Back when I was a grad student, I had this nasty habit of staying up super late and falling asleep on the couch, with the television on. Oftentimes, I’d wake at 3 AM, only to find some fascinating documentary on PBS playing that would then keep me awake until it ended.
One night, though, I woke to this great voice singing. Now, keep in mind that I’m not really that big into classical music, or opera. I played a lot of violin (since 3rd grade, was concertmaster of our orchestra my senior year in high school). But everytime I listened to classical music on my own, it put me to sleep instantly. Narcoleptically fast.
But the person I saw on the TV that night struck me, for reasons I still can’t explain. Mostly his voice. The whole time he sang, he kept his eyes closed… and only after the concert was over did I realize he was blind. The man who was singing was Andrea Bocelli, and after almost three years of remembering his voice, I bought a CD of his today, Romanza (if that link didn’t work, maybe try accessing the album here). The song that I’ve been obsessing over lately is Por Ti Volare.
Alright. Fuck it.
The 30 seconds of streaming audio in the link above is shitty, and doesn’t really do his voice justice. I decided to rip the song, and edit the part that really made me decide to buy the CD. When I heard this part, I said "God damn" out loud, and it pretty much cinched the deal:
Listen to a short mp3 of Andrea Bocelli singing Por Ti Volare
I borrowed a copy of Arie Sacre from the Columbus Public Library several years back, and think that might be a better album. But Por Ti Volare, from Romanza, has really gotten stuck in my head of late.
Yes, yes, yes. Yesterday I spend all day talking about how I’m naked. Today, I’m going on and on about opera.
I’m a complex guy like that.
