A Songwriter in Front of Thousands, Still Speaking to One Person There is a particular kind of silence that belongs only to a large concert. Tens of thousands of people are gathered, the lights are enormous, the stage has been…
The Easter Sunday When the World Went Quiet On Easter Sunday, April 12, 2020, Milan was almost unnaturally still. Italy had become one of the first great European epicenters of the COVID-19 pandemic, streets were empty, churches were closed to…
The Chorus Europe Could Sing Without Translation In 1982, the Sanremo Music Festival placed Al Bano and Romina Power second. The song that had failed to win was called “Felicità.” In the peculiar mathematics of popular music, that defeat became…
The Back Turned Toward Sanremo In February 1961, Adriano Celentano walked onto the stage of the Sanremo Music Festival and did something that, by today's standards, sounds almost trivial: he turned his back on the audience. At the time it…
Explore Fred Bongusto’s life, timeless summer songs, film scores, Brazilian connections and the quiet craft behind one of Italy’s most elegant crooners.
Discover Nicola Di Bari’s journey from rural Puglia to two Sanremo victories, Eurovision and lasting success with audiences across Spain and Latin America.
Discover Sergio Endrigo’s life, greatest songs, Sanremo victory, Brazilian collaborations and the lost Istrian homeland that gave his music its soul.