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He has the voice of an operatic 1)tenor and the status of a rock star. In the past few years Andrea Bocelli has sold 45 million albums, making him the biggest-selling classical artist the world has ever embraced. (“Bigger,” as his publicist reminds me, “than Pavarotti.”)
He is blind; he is handsome; he is Italian; and—in a “soft-classical” market dominated by female artists—he has been described as man’s last stand. Celine Dion has said that “if God had a singing voice, he would sound like Andrea Bocelli”.
I have been invited to meet him in London’s Savoy Hotel. The room is 2)thronged with people in black suits—some speaking Italian, some speaking English, and all of them clucking round the singer as he poses for photographs holding a framed disc. He is dressed, like all the members of his 3)entourage, in a black suit, but he appears markedly less animated
than they are. Tall and well-built, he stands with a slight 4)stoop and, perhaps out of sensitivity to the flashbulbs, with his face inclined towards the floor.
When the majority of his court has left, one of Bocelli’s Italian managers conducts him to a
5)chintz-covered armchair in which I am told that he will remain for the next 45 minutes, talking to me. We are joined by an Italian interpreter, who explains that Bocelli’s English is good but she will help out where necessary. In whichever language, he speaks slowly and almost inaudibly. He has a deep,
6)syrupy voice but, perhaps surprisingly for a singer, one with almost no inflection.
Bocelli is a favourite with the ladies, a fact of which he is well aware, although he hasn’t worked out why. “There are no rules to such things,” he says, crossing his legs and still holding his head bowed. “It is sometimes very difficult to explain someone’s
success, but I think I am basically a fairly male
figure. If you appreciate someone, it’s 7)reciprocal and I appreciate women a lot. I always have.”
On meeting Bocelli, it is hard to imagine him
8)eliciting quite such a fuss. He appears immensely uneasy, incessantly twitching his right leg and clas-ping and unclasping his hands. At 50, he still suffers acute stage fright. “It is part of my character, it will always be there,” he says, reaching a hand to his
voluminous grey beard.
He says he feels a duty to his admirers, yet one senses that his instinct is for 9)reclusion: “Nobody in my kind of business has the right to be unkind to people who approach and express their appreciation,” he says, “but sometimes I feel the need to go for a walk without being stopped all the time.”
Bocelli was born with 10)glaucoma, and was blinded at the age of 12 by a brain 11)hemorrhage, which he suffered when hit on the head playing football. He will not discuss his disability and has always played it down. His childhood was coloured by music, to which he says he has been “addicted” since he first heard it as an infant. As a singer, his rise was not 12)meteoric. After studying law at Pisa University, he became a singer in a piano bar where he 13)languished for several years, 14)warbling to the chink of wine glasses. “I wasn’t particularly ambitious”, he says. “I just wanted to do it for the music.”
Others, however, had greater ambitions for him. His destiny was sealed in 1992 when
Pavarotti heard a syrupy ballad he had recorded and urged the Italian rock star 15)Zucchero to take him on tour. His performances caused 16)mayhem which, in the decade since, has not abated.
For a man who says he is not ambitious, does he feel he’s been over-promoted? “I have always followed my destiny,” he says, gripping his hands together. The heaviest price he has had to pay so far has been the 17)disruption of his family life. He remains based in his native Tuscany, but was separated from his wife Enrica, with whom he has two sons.
Surrounded by his management team, Bocelli is not in a position to complain. But I sense a certain sadness about him. He says he cares only for music, yet he is shunted around 18)glitzy 19)galas and awards ceremonies in a life that must at times feel like a circus. “I get very tired of hotels,” he concedes. “It was never in my character to enjoy travelling very much, even for holidays.”
Our 45 minutes are now up and, as one of Bocelli’s management team gently reminds us, he is running late. “Busy,” he says, levering himself resignedly out of his chair. “Busy! Busy! Busy!”
他拥有歌剧男高音的嗓音，却如摇滚明星般广受欢迎。在过去几年里，安德烈•波伽利的专辑销量已经达到了四千五百万张，使他成为全世界至今专辑销量最高的古典艺术家。（“比帕瓦罗蒂的还要多，”就像他的宣传员提醒我的那样。）
他双目失明；他英俊潇洒；他是个意大利人；而且——在由女性艺术家占据主导地位的“轻古典音乐”市场上——他被称作是男性最后的阵地。席琳•迪翁曾说过：“如果上帝也有歌声的话，那声音会同安德烈•波伽利的一样”。
我受邀至伦敦的索威酒店对他进行采访。房间里挤满了身着黑西装的人——有些在说意大利语，有些在说英语，而所有的人都在歌唱家周围叽叽喳喳地说个不停，而他则拿着一张镶了框的唱片在摆姿势拍照片。他同他那些随从一样穿着黑色的西装，但看起来却明显没他们那么愉快。他的个子很高，体型匀称，站着的时候略有点屈背，而且，也许是由于对闪光灯不敏感，他的脸朝地板方向倾斜着。
等他那一大帮子人大多都离开以后，波伽利的一位意大利经理引着他在一张包着印花棉布的扶手椅上坐下，并告诉我接下来只有45分钟的时间对他进行采访。同我们一起的还有一位意大利翻译，她解释说波伽利的英文很好，不过她将在必要的时候帮助我们。无论说哪种语言，波伽利的语速都不快，而且几乎听不见。他的声音低沉而感性但却没什么音调变化，对于一位歌手来说也许有点让人惊讶。
波伽利很受女性的欢迎，实际上他自己也很清楚，虽然他并不清楚其原因。“这样的事情没什么规则，”他边说边交叉起双腿，依然垂着头。“有时候想要解释某个人成功的理由是很困难的，不过我想我基本上是个温和有礼的男人。如果你欣赏某人，那么这种欣赏是相互的，而我对女性非常欣赏。我一直都是这样。”
在见到波伽利时，很难想象他会引起这么大的轰动。他看起来非常心神不定，右腿不断颤搐，双手时握时松。虽然已经50岁了，他依然非常怯场。“这是我性格的一部分，以后也一直会是这样的。”他边说边伸手摸着自己浓密的灰色胡须。
他说他对自己的仰慕者怀有一份责任，然而很明显的是，他的性格更适合隐居遁世的生活：“对于从事我这种职业的人来说，没人有权利不去善待那些向我们靠过来想表达他们的倾慕之情的人，”他说，“不过有时候我觉得也需要能出去散散步而不会总是被人拦住。”
波伽利出生时就患有青光眼，12岁那年踢足球时因撞到头部引起脑出血，以致双目失明。他不愿意讨论自己的残疾，总是对此轻描淡写地带过。他的童年生活因为音乐而变得丰富多彩，他说自婴儿时期第一次听到音乐起他就已经“沉溺”其中了。作为一名歌手，他的崛起并非一纵即逝。在比萨大学读完法律后，他在一间钢琴酒吧里做歌手，在那里被埋没了许多年，只能对着玻璃杯轻声歌唱。“我并不是特别地有野心，”他说。“我只想为了音乐而歌唱。”
但是其他人却对他抱有更大的期望。他的命运注定要在1992年发生改变，那时帕瓦罗蒂听到了他录制的一首深情的民谣，就力劝意大利摇滚歌星苏可洛在巡回演出时带上他。他的表演所引起的轰动十多年都没有消退。
作为一个声称他并没有雄心壮志的人，他是否觉得自己出名过快了呢？“我一直都遵循着我的命运，”他握住双手说道。而他迄今为止所付出的最沉重的代价就是家庭生活的破裂。他依然把家安在故乡托斯卡纳，但是却与他的妻子恩莉卡离婚了，他们生有两个儿子。
波伽利被他的经纪团队包围着，并没有抱怨的余地，而我却为他感到一丝伤感。他说他只在乎音乐，然而他却被眩目的庆典和颁奖仪式拖累着，像这样的生活有时也许会让人觉得自己身处马戏团之中。“我对住酒店感到非常厌倦了，”他承认道。“我的性格原本从来就不喜欢到处旅行，即使是为了度假也一样。”
我们45分钟的采访现在该结束了，而波伽利的经纪团队中的一个人温和地提醒我们，他快要迟到了。“忙碌，”他说，顺从地从他的椅子上撑起来。“忙碌！忙碌！忙碌！”
He is blind; he is handsome; he is Italian; and—in a “soft-classical” market dominated by female artists—he has been described as man’s last stand. Celine Dion has said that “if God had a singing voice, he would sound like Andrea Bocelli”.
I have been invited to meet him in London’s Savoy Hotel. The room is 2)thronged with people in black suits—some speaking Italian, some speaking English, and all of them clucking round the singer as he poses for photographs holding a framed disc. He is dressed, like all the members of his 3)entourage, in a black suit, but he appears markedly less animated
than they are. Tall and well-built, he stands with a slight 4)stoop and, perhaps out of sensitivity to the flashbulbs, with his face inclined towards the floor.
When the majority of his court has left, one of Bocelli’s Italian managers conducts him to a
5)chintz-covered armchair in which I am told that he will remain for the next 45 minutes, talking to me. We are joined by an Italian interpreter, who explains that Bocelli’s English is good but she will help out where necessary. In whichever language, he speaks slowly and almost inaudibly. He has a deep,
6)syrupy voice but, perhaps surprisingly for a singer, one with almost no inflection.
Bocelli is a favourite with the ladies, a fact of which he is well aware, although he hasn’t worked out why. “There are no rules to such things,” he says, crossing his legs and still holding his head bowed. “It is sometimes very difficult to explain someone’s
success, but I think I am basically a fairly male
figure. If you appreciate someone, it’s 7)reciprocal and I appreciate women a lot. I always have.”
On meeting Bocelli, it is hard to imagine him
8)eliciting quite such a fuss. He appears immensely uneasy, incessantly twitching his right leg and clas-ping and unclasping his hands. At 50, he still suffers acute stage fright. “It is part of my character, it will always be there,” he says, reaching a hand to his
voluminous grey beard.
He says he feels a duty to his admirers, yet one senses that his instinct is for 9)reclusion: “Nobody in my kind of business has the right to be unkind to people who approach and express their appreciation,” he says, “but sometimes I feel the need to go for a walk without being stopped all the time.”
Bocelli was born with 10)glaucoma, and was blinded at the age of 12 by a brain 11)hemorrhage, which he suffered when hit on the head playing football. He will not discuss his disability and has always played it down. His childhood was coloured by music, to which he says he has been “addicted” since he first heard it as an infant. As a singer, his rise was not 12)meteoric. After studying law at Pisa University, he became a singer in a piano bar where he 13)languished for several years, 14)warbling to the chink of wine glasses. “I wasn’t particularly ambitious”, he says. “I just wanted to do it for the music.”
Others, however, had greater ambitions for him. His destiny was sealed in 1992 when
Pavarotti heard a syrupy ballad he had recorded and urged the Italian rock star 15)Zucchero to take him on tour. His performances caused 16)mayhem which, in the decade since, has not abated.
For a man who says he is not ambitious, does he feel he’s been over-promoted? “I have always followed my destiny,” he says, gripping his hands together. The heaviest price he has had to pay so far has been the 17)disruption of his family life. He remains based in his native Tuscany, but was separated from his wife Enrica, with whom he has two sons.
Surrounded by his management team, Bocelli is not in a position to complain. But I sense a certain sadness about him. He says he cares only for music, yet he is shunted around 18)glitzy 19)galas and awards ceremonies in a life that must at times feel like a circus. “I get very tired of hotels,” he concedes. “It was never in my character to enjoy travelling very much, even for holidays.”
Our 45 minutes are now up and, as one of Bocelli’s management team gently reminds us, he is running late. “Busy,” he says, levering himself resignedly out of his chair. “Busy! Busy! Busy!”
他拥有歌剧男高音的嗓音，却如摇滚明星般广受欢迎。在过去几年里，安德烈•波伽利的专辑销量已经达到了四千五百万张，使他成为全世界至今专辑销量最高的古典艺术家。（“比帕瓦罗蒂的还要多，”就像他的宣传员提醒我的那样。）
他双目失明；他英俊潇洒；他是个意大利人；而且——在由女性艺术家占据主导地位的“轻古典音乐”市场上——他被称作是男性最后的阵地。席琳•迪翁曾说过：“如果上帝也有歌声的话，那声音会同安德烈•波伽利的一样”。
我受邀至伦敦的索威酒店对他进行采访。房间里挤满了身着黑西装的人——有些在说意大利语，有些在说英语，而所有的人都在歌唱家周围叽叽喳喳地说个不停，而他则拿着一张镶了框的唱片在摆姿势拍照片。他同他那些随从一样穿着黑色的西装，但看起来却明显没他们那么愉快。他的个子很高，体型匀称，站着的时候略有点屈背，而且，也许是由于对闪光灯不敏感，他的脸朝地板方向倾斜着。
等他那一大帮子人大多都离开以后，波伽利的一位意大利经理引着他在一张包着印花棉布的扶手椅上坐下，并告诉我接下来只有45分钟的时间对他进行采访。同我们一起的还有一位意大利翻译，她解释说波伽利的英文很好，不过她将在必要的时候帮助我们。无论说哪种语言，波伽利的语速都不快，而且几乎听不见。他的声音低沉而感性但却没什么音调变化，对于一位歌手来说也许有点让人惊讶。
波伽利很受女性的欢迎，实际上他自己也很清楚，虽然他并不清楚其原因。“这样的事情没什么规则，”他边说边交叉起双腿，依然垂着头。“有时候想要解释某个人成功的理由是很困难的，不过我想我基本上是个温和有礼的男人。如果你欣赏某人，那么这种欣赏是相互的，而我对女性非常欣赏。我一直都是这样。”
在见到波伽利时，很难想象他会引起这么大的轰动。他看起来非常心神不定，右腿不断颤搐，双手时握时松。虽然已经50岁了，他依然非常怯场。“这是我性格的一部分，以后也一直会是这样的。”他边说边伸手摸着自己浓密的灰色胡须。
他说他对自己的仰慕者怀有一份责任，然而很明显的是，他的性格更适合隐居遁世的生活：“对于从事我这种职业的人来说，没人有权利不去善待那些向我们靠过来想表达他们的倾慕之情的人，”他说，“不过有时候我觉得也需要能出去散散步而不会总是被人拦住。”
波伽利出生时就患有青光眼，12岁那年踢足球时因撞到头部引起脑出血，以致双目失明。他不愿意讨论自己的残疾，总是对此轻描淡写地带过。他的童年生活因为音乐而变得丰富多彩，他说自婴儿时期第一次听到音乐起他就已经“沉溺”其中了。作为一名歌手，他的崛起并非一纵即逝。在比萨大学读完法律后，他在一间钢琴酒吧里做歌手，在那里被埋没了许多年，只能对着玻璃杯轻声歌唱。“我并不是特别地有野心，”他说。“我只想为了音乐而歌唱。”
但是其他人却对他抱有更大的期望。他的命运注定要在1992年发生改变，那时帕瓦罗蒂听到了他录制的一首深情的民谣，就力劝意大利摇滚歌星苏可洛在巡回演出时带上他。他的表演所引起的轰动十多年都没有消退。
作为一个声称他并没有雄心壮志的人，他是否觉得自己出名过快了呢？“我一直都遵循着我的命运，”他握住双手说道。而他迄今为止所付出的最沉重的代价就是家庭生活的破裂。他依然把家安在故乡托斯卡纳，但是却与他的妻子恩莉卡离婚了，他们生有两个儿子。
波伽利被他的经纪团队包围着，并没有抱怨的余地，而我却为他感到一丝伤感。他说他只在乎音乐，然而他却被眩目的庆典和颁奖仪式拖累着，像这样的生活有时也许会让人觉得自己身处马戏团之中。“我对住酒店感到非常厌倦了，”他承认道。“我的性格原本从来就不喜欢到处旅行，即使是为了度假也一样。”
我们45分钟的采访现在该结束了，而波伽利的经纪团队中的一个人温和地提醒我们，他快要迟到了。“忙碌，”他说，顺从地从他的椅子上撑起来。“忙碌！忙碌！忙碌！”