The nature of music is mysterious and so much so that it generates strong emotions within us. It moves along passages that reach the most intimate areas of our psyche without being tried by prejudices or influences of any kind.
To sing opera, one needs two things: the voice and the passion – and above all, the passion.
All that counts in life is intention.
Naturally, women are drawn to a man who understands the subtlety of emotions, and they know I’m a passionate man. But the reason I try to keep myself in shape is so I can sing better, not to look good.
When you’re on stage singing, you’re naked. Your voice is something very intimate, and that’s why I’m scared every time before I perform. It doesn’t matter if I’m singing for a king or a queen or the Pope, it’s enough to be in front of anybody. I suffer, but I can’t do anything about it.
The fact that I am blind is not what defines my life. It should be of no more interest than my blood type. People wonder if there is a relationship between my lack of sight and the way I sing. But there’s no connection.
Faith has a role to play in life. It is not related to success. It is the other way round. Success is related to faith. Faith comes first.
In singing, you cannot ‘cheat’ if you want to give emotions to those who are listening. You must have something to tell.
Probably the first time I left Italy was to travel by train to Lourdes. I went with my mother and my grandmother – who was a very religious person – so it was a pilgrimage of sorts. I remember it as a very intense, but beautiful experience.
Fatherhood is a very natural thing; it’s not something that shakes up my life but rather it enriches it.
Music is able to make a person dream. When you dream, you dream of something good, something beautiful, and when you dream, you always dream of yourself better than you are.
In singing, you cannot ‘cheat’ if you want to give emotions to those who are listening. You must have something to tell.
While they are kids, my children must do as I say.
I have trouble with modern art. But in general, all art forms fascinate me – art is the way human beings express what we can’t say in words.
More people are listening to opera, and I’m happy – everybody must be given that opportunity.
I first started playing in piano bars for three reasons – to make money, to be in the company of my friends – and also to hook up with young girls. I always knew, even before I played in piano bars, about the effect of my voice.
It is not Christian to go against someone. I am in favour of life.
To sing a song is like whispering to a child’s ear. It is an art heavily relying on improvisation.
It is the uninvolved parent who has to resort to strictness.
I change the language with which I use my voice. In opera, I know I have an orchestra behind me; I have to communicate to people very far from me.
Losing my sight had nothing to do with my focus on music. My passion for music was already there, so it would be a mistake to give too much significance to my blindness.
I don’t like crying. I’m a country boy, and we’re the product of our upbringing. As a boy, I was told that men don’t cry.
I’ve always been on the side of science that tries to help man. I play an active part with the foundations I’m involved in. Science gives hope. If it were offered to me? Never say never. But I wouldn’t kill or steal to have my sight. My blindness doesn’t define my life.
What is beautiful enchants me. I mean not just physical beauty but a wider concept of beauty. There is beauty in poetry and in great musical or singing performances. There is beauty everywhere if you can just see it.
My idol has been Franco Corelli. But every singer can teach you something.
I’ve always known that I was born to sing, ever since I was a child.
When you’re on stage singing, you’re naked. Your voice is something very intimate, and that’s why I’m scared every time before I perform. It doesn’t matter if I’m singing for a king or a queen or the Pope, it’s enough to be in front of anybody. I suffer, but I can’t do anything about it.
When I sing, I think mostly about the music. But I know that, through singing, my body shows everything that I am. I am a very passionate man and I suffer a lot and have a lot of joy also. In my opinion, it is very important for me to find this stimulus and motivation for singing.
Living is dangerous. The important thing is to know the limits.
I’ve always been on the side of science that tries to help man. I play an active part with the foundations I’m involved in. Science gives hope. If it were offered to me? Never say never. But I wouldn’t kill or steal to have my sight. My blindness doesn’t define my life.
I’ve been to almost every country in the world, and the most frustrating thing for me has been that my schedule has always been so busy that there’s so little time before and after performances to explore where I’m visiting.
The voice changes very slowly. I keep mine well under control and try with all my might to keep it exactly as it was at the very beginning.
Losing my sight had nothing to do with my focus on music. My passion for music was already there, so it would be a mistake to give too much significance to my blindness.
To sing a song is like whispering to a child’s ear. It is an art heavily relying on improvisation.
A career is like a house: it’s made of many bricks, and each brick has the same value, because without any one of them, the house would collapse.
Every audience has its character; I like America – they love me. I suffer from stage fright, but in America not so much.
I loved riding bikes and horses. I was eight when I started having lessons, and when my father bought me my own horse I couldn’t wait to go off on my own.
When a little more than a teenager, I was a piano-bar pianist in the land where I was born and raised, Tuscany.
I’ve always been on the side of science that tries to help man. I play an active part with the foundations I’m involved in. Science gives hope.
The feeling of an evolution is a constant for every artist who is pursuing the search of refinement and enlargement of his/her own means of expression.
I live for my children, so my number one rule is I won’t go away from home for more than two weeks.
In my iPod, there are many operas, from A to Z. I have ‘Aida’ and ‘Boheme’ and ‘Butterfly’ and ‘Cavalleria’. My passion is for opera, but when I’m in the car, I listen to everything.
When you sing and people want that you sing, then you can hope to be great.
I’m most impressed by the Russian writers, so I love reading the works of Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky. Another author who has informed the way I think is the French philosopher, Blaise Pascal.
The nature of music is mysterious and so much so that it generates strong emotions within us. It moves along passages that reach the most intimate areas of our psyche without being tried by prejudices or influences of any kind.
When I get on stage, my first goal is not to show my expertise, but on the contrary, to give a bit of happiness, of joy, of cheerfulness. I am firmly convinced that in order to sing well, you must love your neighbor and be passionate about life.
I want to have time for myself, my family and my friends. It’s important because in order to sing well, you must have inspiration, and inspiration comes from life, from living.
For me, riding a two-wheeler bike was very risky. Counting the pedal strokes before turning a corner and learning to hear the sounds coming from buildings, grass and the climbing frame made all the difference to basic survival and ensured that I didn’t end up head-first in the sandpit.
The world is full of many beautiful voices; I will perform with many of them. I love women’s voices.
It’s important for me who is at the table with me; the moment when everyone speaks to each other and everyone listens. If there’s good food, it’s much better.
Criticism in good faith is good. When it’s targeted solely to destruction, I’m not interested.
Stage fright is my worst problem. A voice is very intimate. It’s something of your own. So there’s always this fear, because you feel naked. There’s a fear of not reaching up to expectations.
The voice is something very mysterious. It’s difficult to say what is inside a voice that moves people.
Opera singing is in every way of inestimable value; a real heritage for all mankind that has been reached over centuries of studies, attempts, flights of the spirit.
Opera is complex for those who perform it, but also for those who listen to it. It takes more time, more patience and more spirit of sacrifice. All this is well worth it because opera offers such deep sensations that they will remain in a heart for a lifetime.
My real passion is for opera. It was born and developed by listening to records, and my dream as a child was to record entire operas when I grew up, and this dream came true.
People wonder if there is a relationship between my lack of sight and the way I sing. But there’s no connection.
I know that my passion is for opera, but sometimes I like also to sing songs, because there are many beautiful melodies.
Opera singing is in every way of inestimable value; a real heritage for all mankind that has been reached over centuries of studies, attempts, flights of the spirit.
