Three Magical Tuscan Nights
In 2014, Celebrity Adventures was launched as a new charitable foundation and partnered with Andrea Bocelli and his wife, Veronica, to bring the initiative to Italy and offer their international donors a journey through the excellence of Made in Italy: music, art, fashion, style, food, and all the best the country has to offer. Year after year, the event benefits from the most magnificent locations, the most extraordinary music talents offering their performances to the guests, and exclusive experiences, all of which contribute to creating a unique event benefiting the Andrea Bocelli Foundation. Previous events have attracted international celebrities, royals, and political and financial leaders, all of whom have chosen to attend and support the Andrea Bocelli Foundation’s mission to empower people and communities in situations of poverty, illiteracy, and suffering due to disease and social exclusion by promoting and supporting national and international projects to help people overcome these barriers and express their full potential.
This year’s Celebrity Adventures “Notti Toscane” offered guests two exclusive events in Lajatico and close to Forte dei Marmi. Guests could choose to attend a single event or both. I attended both events and had a unique, unforgettable experience.
July 29 was the concert at Teatro del Silenzio, which included a pre- show, gourmet dinner held outdoors. Two hundred fifty international guests and supporters of the Bocelli Foundation attended the dinner, followed by Andrea Bocelli’s concert at the Teatro del Silenzio in Lajatico (Pisa). The dinner was served with a splendid view of the Tuscan hills. The concert arena was created for this annual event: all electricity, sound equipment, concert seating, stage, lighting, and complete set-ups were brought in just for this event situated in the middle of the natural beauty and tranquility of the Tuscan countryside.
The concert was named Andrea Bocelli’s Mariposa. Bocelli described the concert and the stage artwork of Mariposa de la Vida as “wonderful and helpless in their flawless grace and intrinsic fragility. They feed on the natural sweetness of creation. It is said that they have been on the earth for a hundred million years, even though at times they live for no more than a few days. Whether diurnal or nocturnal, they live silently. They do not sting or wound. You do not feel their weight when they land on you. If anything, they are prey but never predator. And, above all, they fly. And by flying, they distribute life, in concert with the water and the wind, multiplying beauty. A tiny angel assistant of our one heavenly Father. Such is the butterfly, such is art, such is music. Such is ‘Mariposa,’ the emblematic title of the 18th year of the Teatro del Silenzio which will take flight on the wings of ‘Mariposa de la Vida,’ the great sculpture conceived by renowned Uruguayan artist Pablo Atchugarry.
“The solidity of steel, its iridescent sheen, the agility of its forms and empty spaces, the verticality of a work of art standing over 11 meters high: these are the crucial material elements of a great musical performance where the classical and pop repertoire will soar amid my beloved hills to examine (and share) the enchantment of beauty and lightness. And more: as the Teatro del Silenzio is a challenge naturally devoted to the synesthetic encounter between art forms, all around, today’s evening event will be dressed in large and original imaginative wings consisting of flamboyant lighting design, high-tech wonders, energetic choreography, and stage costumes designed around the ethical creativity that recycles recovered materials. Everything is ready. Once again, beneath the gallery of the Tuscan sky, the same excitement in joyfully doing the honors and welcoming so many friends, on stage and in the audience, grows in me. Every person who crosses its threshold is equally the star of this sonorous midsummer magic. To each of them, I dedicate my grateful thoughts and song, in the hope that wonder will be renewed and that, from shared art, the feeling of flight will spring forth in the hearts of those present, light and powerful like a butterfly, like music, like life.”
The producer of the event Vittorio Quattrone described his spectacular production: “The setting of the Teatro del Silenzio is always breathtaking. The emotions get lost in the beautiful hills that form a natural amphitheater. It is now over 16 years that I have had the honor of producing this event which sets a unique and magical place on the maps of the whole world. The Teatro del Silenzio is a memorable experience, and to bring it to life, there is an extraordinary commitment of strength, creative minds and energy. This unimaginable effort is always rewarded by the extraordinary result that fascinates thousands of people around the world every year. Acknowledgments are never enough, and they go to over a thousand people—artists and workers— who work on the show and, of course, to Maestro Andrea Bocelli as an artist and, above all, as a man.”
The concert’s general admission had over 10,000 attendees who descended to this otherwise beautiful silent Tuscan countryside. The tremendous organization was an impressive undertaking for just two shows on July 27 and 29. Bocelli performed with special musical guests Sara Cortolezzis, Loren Allred, Emm Marrone, the choir of the “Luigi Boccherin” Conservatory of Music in Lucca and conducted by Carlos Bernini and accompanied by dancers choreographed by Alessandra Panzavotta on the spectacular stage.
The second event was an evening of music and entertainment with an exclusive dinner on July 31 at Villa Oliviero, the new home owned by the Bocelli family close to Forte dei Marmi. Seven hundred guests spent an entire evening at the Bocellis’ recently renovated private home, which was decorated along the theme of the film The Greatest Showman which inspired the dress code. Dinner was interspersed with moments of music and entertainment, with Andrea Bocelli and musical guests sharing the stage with him for an unforgettable night. A charity auction supporting the foundation’s educational projects was held during the evening.
The event occurred within a beautiful, exotic tent erected in Villa Oliviero’s courtyard. Nestled between the Apuan Alps and the sea in the picturesque Tuscan countryside, Villa Oliviero has been lovingly renovated and restored to its former glory by the Bocelli family over several years.
The house has a rich history, taking its name from its former owner, renowned entrepreneur Oliviero Comparini. Comparini was at the forefront of Rome’s glitterati in the 1960s, with his cult venue, Club 84. He ushered in a revolution in show business, attracting the jet set to the Tyrrhenian coast. Over the decades, Villa Oliviero has hosted Paola of Liège, the Queen of Belgium, Domenico Modugno, Frank Sinatra, and Charlie Chaplin. Legendary Italian landscape architect Pietro Porcinai designed the extensive pools and gardens. On July 31, the Bocelli family opened Villa Oliviero’s doors, welcoming guests for the first time.
Bocelli performed the concert with special guests Gloria Gaynor who performed her greatest hit, “I Will Survive,” Loren Allred, the New York-based singer of the movie soundtrack of The Greatest Showman, IDB Live Band, and Bocelli’s adorable, 10-year-old daughter, Virginia, with her angelic voice. Bocelli’s wife, Veronica Berti, was in charge of the event concept with the ambitious title The Greatest Show emceed by Kris Reichert. This was the most fantastic show I have ever attended due to the music, the ambiance, the magnificent villa, the lush garden, the beautifully decorated tent, and the audience’s warmth.
As a very special bonus to thank the supporters and donors of both fundraising events, Berti hosted a magical beach party on July 30 at the Bocelli family’s Alpemare Beach Club in Forte Dei Marmi. The luxurious, sandy beach with tropical gardens at the street entry was decorated with Louis Vuitton outdoor furniture, towels, umbrellas, beach chairs, and dozens of tents furnished with chaise lounges and tables for a deluxe beach experience. The party started at sunset with disco dancing by the bar and buffet and lasted well past midnight.