Andrea Bocelli Celebrates 30 Years in Music With Ed Sheeran, Will Smith & More at Italy’s Teatro del Silenzio

If the evening of July 17 in Lajatico, Tuscany, celebrating 30 years of Andrea Bocelli‘s career were a film, it would be an American blockbuster. In the Teatro del Silenzio (“Theater of Silence”), a fairytale place among the Tuscan hills that only opens once a year and is in its 19th edition, there were big names as guests, an amazing stage, and the most loved Italian songs in the world, including “O Sole Mio” and “Funiculì Funiculà.”

“I tried not to be overwhelmed by emotions,” Bocelli said the next day. “I tried to express them, to convey them through each song, each duet, while maintaining the cold blood necessary to complete this bet, as beautiful as it is large, ambitious and – I can say it now – also a little risky, given the amount of songs, the lineup, the many people involved.”

A guest list like this onstage hadn’t been seen since the times of “Pavarotti and Friends.” In fact, for the first time Bocelli virtually duetted with the image of Luciano Pavarotti, who appeared in a video behind him for “Notte ‘e Piscatore.”

At “Andrea Bocelli 30 – The Celebration,” the percentage of foreigners was close to 90% of the 12,000 present every evening (July 15, 17 and 19), as explained by Veronica Berti, Bocelli’s wife and organizer of the event. Most of the visitors come from the United States, but also from Congo, Peru, Spain and South America. In many cases these are people who return to the Teatro del Silenzio every year.

Bocelli himself sought the reason for this feeling of affection toward him. “I believe that it is an audience that still knows how to get excited and frankly express its feelings, that is capable of having fun, of being moved, as well as enjoying good music. Every time I go onstage, what I want most is to give back to those present a bit of positivity and serenity, lighting a smile in them, a moment of tenderness. When this impulse of mine is seized, I am happy. Just as I am happy that many return to the Teatro del Silenzio year after year, undertaking long journeys to experience the concert and also what Italy is able to express, from art to cuisine. It is that ‘culture of beauty’ that we sometimes underestimate, but which the whole world loves.”

One of the main reasons that pushed Bocelli to organize such an event in his hometown is to be able to show artists of that level to his fellow citizens. It’s not every day you see José Carreras, Placido Domingo, Ed Sheeran, Lang Lang, Laura Pausini, Tiziano Ferro, Johnny Depp, Will Smith, Russell Crowe and Zucchero on the same stage.

The evening of July 17 was a great celebration for all those who love Italy and its music, not just that of Andrea Bocelli. “I also thought of my parents, to whose memory I dedicated the first edition of the Teatro del Silenzio,” said Bocelli. “I like to think that every note that rose between those hills that they loved so much reached them in heaven.”

The sky was cobalt blue, the moon was in the background, the temperature was perfect as the sun went down. The large orchestra took its place. A child entered the scene and started a record player playing “O Sole Mio” (from Bocelli’s live album Night in Central Park). Bocelli descended from a high silver staircase in the center of the stage, which seemed to point to the sky, starting the show.

The first part had an operatic flavor, apart from the presence of Zucchero, who came onstage already in the fourth piece with “Miserere.” Then came two protagonists of opera: Placido Domingo and José Carreras. Also worth mentioning are the baritone Franco Vassallo and the soprano Nadine Sierra, who gave a very touching moment with “Vicino a Te S’acqueta,” from the opera Andrea Chenier. Meanwhile, the 500 drones above the heads of the audience reproduced a moving starry sky and the staircase became a triangle on which the videos were projected.

The second part of the evening was no less sumptuous. Kicking things off was none other than Will Smith, who performed the lyrics to “You’ll Never Walk Alone,” written by Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein at the end of World War II with music by Richard Rodgers.

Then Lang Lang arrived. The Chinese pianist played “Ritual Fire Dance,” leaving everyone astonished. Then it was the moment of Virginia, Bocelli’s daughter, who is only 12 years old and had already shown a great love for music. She sang “You Raise Me Up,” a title that couldn’t be more appropriate.

Another exceptional guest took to the stage, a great friend of the host, Laura Pausini. He sat on the piano to accompany Pausini for Charles Aznavour’s “She.” In the end, Pausini wanted to say how all this reminded her of her beginnings at the piano bar, just like Bocelli himself. “At the time we were happy to sing for a few people, as much as we are now to be in front of such a large audience,” she said.

After her, it was Russell Crowe’s turn, who has the perfect vocal timbre and attitude to sing Leonard Cohen’s “Take This Waltz” alone. Then it was the Bocelli brothers’ turn. Matteo sang his “Honesty” accompanied by Amos on the piano.

Bocelli then introduced the next international guest. “One day a guy who was already quite famous and already playing stadiums came to me,” he says. “We recorded a song together, but he let me know that my part wasn’t right. He asked me to do it again, and he was right! That song now has half a billion views on YouTube.” Ed Sheeran came onstage, and together they sang “Perfect Symphony.”

The surprises didn’t end, because Johnny Depp took to the stage as guitarist. He and Bocelli performed a cover of “En Aranjuez con Tu Amor” in honor of their late friend Jeff Beck, who died last year; all three played it together in 2020. At the end of the performance, Johnny Depp said how important it was to play that piece, which made you imagine that Jeff was there with them.

Finally, Laura Pausini returned to the stage, this time in a duet with Tiziano Ferro on “Invece No.”

The three evenings of “Andrea Bocelli 30 – The Celebration” will become a film with the same title, directed by Grammy nominee and Emmy Award winner Sam Wrench.

The album Duets (Decca Records / Sugar Music) will be released Oct. 25 and will bring together many of the collaborations of the last three decades, but also new songs, for a total of 32 tracks. The album will feature duets with Ed Sheeran, Céline Dion, Sarah Brightman, Dua Lipa, Jennifer Lopez, Giorgia and Luciano Pavarotti, and new duets recorded specifically for this album with Shania Twain, Chris Stapleton, Gwen Stefani, Marc Anthony, Karol G , Sofia Carson, Lauren Daigle, Elisa, Matteo Bocelli and Hans Zimmer.

At the end of the year, the documentary Andrea Bocelli: Why I Believe will also be released, telling his story from his beginnings in piano bars until today. In the winter, Bocelli will be on tour in North America, for 10 dates in San Diego, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Uncasville and Miami, as well as returning to New York’s iconic Madison Square Garden York for two concerts. The tour will begin in San Diego on Nov. 4 and conclude in Miami on Dec. 22.