Music Monday: Andrea Bocelli And The Silence Of Music
By Debbie Waltz
[Full disclosure: I am not an opera fan. To my astonishment, I unexpectedly discovered a captivating film chronicling the remarkable life and career of Andrea Bocelli, detailing his inspiring journey from obscurity to international acclaim as a celebrated opera singer. To add to that, and although it embarrasses me to admit it openly, I only then became aware of his visual impairment. It never crossed my mind that the reason he sometimes wore dark glasses and kept his eyes closed might be due to his being blind, and I mistakenly assumed it was merely a stylistic affectation or a prop of some kind. Since I’d never met him face-to-face, knowing the difference would have been impossible. Understanding a bit more of his story, I can relate. On another note, Andrea is often referred to as Amos in this review because that’s what he likes to call himself; it is his alter ego]
Although Andrea Bocelli enjoys widespread recognition as a classical singer, his struggles with blindness and arduous path to prominence in the music world often go unacknowledged. The film The Music of Silence powerfully portrays how the unwavering belief of an uncle in his nephew’s musical talent can help overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles, showcasing the transformative power of music.
Andrea, a Tuscan native born on September 22nd, 1958, appeared to be a perfectly ordinary newborn child, just like any other baby. With each passing month, a growing sense of unease settled upon them as the baby’s persistent crying showed no sign of abating, causing increasing concern and frustration. His mother, Edi (played by Luisa Rainiera), urges them to take him to the doctor. Diagnosed with congenital bilateral glaucoma, doctors advise them their son will need surgery, and there’s no way of knowing how much damage was caused until they perform surgery.
The next scene was a little unclear for me because it showed the parents waiting for Andrea after surgery, and then 3 years later, it showed him in recovery after surgery; for me, it is unclear whether he sustained several surgeries or just multiple to save what vision he had. At any rate, it is during this time that he hears opera being played in the next room, and it calms him. While Andrea’s parents await more results, the boy finds solace in Zio Giovanni (Ennio Fantastichini) bonding over opera.
Having explored all available medical options to save the limited vision remaining in one eye, doctors advise the family to proactively enroll their son in braille classes, recognizing the importance of utilizing his current level of vision to learn this essential skill. Unfortunately, that means sending him away since the school is nowhere close. In a misguided attempt to reject his diagnosis and show his father and everyone else that he is still the same, Andrea goes to extreme lengths to ignore his illness, going so far as to use a step stool to get on and ride his horse without assistance in a reckless and potentially dangerous display.
Unable to deny it any longer, they take Andrea to the school. Though initially hates it, he eventually finds a new group of friends and adjusts to his new routine. With his eyesight worsening by the day, he continues studying hard and leaning into his musical interests. During one music class, the teacher asks him to sing by himself, commenting, “She’s never heard anything quite like that before.”
Later, she highlights him in a concert with his family and friends.
Andre soon graduates and returns home to be with his family and friends. His eyesight is nearly gone, and one day, finally, he comments he cannot see the sun anymore. The family is distraught, though they knew this was inevitable. They weren’t prepared for it emotionally. In the summer of 1971, in an effort to keep the family’s spirits up, they planned to go to the beach. While Andre’s parents tell their son not to go into the water, he disobeys-thinking he is just like everyone else. When Andrea’s brother alerts his parents, they are frantic and worried; they look out into the rough water and shout for help.
“Dad, you don’t understand. If others jump over an obstacle, I have to jump over a mountain. If I ride a horse, I have to ride a tiger.. ”
“Amos”
“If I want to be like other people, I have to be better than them. You know who taught me that? You..”
To de-escalate the situation, his uncle takes him out for ice cream. It turns out the restaurant they are at is having auditions for an upcoming singing competition in Tuscany. He is accepted into the competition and wins the grand prize.
From then on, you’d think it would be smooth sailing.
Wrong.
As Amos (Andrea’s alter ego) sings at a cousin’s wedding, his voice breaks, and he suffers an enormous embarrassment. From then on, he has a love/hate relationship with his voice and sets out to pursue his father’s career choice for him- becoming a lawyer. That career choice has its own sure of hurdles, too, since they don’t allow students to read the book to him; he is forced to “read” it himself. Eventually they hire someone to read all his textbooks and put them on tape. This is how he manages to graduate high school.and all higher education
through it all, he continues singing despite not liking the sound of his own voice.
At least he earns some money doing it.
I could go on and tell you more of Andrea’s story or let you find out for yourself. Let me just it is partially due to his family’s and uncle’s persistence that he is singing now