Photo Credit: Matthew Arnold
Two nights before his legendary free Central Park concert, famed tenor Andrea Bocelli opened up about his life to a packed audience at Walter Reade Theater in Lincoln Center. Part of TimesTalks, New York Times culture reporter Robin Pogrebin interviewed Bocelli while his interpreter assisted with translation.
At times, Bocelli surprised the audience with tales of stage fright and his previous career as a lawyer. Additionally, he hinted at the production of Thursday’s concert and revealed that he will perform four songs in English for the first time.
While Bocelli has played for millions, he admits he’s terrified to sing live. He said concerts are always a terror and “from the stage, an audience is for me like a monster.”
“I’m very nervous always. But, I’m nervous when I have to go on stage to sing, not to speak. I’m nervous because I would like to [always] give my best and that’s impossible because every time something happens. If I listen to my performance after, I’m never content so I decided not to listen to it for this reason,” he said.
Though he states “opera is the paradise of music,” he didn’t always know it was his destiny. Instead, he studied to be a lawyer and worked as a court appointed defense attorney. When Pogrebin asked him why and when he decided to pursue music instead, he joked, “When I realized that I cannot defend anyone without singing, I better not defend anyone.”
Comedy aside, Bocelli thought for a moment before he concluded, “Honestly I don’t know why I did it. Life is a strange adventure. Nobody knows the future. I never tried to know my future and I accepted everything that happened in my life.”
As his popularity ensued, he faced a new challenge: fame.
“Fame is something strange. It begins as an accident. At the beginning it’s something curious, it’s something fun. But then it becomes sort of a habit because it gives but it also takes away. Everything started in a flash. From one day to the next I was no longer the unknown country boy that I actually still am,” he said.
“I have to be honest; nobody can say that they are unhappy to be famous. The most important thing that it takes away is privacy . . . fame and notoriety do not mean happiness. Wealth, fame they do not make you happy. There are other things, way more important things in life.”
Now a household name, it wasn’t always that way. Hard work and optimism are qualities that led Bocelli to where he is today.
“Talent is a rebel. It cannot be kept in prison. My parents, for instance, had to wait quite some time to see my talent recognized. There was a time when people used to say, ‘I guess you have to recognize he’s only going to be singing in a piano bar and some weddings, there’s no more you can do,’” Bocelli recalls. “You need to be optimistic because if the talent is genuine it will come out and it will be recognized. If you are sincere, if you don’t wear any masks, if you don’t try to be what you are not, then you will be successful. Things will work out.”
Andrea Bocelli performs Thursday evening at Central Park with the New York Philharmonic, conducted by Alan Gilbert, with appearances by Celine Dion, Tony Bennett, Nicola Benedetti, Chris Botti, David Foster and more.
You can read this article, originally posted on CBS Local.
