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Born in Parma, Paola Sanguinetti is an opera singer – soprano – appreciated and respected internationally. From her vast repertoire, she has been the star of numerous operas. Since 1997, she works with the tenor Andrea Bocelli; of great importance and acclaim is her concert activity, in Italy and abroad.
How did your passion for singing start?
«I come from a family of musicians: one of my uncles was first flute in Regio, my brother is a pianist and teaches musical analysis at Tor Vergata, and other relatives were musicians. I studied at the Conservatory, studying violin, but I didn’t like it! So, after middle school, I continued my studies in other fields. Then, coincidentally, I worked as an extra at the Theatre in Regio and there I fell in love with the theatre and opera although I debuted amid boos (during a Traviata interrupted at the second act). It started as a game, my passion become my profession. I started studying, singing this time, and I started a career that I never imagined».
What experiences do you remember with most pleasure?
«The time I worked for the operetta: I let me measure myself on several Italian stages and to also measure my physical endurance. The operetta is fun, it gave birth to a beautiful group of friends with whom I collaborate with again after so many years. I also have wonderful memories of the Bohème that I premiered at the Regio di Parma, the theatre where everything started».
What are your most interesting collaborations?
«The most important is with the harpist David Burani, we did concerts everywhere and with a repertoire truly vast, bringing the instrument everywhere, up steep stairways, by boat in Venice, in taxis… and that with Andrea Bocelli, who I met by chance after his victory at Sanremo: We did a concert together, we have fun together, and it all started from there. With him I feel at home, I know his children, his mother, his brothers, his partner. It’s uncommon for an opera singer to perform in front of 15,000 people worldwide (from Wembley to Masada in Australia, America, China, Azerbaijan, Qatar, Abu Dhabi) and thanks to him I have experienced incredible situations: private plane, limousines, photographers. In short, I participated in some way to the “Star System”, the important thing is not getting used to it, reality is different».
Is there something you want to say to the readers?
«To friends and acquaintances: forgive me if when meeting you on the street, I do not greet you, it is not malice or snobbishness, I am not good at remembering faces!»
