Andrea Bocelli Returns to Tuscany in His New Concert Film Retrospective

08.11.2024 - 23:33 / cntraveler.com / Andrea Bocelli

Andrea Bocelli 30: The Celebration marks 30 years since Andrea Bocelli’s proper arrival into the music industry. Recorded over a three-day concert event in Tuscany this past July, the film commemorates Bocelli’s long and illustrious career—one full of accolades, blockbuster duets, celebrity friendships, and record sales unmatched by any classical singer of his generation.

But from the film’s beginning, you can tell that Bocelli isn’t thinking much about that career—he’s just happy to be home. “This is a very special concert because this is a very special place,” Bocelli says in his first spoken words of the film, after a moving performance of the Italian classic, “O Sole Mio.” Standing center stage at the roofless Teatro Del Silenzio near his hometown of Lajatico, Bocelli is surrounded by the Tuscan hills where he grew up riding horses as a child (Bocelli had the theater built here in 2005, and its 12,000-person capacity dwarfs the town’s population of 1,300.) In front of him sit thousands of audience members who have traveled here to see Bocelli perform where he was born and raised.

Performing at home is a privilege that Bocelli does not take for granted. He cherishes it. As he travels the world for work (at times with his talented family), Bocelli’s love for his home only grows—it’s clear in the film, and it’s clear when he's in New York City where Condé Nast Traveler sat down with Bocelli to talk Tuscany, good wine, and hosting friends from around the world in his hometown.

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Bocelli horseback rides in Tuscany alongside friend and collaborator Shania Twain.

How much are you at home in Tuscany these days?

Not very much. And for me, this is the most difficult aspect of my career, because I like my country. I love my language, my friends. I would like to stay always at home. But of course, it's not possible.

Tell me a bit about Lajatico, your hometown. What was it like growing up there?

Well, Lajatico is a very beautiful, small country village. Few people lived there, but I was among them. When I was a child, I very much liked animals like horses and dogs. When I was seven years old, I began to ride horses. My grandfather, as he was dying, expressed the desire to buy a little horse for me, and two or three days after, my father immediately went to buy me a horse. And then, I remember, every week I wanted a new animal. Birds especially. I wanted many, many birds. I wasn't a typical country boy.

Your new concert film is centered on this big dinner scene, with lots of great artists and friends around the table of your home. Was that something you were