Hvar
Hvar (; Chakavian: ''Hvor'' or ''For'', el, Φάρος, Pharos, la, Pharia, it, Lesina) is a Croatian island in the Adriatic Sea, located off the Dalmatian coast, lying between the islands of Brač, Vis and Korčula. Approximately long,
wi ...
. As the youngest of five brothers, he spent his childhood in a warm community with his parents, father Gianni and mother Margarita, who published a book of poems in čakavština dialect. As a 5-year-old child, on
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas Day, the festival commemorating the birth of Jesus. Christmas Day is observed around the world, and Christmas Eve is widely observed as a full or partial holiday in anticipation ...
, Gianni was introduced to his first
microphone
A microphone, colloquially called a mic or mike (), is a transducer that converts sound into an electrical signal. Microphones are used in many applications such as telephones, hearing aids, public address systems for concert halls and public ...
and climbed onto a stage of the local church, performing a song composed by his mother.
In 1989, he arrived at
Zagreb
Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...
vocal ensemble
A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...
klapa “Jelsa” and recorded two albums with them. Later that year Gianni attended an audition for the Croatian National Theater’s choir, which resulted in permanent engagement. At Varaždin Baroque Nights he had many performances:
Vivaldi's SPIRITUAL MUSIC with Slovenian
chamber choir A chamber choir is a small or medium-sized choir of roughly 8 to 40 singers (occasionally called 'chamber singers'), typically singing classical or religious music in a concert setting. (This is distinct from e.g. a church choir, which sings in rel ...
and Slovenian
philharmonic
An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families.
There are typically four main sections of instruments:
* bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, ce ...
, Musaical Scenographic Overview from the Opus of J. Bajamonti with
Split
Split(s) or The Split may refer to:
Places
* Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia
* Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay
* Split Island, Falkland Islands
* Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua
Arts, enterta ...
chamber orchestra
Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numbe ...
and festival choir, as well as the world premiere of Cavalli's opera Pompeo Magno directed by
Paul Eastwood
Paul B. Eastwood (born 3 December 1965) is a former Rugby League International goal kicking winger who played for Hull FC and Hull Kingston Rovers between 1984 and 1996. He also made 18 test appearances for the Great Britain between 1990 and 19 ...
. He appeared alongside Slovenian chamber choir in the performance of Croatian Mass by
Boris Papandopulo
Boris Papandopulo (February 25, 1906 – October 16, 1991) was a Croatian composer and conductor of Greek and Russian Jewish descent. Ha-Kol (Glasilo Židovske zajednice u Hrvatskoj); Djela hrvatskih skladatelja Židovskog podrijetla u Beču; s ...
. Together with the choir, Gianni also recorded an album.
Collaboration with various ensembles continued, whereas his performances were accompanied by the Slovenian philharmonic in
Ljubljana
Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center.
During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the ar ...
,
Križevci
Križevci (; la, Crisium; hu, Kőrös ; german: Kreutz ) is a city in central Croatia with a total population of 21,122 and with 11,231 in the city itself (2011), the oldest city in its county, the Koprivnica-Križevci County.
History
The f ...
RTV Slovenia
Radiotelevizija Slovenija ( en, Radio-Television of Slovenia) – usually abbreviated to RTV Slovenija (or simply RTV within Slovenia) – is Slovenia's national public broadcasting organization.
Based in Ljubljana, it has regional broadcastin ...
, the Croatian Radio Television choir, the Croatian National Theatre choir from
Rijeka
Rijeka ( , , ; also known as Fiume hu, Fiume, it, Fiume ; local Chakavian: ''Reka''; german: Sankt Veit am Flaum; sl, Reka) is the principal seaport and the third-largest city in Croatia (after Zagreb and Split). It is located in Primor ...
in Beethoven's 9th Symphony and the Chamber orchestra in Mozart's Requiem.
In collaboration with the symphonic orchestra and
Croatian Radio Television
''Hrvatska radiotelevizija'' (abbr. HRT), or Croatian Radiotelevision, is Croatia's public broadcasting company. It operates several radio and television channels, over a domestic transmitter network as well as satellite. HRT is divided into thr ...
choir he appeared in: Animal Farm and Glagolitic Requiem (I. Kuljerić), PETAR SVAČIĆ (J. Gotovac), Porin (V. Lisinski), Vukovar Requiem (D. Bobić), Pozdrav Svijetu (M. Kelemen), Muka Gospodina NAŠEGA Isusa Krista (B. Papandopulo), Misa Solemnis (L. Ebner), Misa Solemnis in C (J. P. Haibel), Krunidbena Misa (W.A. Mozart) and Stihovi Pokajanja (A. Schnittke).
Opera
Cooperation with a vocal coach, professor Stojan Stojanov, resulted in his first solo opera engagement in '
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 ...
', an opportunity offered by the Opera Director at the time, Maestro Vladimir Kranjčević.
Ever since 2001, Ivo Gamulin has made noteworthy appearances in many
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 ...
s staged at the Croatian National Theater:
La Traviata, Aida, Don Carlos, Rigoletto, Nabucco, Simon Bocanegra (G. Verdi), PLAŠT (G. Puccini), Boris Godunov (M. P. Musorgski), Tristan I Izolda (R. Wagner), West Side Story (L. Bernstein), KORIOLAN (S. Šulek
At 3rd International Tenor Competition in
Trogir
Trogir (; historically known as Traù (from Dalmatian, Venetian and Italian: ); la, Tragurium; Ancient Greek: Τραγύριον, ''Tragyrion'' or Τραγούριον, ''Tragourion'') is a historic town and harbour on the Adriatic coast in S ...
Gianni won the third prize and in 2005 he was nominated for the Croatian Acting Guild prize for the role of Ismaile in NABUCCO (G. Verdi) and a young sailor in TRISTAN AND ISEULT (R. Wagner).
Pop
He presented himself to a wider audience in 2007 with an album released by
Dallas Records
Dallas Records is a Croatian record label. It was established in 1987 (in Slovenia), and is owned and run by Goran Lisica - Fox, a music producer and manager who started his career in the 1970s as a music journalist.
Signed artists include Gibo ...
''Ljubav to si ti'', incorporating pop songs into it. Ever since then the
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 ...
achieved a series of notable performances in
Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capit ...
and neighboring countries.
Collaboration
Gianni has been performing alongside big names in Croatian music, such as:
Tereza Kesovija
Tereza Ana Kesovija (; born 3 October 1938) is an internationally acclaimed Croatian recording artist. She was one of the most recognizable figures on the music scene in former Yugoslavia, and is renowned for her wide vocal range and operatic sty ...
,
Radojka Šverko
Radojka Šverko (born 9 April 1948) is a Croatian female singer-songwriter and an alto range artist.
Šverko was the recipient of many music festival awards, most recently at the Split Festival (2005) for her song ''Licem u lice'' (lit. "Face ...
,
Doris Dragović
Dorotea "Doris" Budimir (, ; born 16 April 1961) is a Croatian singer-songwriter who has represented Yugoslavia in the Eurovision Song Contest 1986 with the song " Željo moja", finishing 11th with 49 points, and Croatia in the Eurovision Song Con ...
,
Maja Blagdan
Maja Blagdan (born 16 May 1968) is a Croatian pop singer. She began her singing career in a rock band, Stijene, in 1986. Later she had a solo career. Her first solo album was released in 1993.
She represented Croatia at the Eurovision Song Con ...
and others. As for international singers, he continuously collaborates with the Slovenian singer
Helena Blagne
Helena Blagne 24ur.com; accessed 31 January 2016.(born 1963, in
and the Macedonian singer
Kaliopi
Kaliopi Bukle ( mk, Калиопи Букле, ; born 28 December 1966), known professionally as Kaliopi, is a Macedonian singer-songwriter. In her career, Kaliopi has progressed from singing lead vocal with her eponymous band in 1980s Yugoslavi ...
.
In the year of 2009 Gianni held a gala benefit concert at
Vatroslav Lisinski Concert Hall
Vatroslav Lisinski Concert Hall ( hr, Koncertna dvorana Vatroslava Lisinskog) is a large concert hall and convention center in Zagreb, Croatia. It is named after Vatroslav Lisinski, a 19th-century Croatian composer. The building has a big hall wit ...
with the Revue Orchestra of the Zagreb Philharmonic. The exclusive guest of the concert was a celebrated
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
diva
Anna Oxa
Anna Hoxha (; born 28 April 1961), known professionally as Anna Oxa (), is an Italian singer, actress, and television presenter. Oxa has received mainstream popularity and recognition within Italy due to her numerous participations in the Sanremo ...
.
In the summer of 2010 Gianni had an honor to perform at the shows of the great American singer
Natalie Cole
Natalie Maria Cole (February 6, 1950 – December 31, 2015) was an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She was the daughter of American singer and jazz pianist Nat King Cole. She rose to success in the mid-1970s as an R&B singer with the h ...
in Croatia as an exclusive guest of her entire European tour.
Apart from numerous collaborations with both Croatian and international stars, together with Dallas records Gianni has recorded a
Christmas album
Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or, in the case of carols or songs, may employ lyrics whose subject ma ...
called ''Božićna priča'', which has been released in December 2010 and contains a duet with an American music icon
Gloria Gaynor
Gloria Gaynor ( née Fowles; born September 7, 1943) is an American singer, best known for the disco era hits "I Will Survive" (1978), " Let Me Know (I Have a Right)" (1979), " I Am What I Am" (1983), and her version of "Never Can Say Goodbye" ( ...
, accompanied by the Symphonic Orchestra of Croatian Radio Television. All songs were arranged by the composer John Cameron.