Riccardo Cocciante (; born 20 February 1946), also known in

French-speaking countries French became an international language in the Middle Ages, when the power of the Kingdom of France made it the second international language, alongside Latin. This status continued to grow into the 18th century, by which time French was the l ...

and the U.S. as Richard Cocciante (), is an Italian singer, composer, theatre man and musician. He acquired French citizenship.

Personal life

Cocciante was born on 20 February 1946 in Saigon,

French Indochina French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China),; vi, Đông Dương thuộc Pháp, , lit. 'East Ocean under French Control; km, ឥណ្ឌូចិនបារាំង, ; th, อินโดจีนฝรั่งเศส, ...

, now Ho Chi Minh City,

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

, to an Italian father from

Rocca di Mezzo Rocca di Mezzo (locally ''La Rocca'') is a ''comune'' and town in the Province of L'Aquila, in the Abruzzo region of central Italy. It is home to the seat of the Sirente-Velino Regional Park The Sirente-Velino Regional Park (Italian: ''Parco regio ...

, L'Aquila, and a French mother. At the age of 11, he moved to Rome, Italy, where he attended the

Lycée français Chateaubriand The Lycée français Chateaubriand ( it, Liceo Chateaubriand) is a French international primary and secondary school with two campuses consisting of three buildings in Rome, Italy. Its administration and senior high school/sixth-form college class ...

. He has also lived in France, the United States, and Ireland.

Career

Cocciante began achieving success as a musician around 1972. In 1976, he covered the Beatles song " Michelle" for the musical documentary ''

All This and World War II ''All This and World War II'' is a 1976 musical documentary directed by Susan Winslow. It juxtaposes Beatles songs covered by a variety of musicians with World War II newsreel footage and 20th Century Fox films, in a manner meant by the filmma ...

''. That same year, he released his sole English album in the US, with the single "When Love Has Gone Away" peaking at No. 41 on the '' Billboard'' Hot 100. In 1983, Cocciante signed to Virgin Records as their first Italian artist. In 1991, he won the

Sanremo Festival The Sanremo Music Festival, officially the Italian Song Festival () and commonly known as just (), is the most popular Italian culture, Italian song contest and awards ceremony, held annually in the city of Sanremo, Liguria. It is the longes ...

with the song "Se stiamo insieme", and for Christmas 1997, his friend

Plácido Domingo José Plácido Domingo Embil (born 21 January 1941) is a Spanish opera singer, conductor, and arts administrator. He has recorded over a hundred complete operas and is well known for his versatility, regularly performing in Italian, French ...

invited him to sing at Domingo's annual Christmas in Vienna concert, together with Sarah Brightman and

Helmut Lotti Helmut Lotti (born Helmut Barthold Johannes Alma Lotigiers; 22 October 1969), is a Belgian tenorGoldsmith B (2009)Belgian tenor Helmut Lotti wants to find his own style ''WDEZ''. Retrieved 23 April 2010. and singer-songwriter. Lotti performs in ...

. In 1996, he was chosen as the singer for the Italian versions of the songs in the

Toy Story ''Toy Story'' is a 1995 American computer-animated comedy film directed by John Lasseter (in his feature directorial debut), produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The first installment in the '' Toy Story ...

movie, singing "Un Amico in me", "Che Strane Cose" and "Io non-volerò più". As of 2008, Cocciante has had three musicals running, including

Giulietta e Romeo (musical) ''Giulietta e Romeo'' is an Italian-language musical with music by Riccardo Cocciante and lyrics by Pasquale Panella, based on William Shakespeare's play '' Romeo and Juliet''. Since its world premiere in Verona on June 1, 2007, directed by Ser ...

, Le Petit Prince, and '' Notre-Dame de Paris''. His most recent project, the Chinese language adoption of Giacomo Puccini's opera Turandot is being directed by Zhang Yimou. In 2013, Cocciante was a coach for The Voice Italy.

Elhaida Dani Elhaida Dani (; born 17 February 1993) is an Albanian singer, songwriter, composer and actress. Born and raised in Shkodër, Dani performed in diverse singing competitions and started to play piano as a child. She rose to national recognition i ...

, one of the contestants he coached, won the first season of The Voice Italy.

''Sincerità'' and other foreign-language releases

Cocciante's oeuvre includes recordings in Italian, French, English, and Spanish. In 1976, he released a cover of The Beatles' song " Michelle", featuring the

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's Hall Orc ...

. Cocciante recorded his hit song "Pour Elle" as a duet with Francesca Bellenis with English lyrics. The song is part of his 1994 album "Un uomo felice". A Spanish version "Por Ella" and an Italian version "Per Lei" were also recorded. In 1983, Cocciante released his album "Sincerità", produced and arranged by the American composer James Newton Howard.

Discography

* ''Mu'' (1972) *''Poesia'' (1973) *''Anima'' (1974) *''L'alba'' (1975) *''Richard Cocciante'' nglish version of ''Anima''(1976) *''

Concerto per Margherita A concerto (; plural ''concertos'', or ''concerti'' from the Italian plural) is, from the late Baroque era, mostly understood as an instrumental composition, written for one or more soloists accompanied by an orchestra or other ensemble. The typi ...

'' (1976) *''

Riccardo Cocciante Riccardo Cocciante (; born 20 February 1946), also known in French-speaking countries and the U.S. as Richard Cocciante (), is an Italian singer, composer, theatre man and musician. He acquired French citizenship. Personal life Cocciante was ...

'' (1978) *''...E io canto'' (1979) *''

Cervo a primavera Cervo may refer to: Places Italy * Cervo, Liguria, a comune in the province of Imperia in the region of Liguria * Cervo (river), a tributary of the River Sesia in the Piedmont region Portugal * Cervo (Ribeira de Pena), a civil parish in the munic ...

'' (1980) *''Q Concert'' (1981) *''Cocciante'' (1982) *''

Sincerità "Sincerità" is the debut single by the Italian singer Arisa and it was released on 18 February 2009. It placed first in the 'Newcomers' section and won the 'Mia Martini' Critics Award in the Sanremo Music Festival 2009 The Sanremo Music Festival ...

'' (1983) *'' Il mare dei papaveri'' (1985) *''Quando si vuole bene'' (1986) *''La grande avventura'' (1988) *''Viva!'' (1988) *''Cocciante'' (also known as ''Se stiamo insieme''; 1991) *''Empreinte'' (1993) *''Eventi e mutamenti '' (1993) *''Il mio nome è Riccardo'' (1994) *''

Un Uomo Felice Riccardo Cocciante (; born 20 February 1946), also known in French-speaking countries and the U.S. as Richard Cocciante (), is an Italian singer, composer, theatre man and musician. He acquired French citizenship. Personal life Cocciante was ...

'' (1994) * ''Je Chante'' (1995) *''Innamorato'' (1997) *''Istantanea'' (1998) *''Notre-dame de Paris live Arena di Verona'' (2002) *''Songs'' (2005)

Musicals

*'' Notre-Dame de Paris'' (1997; lyrics by Luc Plamondon) *''

Le Petit Prince ''The Little Prince'' (french: Le Petit Prince, ) is a novella by French aristocrat, writer, and military pilot Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. It was first published in English and French in the United States by Reynal & Hitchcock in April 1943 and ...

'' (2002; lyrics by

Elizabeth Anais Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist Ships * HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships * ''Elisabeth'' (sc ...

) *''

Giulietta e Romeo ''Giulietta e Romeo'' is a dramma per musica by composer Niccolò Antonio Zingarelli with an Italian libretto by Giuseppe Maria Foppa after the 1530 novella of the same name by Luigi Da Porto and Shakespeare's '' Romeo and Juliet''. The opera ...

'' (2007; lyrics by

Pasquale Panella Pasquale Panella (born 12 January 1950) is an Italian lyricist, playwright, poet and novelist. He sometimes used the pen names Duchesca and Vanera. Life and career Panella was born in Rome. After graduating from the Istituto Magistrale, he st ...

)

References

External links

RICCARDO COCCIANTE Official Web Site

Biography of Richard Cocciante
from

Radio France Internationale Radio France Internationale, usually referred to as RFI, is the state-owned international radio broadcaster of France. With 37.2 million listeners in 2014, it is one of the most-listened-to international radio stations in the world, along with ...

Biography of Riccardo Cocciante
from

RAI International Rai Italia is the international English language television service of Rai Internazionale, a subsidiary of RAI, Italy's public national broadcaster. Rai Italia operates a television network that broadcasts around the world via 3 localized feeds. ...

''AyerHoy.com''
(Cada día un perfil de un artista del ayer) {{DEFAULTSORT:Cocciante, Richard Cocciante, Riccardo Cocciante, Riccardo Cocciante, Riccardo Cocciante, Riccardo French male singers French people of Italian descent Italian people of French descent Sanremo Music Festival winners Italian musical theatre composers French musical theatre composers People from Ho Chi Minh City 20th-century Italian composers 21st-century Italian composers 20th-century French composers 21st-century French composers 20th-century French male musicians 21st-century French male musicians