Tag Archives: Bocelli

General news, Gianluca, Ignazio, Il Volo

DID YOU KNOW????

March 25, 2014 15 Comments

Hi Everyone,

The time is getting short till the Concerts begin! The “Guys” are leaving for Russia this week, according to Gianluca’s tweet. I’m sure they’ll be safe in Moscow. The Crimea is a long distance away and I’m sure they’ll have good security. They were kept safe last year, despite some safety risks in some of the countries they visited. Il Volo will take Russia by storm just as they have everywhere else they’ve been. Their music transends everything, all people and all countries.

DID YOU KNOW????

Vic Damone (born Vito Rocco Farinola; June 12, 1928) is an American singer and entertainer.

Damone was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Italian immigrants based in Bari, Italy—Rocco and Mamie (Damone) Farinola. His father was an electrician, and his mother taught piano. His cousin was the actress and singer Doretta Morrow. Inspired by his favorite singer, Frank Sinatra, Damone began taking voice lessons. He sang in the choir at St. Finbar’s Church in Bath Beach, Brooklyn, for Sunday mass under organist Anthony Amorello.

When his father was injured at work, Damone had to drop out of high school. He worked as an usher and elevator operator in the Paramount Theater in Manhattan.^[1] He met Perry Como, while at the Paramount Theater. Vic stopped the elevator between floors, sang for him and asked his advice if he should continue voice lessons. Impressed, Como said, “Keep singing!” and referred him to a local bandleader. Vito Farinola decided to call himself Vic Damone, using his mother’s maiden name.

Damone entered the talent search on Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts and won in April 1947. This led to his becoming a regular on Godfrey’s show. He met Milton Berle at the studio and Berle got him work at two night clubs. By mid-1947, Damone had signed a contract with Mercury Records.

His first release, “I Have But One Heart”, reached #7 on the Billboard chart. “You Do” (released November 1) reached the same peak. These were followed by a number of other hits. In 1948 he got his own weekly radio show, Saturday Night Serenade.^[1]

In 1951, Damone appeared in two movies: The Strip and Rich, Young and Pretty. From 1951 to 1953 he served in the United States Army, but before going into the service he recorded a number of songs which were released during that time. He served with future Northwest Indiana radio personality Al Evans, and also country music star Johnny Cash. After leaving the service, he married the Italian actress Pier Angeli (Anna Maria Pierangeli), and in 1954 made two more movies: Deep in My Heart and Athena. He also made some guest appearances on Milton Berle’s television show in 1954.

In 1955, Damone had one song on the charts, “Por Favor,” which did not make it above #73. However, he did have major roles in two movie musicals, Hit the Deck and Kismet. In early 1956, he moved from Mercury to Columbia Records and had some success on that label with hits like “On the Street Where You Live” (from My Fair Lady, his final pop top ten) and “An Affair to Remember” (from the movie of the same name). His six original, long-playing albums on Columbia between 1957 and 1961 were That Towering Feeling, Angela Mia, Closer Than a Kiss, This Game of Love, On the Swingin’ Side and Young and Lively.

In 1961, he was released by Columbia, moving over to Capitol Records, where he filled in the gap left by Frank Sinatra’s leaving to help found Reprise Records. He lasted at Capitol only until 1965; however, he recorded some of his most highly regarded albums there, including two which made the Billboard chart, Linger Awhile with Vic Damone and The Lively Ones, the latter with arrangements by Billy May, who also arranged another of Damone’s Capitol albums, Strange Enchantment. Other original Capitol albums included My Baby Loves to Swing, The Liveliest, and On the Street Where You Live.

Damone did limited acting on television in the early 1960s. He played Stan Skylar in the 1960 episode “Piano Man” of CBS’s The DuPont Show with June Allyson. He was cast as Jess Wilkerson in the 1961 episode “The Proxy” of the ABC western series, The Rebel, starring Nick Adams. He played the crooner Ric Vallone in the 1962 episode “Like a Sister” of the CBS sitcom, The Dick Van Dyke Show. In the summers of 1962 and 1963 Damone hosted a television variety series on NBC called The Lively Ones, which showcased current jazz, pop and folk performers as well as comedians.

Other notable television work during this time included three guest appearances from 1963 to 1964 on CBS’s The Judy Garland Show. In addition to his solo performances, he and Garland sang duet medleys of songs from Porgy and Bess, West Side Story, and Kismet.

In 1965, Damone moved next to Warner Bros. Records with the albums You Were Only Fooling and Country Love Songs. On Warners he had one Top 100 chart hit: “You Were Only Fooling (While I Was Falling In Love).” The next year he moved again, to RCA Victor Records, releasing the albums Stay with Me, Why Can’t I Walk Away, On the South Side of Chicago and The Damone Type of Thing. In 1967, Damone hosted “The Dean Martin Summer Show”, which was rerun in 1971. In 1969 he released his last US chart record, a cover of the 1966 song “To Make A Big Man Cry”, which made the Billboard Easy Listening

On June 12, 2009, Vic Damone released his autobiography titled Singing Was the Easy Part from St. Martin’s Press.

In December 2, 2011, at the age of 83, Damone launched an official Facebook profile dedicated to his fans. In addition to posting recent photos Damone writes that besides spending time with his family he spends his retirement enjoying golf and football.

Damone has married five times and divorced four:

The Italian actress Anna Maria Pierangeli (Pier Angeli) (1954–1958) (one son – Perry Damone)
Judith Rawlins (1963–1971) Victoria, Andrea, and Daniella
Becky Ann Jones (1974–1982), the American entertainer
Diahann Carroll (1987–1996) The marriage produced their only child Charves Damone. (This relationship is referenced in the 1997 film Money Talks, in which Chris Tucker’s character claims to be Vic Damone Jr., the son of Damone and Carroll)
Rena Rowan-Damone (1998 to present), the fashion designer and co-creator of Jones New York (Jones Apparel Group).

Damone has six grandchildren from his daughters (Tate, Paige, Sloane, Rocco, Daniella Grace, Grant).

He lives in Palm Beach County, Florida.

(This one is for Ann, she noted in one of her comments that she loved Vic Damome)

Lets take a look at Bari, Italy, where Damone’s parents were from.

Bari (Bari dialect: Bare; Latin: Barium; Ancient Greek: Barion) is the capital city of the province of Bari and of the Apulia (or, in Italian, Puglia) region, on the Adriatic Sea, in Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy after Naples, and is well known as a port and university city, as well as the city of Saint Nicholas. The city itself has a population of about 320,475, as of 2011, over 116 km, while the fast-growing urban area counts 653,028 inhabitants over 203 km The metropolitan area counts 1 million inhabitants.

Bari is made up of four different urban sections. To the north is the closely built old town on the peninsula between two modern harbours, with the Basilica of Saint Nicholas, the Cathedral of San Sabino (1035–1171) and the Swabian Castle built for Frederick II, which is now also a major nightlife district. To the south is the Murat quarter (erected by Joachim Murat), the modern heart of the city, which is laid out on a rectangular grid-plan with a promenade on the sea and the major shopping district (the via Sparano and via Argiro).

Modern residential zones surround the centre of Bari, the result of chaotic development during the 1960s and 1970s replacing the old suburbs that had developed along roads splaying outwards from gates in the city walls. In addition, the outer suburbs have developed rapidly during the 1990s. The city has a redeveloped airport named after Pope John Paul II, Karol Wojtyła Airport, with connections to several European cities.

Odds and Ends:

Check Ignazio’s tweet and short Instagram video of him playing with his dog, Buddy. Ignazio tweeted “I love this dog” Hard to say who’s more adorable!!!

A new piece of news, speaking of Italian tenors. Andrea Bocelli married his girl friend of twelve years, Veronica Berti, in a private ceremony in Livorno, Italy. Andrea and Veronica are the parents of a 2 year old daughter and were married on her 2nd birthday.

God Speed Il Volo, on your trip to Russia!!

Linda

General news, Il Volo

DID YOU KNOW?????

March 11, 2014 7 Comments

Hi Everyone,

We are still surprised that Piero, Ignazio and Gianluca went home so soon after a brief stay in Ny and then LA. Despite all the guessing and conjecture we do not know what their plans are for the immediate future; as you can see by my yellow question mark guy, above. As soon as I hear anything I’ll be running around in my blue suit finding out what’s going on. I do know they landed safely in Rome via Paris. They’re on a pace that includes some heavy duty flight time this year.

***Gianluca tweeted 2 hours ago “slept 15 hrs– jet lag’s fault”

****** Update, Gianluca tweeted about 2pm our time: “Yes. I have decided. I’ll move to LA” It will be interesting to see how this develops!!!

I know most of you enjoy Andrea Bocelli, here’s a little bio.

Andrea Angel Bocelli, (Italian pronunciation: [anˈdrɛːa boˈtʃɛlli]; born 22 September 1958) is an Italian tenor, and singer-songwriter. Born with poor eyesight, he became blind at the age of twelve following a football accident.

Since winning the Newcomers section of the Sanremo Music Festival in 1994, Bocelli has recorded fourteen solo studio albums, of both pop and classical music, three greatest

hits albums, and nine complete operas selling over 80 million records worldwide.Thus,he has had success as a cross-over performer bringing classical music to the top of international pop charts.

In 1998, he was named one of People Magazine’s 50 Most Beautiful People. In 1999, he was nominated for Best New Artist at the Grammy Awards. “The Prayer”, his duet with Celine Dion for the animated film Quest for Camelot, won the Golden Globe for Best Original Song and was nominated for an Academy Award in the same category. With the release of his classical album, Sacred Arias, Bocelli captured a listing in the Guinness Book of World Records, as he simultaneously held the top 3 positions on the US Classical Albums charts. Seven of his albums have since reached the top 10 on the Billboard 200, and a record-setting 10 have topped the classical crossover albums charts in the United States.

It was evident at birth that Bocelli had numerous problems with his sight, and after visits to many doctors, he was diagnosed with congenital glaucoma. In 1970, at the age of 12, he lost his sight completely following an accident during a football game. He was accidentally hit on the head during a match and suffered a brain hemorrhage. Doctors resorted to leeches in a desperate last-ditch effort to save his sight, but they were unsuccessful, and he remained blind.

In the United States, Bocelli made a number of high profile TV appearances. He first performed “White Christmas” at the 83rd annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, broadcast live on NBC, 26 November. He performed the song again on 30 November during The Today Show also live. His appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show during her Holiday Music Extravaganza, where he sang “What Child Is This”, with Mary J. Blige and later closed the show with Adeste Fideles, was also aired the same day, and was later rebroadcast on 23 December. Bocelli also sang “Adeste Fideles” and was interviewed by Barbara Walters and Joy Behar on The View, which aired 2 December, on ABC. On 8 December, he performed “Jingle Bells” with The Muppets on The Jay Leno Show. He also performed a number of songs from the album, including “The Christmas Song” with Natalie Cole, during a dinner at David Foster’s mansion in Malibu, which was featured on The Dr. Phil Show, on 10 December. Bocelli also performed “White Christmas” and “Silent Night”, on the Larry King Live and Fox & Friends holiday-specials, broadcast 23 December, on CNN, and 19, 24 and 25 December, on Fox News.

On 30 April 2000, Bocelli’s father, Alessandro Bocelli, died. His mother encouraged him to honor his commitments, and so he sang for the Pope, in Rome, on 1 May, and immediately returned home for the funeral. At his 5 July performance, filmed for PBS as American Dream—Andrea Bocelli’s Statue of Liberty Concert, Bocelli dedicated the encore Sogno (Dream), from his 1999 album Sogno, to the memory of his father.

A section of the beach in Jesolo, on the Italian Adriatic coast, was named after Bocelli on 11 August 2003.

In October 2013 Bocelli bought a second home in North Miami Beach.

We can all remember the heartfelt advice Bocelli gave to Gianluca when he won the singing contest,Ti Lascio Una Canzone, where Il Volo originally met in 2009.

Bocelli was born in the village of La Sterza , Lajatico, Tuscany. Here is a short history of his home town.

Lajatico is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Pisa in the Italian region Tuscany, located about 50 km southwest of Florence and about 40 km southeast of Pisa. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 1,353 and an area of 72.3 km². Lajatico sits in mainly hilly terrain (variable altitudes from 100 to 650 meters above sea level), and dominates the end of the Valdera valley and the opening of the valley known as Val di Cecina.

La Sterza, one of its hamlets (frazioni), is the natural door between these two geographical areas. The Sterza, Era, and the Ragone rivers form natural borders, placing Lajatico in a very central position to reach Tuscan cities and seaside resorts.^[ Lajatico is, however, best known as the home town of tenor Andrea Bocelli. His annual concerts at the Teatro del Silenzio are attended by people from all around the world, every year.

Lajatico has the following hamlets (frazioni) associated with it: Orciatico, an ancient small medievil village; Spedaletto, a stomping ground of Lorenzo de’ Medici; Villaggio San Giovanni, and La Sterza.^[Lajatico borders the following municipalities: Chianni, Montecatini Val di Cecina, Peccioli, Riparbella, Terricciola, Volterra.

The first written document mentioning Lajatico dates from 891. From then on, the Castrum Ajatici was property of the powerful Pannocchieschi family of Elci. In 1139, Ranieri Pannocchieschi gave to the Bishop of Volterra, Adimaro Adimari, his property stretching to Lajatico and neighboring areas. In 1161, another part of Lajatico was given to the Bishop of Volterra, until Bishop Ildebrando Pannocchieschi, due to a Papal Bull of August 1186, took over the political jurisdiction.

In 1202, Lajatico and part of Volterra came under the influence of Pisa until 1284, when Pisa was defeated by Genoa in the battle of Meloria. At the end of the hostilities, Lajatico came back to the Bishop of Volterra, who brought it, together with Orciatico, Pietracassia and other castles, under the jurisdiction of the city of Florence, which held it until the peace of Fucecchio, in 1293. Aside from 1362, when Florence occupied Lajatico for a short time, and kept it under the jurisdiction of Pisa until 1406, when Pietro Gaetani, a Pisan noble who decided to sell out his native land, and gave the castles of Lajatico, Orciatico and Pietracassia to the Florentines. In 1434, the Florentines demolished not only the walls of the town, but also the wall and towers of the surrounding villages to punish all their inhabitants for having decided to submit themselves to Niccolò Piccinino, who was on the Vicounts of Milan’s payroll. In 1664, the same castles with their territories were conceded as a marquisate to the Corsini until 1776, when Lajatico annexed the municipality.

We will be on the look-out for any new news. It’s entirely possible all plans have not been finalized. Patience is the key here. We know that they are safe and sound at home and that’s what really matters for the moment.

******To repeat the warning from Marie’s last post, beware that you are not buying concert tickets from scalpers. I see most of the commenters here have been successful buying their tickets from the venues. Thanks for sharing your experiences everyone.

Love and Luck Guys, we can hardly wait to hear of your next great adventure!!