so in love with that musical genre,
I had so dreamt of singing
those roles as a boy,
of being a protagonist on an opera stage,
that all my psychological
and physical energy
went into getting
into the role.
In Detroit, when he performed Werther,
he had to walk
to the middle of the stage,
and pick up a glass
that was handed to him.
Under the carpet,
they placed a rope,
so, that he could feel the end
of the rope with his foot.
You have to sing, perform well,
sing in tune...
Without seeing, I mean...
It's extraordinary.
The reception from the public
was extremely warm,
but I knew that we would fall
under great criticism
from the cognoscenti
or the people
really in the opera world.
I knew they came
with their swords drawn.
I think that even there
probably
was some jealousy
and resentment
on the side
of the classical music,
you know, cognoscenti,
as it were,
because he achieved
a type of success worldwide
that I think...
all of us
who are in the business
have desired on some level.
High-end opera
is still the preserve
of a very small group of people.
But when the composers wrote
Bohme or La Traviata,
they didn't intend it
to be heard
by a minimal,
exclusive audience.
Those tunes are for everybody.
Bocelli
takes classical opera
and takes the spirit
to the general public.
Opera has been a great challenge for me,
which I won.
Perhaps, it helped
with my self-esteem.
It made me realize
Goethe was right,
When you believe,
everything you thought was impossible,
comes within reach.
There's nothing impossible
in this world.
We decide in our minds
if something is possible or not.
I've always been tied to my roots,
to my land.
So I've always been happy
to come back where it all started.
One day, an architect visited our home.
A visionary,
very quirky, covered in scarves.
He showed us photos
of a field with three rocks.
And said,
"You are Andrea Bocelli.
"The world should come to you,
you shouldn't be going to them."
The place where Andrea is happiest
is Teatro del Silenzio
because he feels at home there.
And the world comes to listen to him.
Amid the sheep and the fields.
-Good evening.
-Andrea Bocelli. I'm going to perform.
Bocelli! Whoo-hoo!
I love you!
Greetings from Chile.
I've travelled a long way to see you.
You can't help coming back, it's your
home.
We are all tied to the place
we were born and raised.
It's a concert I perform for my homeland.
Your two souls, pop and opera
once again, together, combined.
Enrico Caruso gifted us with some great
songs
in addition to his opera work.
Beniamino Gigli did the same.
Mario Del Monaco, too.
So did Franco Corelli. All of them.
And in my own way,
I try to carry on this tradition.
It's a butterfly.
Lights will be projected onto it.
So we've named the concert "Reflections".
-"Reflections"?
-Yes.
What kind of title is that?
How can you link that to a repertoire?
That...
That's my problem, I see.
I was thinking of a more cheerful name.
Look, our intention is
to rely on laser technology,
a distinctive light show.
My opinion about lighting is tenuous.
You see this kind of thing
in any show in America.
If you come all the way to Tuscany,
the epitome of Italy, tradition,
elegance, refinement...
This is a little wannabe
rather than "Tuscany".
People come to see things here
that don't happen
anywhere else in the world.
My love.
I need to get a dress.
My love, will you give me some strength?
Am I going to make it?
Let's hope so!
Let's hope so?
Come on!
Thank you.
Hi, Andrea.
-How are you?
-Very well.
-So?
-Shall we dramatize the scene?
All right.
-Sure.
-Let's go for it.
Did my wife tell you anything?
No, she didn't.
She said, "I'll tell her to feel free."
-All right.
-Always free.
Look, Veronica is here.
Here we are!
-I urge you to...
-Absolutely.
If we count on him, we are ruined.
He's so buttoned up.
What's on stage stays on stage.
You got my wife's consent.
Say no more, all clear.
-All right.
-I told him yesterday,
"Look she's shy,
she's stays far from you."
-"You tell her."
-"No, you tell her!"
It's not true.
-Can I introduce you to my boyfriend?
-Of course.
Very nice to meet you.
My name is Andrea, too.
-You too?
-She won't get it wrong then!
Exactly.
-Very well.
-On stage and off stage.
People ask me,
"Aren't you jealous?"
No, I'm not. It would be silly.
If it's a nice person,
someone pleasant
whom you can sing about love with
and be inspired from,
all the better.
I am confident enough
not to be affected by it.
To this day.
Did you notice how beautiful
the trills and high notes were?
You are so stubborn in thinking that
your voice gets worse as you get older...
-No, it's not true.
-It's true.
If you didn't have it,
in these performances,
it would be toned down.
It wouldn't turn out
as clean as it does.
I must reassure you once more.
Also...
Addio fiorito asil came out great.
The high notes were awesome!
I had you up there for a while.
Dad, you were brilliant!
Thank you, my love.
Was the voice all right?
Yes.
To think that I've been doing this job
for 30 years
means that I'm more
than halfway through my life.
It doesn't really make me sad,
I was just joking.
Today, thank God, I feel well.
I'm already regretting saying it,
out of superstition.
But I've said it.
I can't really explain why
I'm so attached to Andrea.
I've always loved him very much.
When we meet up,
we don't necessarily talk about music,
we talk about life.
He seems unchanged to me.
He seems very down-to-earth.
Andrea is very close
to his childhood friends.
I think this is very important
for anyone who is successful.
Remembering who he used to be,
is the perfect antidote
to remain grounded.
We always knew he had a gift.
We also knew that it was
a difficult world.
That he would remain unknown seemed...
impossible.
But I honestly never would've thought
that he'd come this far.
We knew he'd win Sanremo!
"Go and get a Law degree."
My father would say.
"Dad, but I have to sing."
"Yes, of course.
You'll do that, we all know."
It's incredible, he's done it all.
And he's done it well, no?
When you live with someone
who's in the spotlight,
who's got strong morals,
you feel the pressure too.
When I'd like to give
my opinion as Veronica Berti,
I have to remember that I'm not
speaking as Veronica Berti,
I am speaking as Veronica Bocelli.
In our world,
a "just reward" doesn't exist.
If you've got gifts,
you're born with them.
It's not that you "deserve" them.
If someone is born with a beautiful voice,
or with the strength of a bull
that makes him a heavyweight champion,
it's not that he deserves it.
But the opposite of "deserve" exists.
When you're born with talents, but have no
desire to bring them to fruition.
In life, we are all called upon
to give the best of ourselves.
And one should treat others,
the way one would
like to be treated.
It's that simple.
Thank you.
Grazie.
Grazie.
Thank you very much.