Alessandro Safina () is an Italian

operatic pop Operatic pop or popera is a subgenre of pop music that is performed in an operatic singing style or a song, theme or motif from classical music stylized as pop. The subgenre is often performed by classical crossover singers and acts, although that ...

tenor A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...

. Born in

Siena Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena. The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centuri ...

, Italy, Safina has sought to combine his interests in

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

and modern

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former describe ...

Music education

Safina began to study music when he was nine years old and attended a music academy at the age of 12. At 17, he was accepted to the Conservatorio di Musica "Luigi Cherubini" in Florence, Italy. In 1989, he won the "Concorso Lirico Internazionale" in Manatova, Italy, and this led to his opera debut. In 1990 he appeared with soprano

Katia Ricciarelli Catiuscia Maria Stella Ricciarelli (born 16 January 1946), known as Katia Ricciarelli (), is an Italian soprano and actress. Biography Born in Rovigo, Veneto, to a very poor family, she struggled during her younger years when she studied music. ...

as Rodolfo in

Puccini Giacomo Puccini (Lucca, 22 December 1858Bruxelles, 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he was descended from a long lin ...

's ''

La bohème ''La bohème'' (; ) is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions ''quadri'', ''tableaux'' or "images", rather than ''atti'' (acts). composed by Giacomo Puccini between 1893 and 1895 to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe G ...

''.

Career

In the '90s, Safina began recording with Italian pianist/composer

Romano Musumarra Romano Musumarra (born 21 July 1956) is an Italian composer, arranger, musician and record producer. Life and career Born in Rome, Musumarra approached music as a child, learning to play pipe organ at his church. He studied piano, composition ...

and his self-titled debut was issued in September 2001. Safina's single "Luna", released in 1999, reached number 2 in the Dutch charts. In 2001, Safina contributed to the score of

Baz Luhrmann Mark Anthony Luhrmann (born 17 September 1962), known professionally as Baz Luhrmann, is an Australian film director, producer, writer and actor. With projects spanning film, television, opera, theatre, music and recording industries, he is re ...

's film ''

Moulin Rouge! ''Moulin Rouge!'' (, ) is a 2001 jukebox musical romantic drama film directed, co-produced, and co-written by Baz Luhrmann. It follows a young English poet, Christian, who falls in love with the star of the Moulin Rouge, cabaret actress and cour ...

'' where he performed

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

's "

Your Song "Your Song" is a song written by English musician Elton John and songwriter Bernie Taupin, and performed by John. It was John's first international Top 10 chart single. "Your Song" was first released by American rock band Three Dog Night in M ...

" with

Ewan McGregor Ewan Gordon McGregor ( ; born 31 March 1971) is a Scottish actor. His accolades include a Golden Globe Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and the BAFTA Britannia Humanitarian Award. In 2013, he was appointed Officer of the Order of the British ...

, and a part of the Elephant Love Medley, sung by Ewan McGregor and

Nicole Kidman Nicole Mary Kidman (born 20 June 1967) is an American and Australian actress and producer. Known for her work across various film and television productions from several genres, she has consistently ranked among the world's highest-paid act ...

. That same year, his song Luna was part of the soundtrack of the soap opera ''

O Clone O, or o, is the fifteenth letter and the fourth vowel letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''o'' (pronounced ), pl ...

'' from Rede Globo, Safina, also made a guest appearance in the soap opera. In November 2001, Safina sang

Andrew Lloyd Webber Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948), is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 21 musicals, ...

's "

Music of the Night "The Music of the Night" (also labelled as just "Music of the Night") is a major song from the 1986 musical ''The Phantom of the Opera (1986 musical), The Phantom of the Opera''. The music was written by Andrew Lloyd Webber with lyrics by Charles H ...

" for

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

during the

Royal Variety Show The ''Royal Variety Performance'' is a televised variety show held annually in the United Kingdom to raise money for the Royal Variety Charity (of which King Charles III is life-patron). It is attended by senior members of the British royal f ...

. By 2002, Safina's album ''Insieme A Te'' sold 700,000 copies worldwide. In March, 2002, he performed "Del Perduto Amore" at the

San Remo Music Festival The Sanremo Music Festival, officially the Italian Song Festival () and commonly known as just (), is the most popular Italian song contest and awards ceremony, held annually in the city of Sanremo, Liguria. It is the longest-running annual ...

. He also recorded "

" with

for

Sport Relief ''Sport Relief'' was a biennial charity event from Comic Relief, in association with BBC Sport, established in 2002. It was the idea of Kevin Cahill, CBE, who had joined Comic Relief in 1991 to establish a new department as Director of Educati ...

, a charity venture to help children. Safina's concert "Only You", featuring

Patricia Manterola Patricia Manterola (; born Bertha Patricia Manterola Carrión) is a Mexican singer and actress born in Mexico City. Background Patricia Manterola Carrion was born to Jorge Manterola and Maria Dolores Carrion, the second of three children. Her ...

, was taped in the amphitheatre El Greco in

Taormina Taormina ( , , also , ; scn, Taurmina) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Messina, on the east coast of the island of Sicily, Italy. Taormina has been a tourist destination since the 19th century. Its beaches on ...

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

in 2001, and was later broadcast in the series ''

Great Performances ''Great Performances'' is a television anthology series dedicated to the performing arts; the banner has been used to televise theatrical performances such as plays, musicals, opera, ballet, concerts, as well as occasional documentaries. It is pr ...

'' by American public channel

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

and released in 2003 on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

. Also in 2003, Safina performed the English and Korean vocals for a Korean song called "Hamangyeon" (하망연(何茫然)), part of the soundtrack for ''

Dae Jang Geum ''Dae Jang Geum'' (; literally "The Great Jang-geum"), also known as ''Jewel in the Palace'', is a 2003 South Korean historical drama television series directed by Lee Byung-hoon. It first aired on MBC from September 15, 2003 to March 23, 20 ...

'', and he appeared as

Mario Cavaradossi ''Tosca'' is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900. The work, based on Victorien Sardou's 1 ...

in ''Tosca e Altre Due'', a film based on the opera ''

Tosca ''Tosca'' is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900. The work, based on Victorien Sardou's 1 ...

'' by Puccini. In 2007, he recorded a duet with the British soprano

Sarah Brightman Sarah Brightman (born 14 August 1960) is an English classical crossover soprano singer, actress and dancer. Brightman began her career as a member of the dance troupe Hot Gossip and released several disco singles as a solo performer. In 1981, ...

for her album, ''Symphony''. He then joined her for the Symphony World Tour in 2008 where he sang "

Canto della Terra "Canto della Terra" is an Italian song which was the second single from Italian pop tenor Andrea Bocelli's 1999 album, ''Sogno''. The song was written by composer Francesco Sartori and lyricist Lucio Quarantotto, the same writers of Bocelli's bi ...

" and " Sarai Qui" with Brightman. In June 2017, Safina performed "

O Sole Mio "O sole mio" () is a well-known Neapolitan song written in 1898. Its Neapolitan language lyrics were written by Giovanni Capurro and the music was composed by Eduardo di Capua (1865–1917) and Alfredo Mazzucchi (1878–1972).. The title tran ...

" with Italian tenor

Andrea Bocelli Andrea Bocelli (; born 22 September 1958) is an Italian tenor and multi-instrumentalist. He was born visually impaired, with congenital glaucoma, and at the age of 12, Bocelli became completely blind, following a brain hemorrhage resulting fro ...

. Duets: *"Brindisi" from

Giuseppe Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the h ...

's opera ''

La traviata ''La traviata'' (; ''The Fallen Woman'') is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on ''La Dame aux camélias'' (1852), a play by Alexandre Dumas ''fils'' adapted from his own 18 ...

'' with opera soprano

Sumi Jo Sumi Jo, OSI (; ; born 22 November 1962) is a South Korean lyric coloratura soprano known for her Grammy award-winning interpretations of the bel canto repertoire. Life and career Early life and education Jo was born Jo Su-gyeong in Changw ...

. *"Life Goes On" with Dutch singer

Petra Berger Petra Berger, born ''Petronella Burger'' (Amstelveen, 23 October 1965), is a Dutch classical crossover singer, composer, and musical actress. Biography Petra Berger was born into a musical family, but did not pursue a musical career until late ...

. *"Aria e Memoria" with

Chrissie Hynde Christine Ellen Hynde (born September 7, 1951) is an American musician. She is a founding member and the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter of the rock band the Pretenders, and one of the band's two remaining original members alon ...

The Pretenders Pretenders are an English–American rock band formed in March 1978. The original band consisted of founder and main songwriter Chrissie Hynde (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), James Honeyman-Scott (lead guitar, backing vocals, keyboards), Pete Fa ...

Don't Get Around Much Anymore "Don't Get Around Much Anymore" is a jazz standard written by composer Duke Ellington. The song was originally entitled "Never No Lament" and was first recorded by Duke Ellington and his orchestra on May 4, 1940. "Don't Get Around Much Anymore" q ...

" with rock musician

Rod Stewart Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British rock and pop singer and songwriter. Born and raised in London, he is of Scottish and English ancestry. With his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the best-selling ...

. *"Bile, Bile" with Turkish singer

Sezen Aksu Sezen Aksu (; born Fatma Sezen Yıldırım; 13 July 1954) is a Turkish pop music singer, songwriter and producer who has sold over 40 million albums worldwide. Her nicknames include the "Queen of Turkish Pop" and "''Minik Serçe''" ("Little Spar ...

Discography

* ''Insieme A Te'' (1999) * ''Alessandro Safina'' (2001) * ''Insieme A Te ith Bonus tracks' (2001) * ''Musica Di Te'' (2003) * ''Sognami'' (2007) * ''Dedicated'' (2014) * "La Siete Di Vivere" single (1999) * "Luna" single (2000) * "Life Goes On" single; duet with Petra Berger (2007)

Personal life

Safina was married to Italian dancer Lorenza Mario from 2001 to 2011, with whom he has a son Pietro (born 2002). Currently, Safina and partner Laura Maria Calafeteanu, a marketing consultant, live together in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

with their son, Christian, born in 2015.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Safina, Alessandro Living people Italian operatic tenors People from Siena Opera crossover singers Italian pop singers Italian expatriates in Romania Korean-language singers of Italy English-language singers from Italy French-language singers of Italy Sicilian-language singers Year of birth missing (living people) 20th-century Italian male singers 21st-century Italian male singers