It wasn’t a tiger (from Cremona) like Mina, or a panther (from Goro) like Milva, or an eagle (from Ligonchio) like Iva Zanicchi. Not even nightingales. Ornella Vanoniwho passed away at the age of 91, never needed a totem animal to enter the collective imagination. If it really had to be attributed to a symbolic being, then it would be lioness: proud, graceful, independent. Milanese in soul and origin – born on September 22, 1934 – with a graceful look and a voice that knows how to roar and caress at the same timeOrnella Vanoni has been the most free and unconventional Italian translator for decades.
Covering nearly seventy years of music, Ornella he knows how to remain himself. The diva despite herself, is sophisticated but never distantcultured without being academic, sensual without ever being vulgar, she embodies a femininity that is authentic and never constructed. At every stage of his career, he remained vocal: out of tune with fashion, able to tell the story of the times without adapting to them. His frown, his sarcasm, his reticence, his distinctive voice mixed with smoke and sentiment, have become part of Italy’s cultural heritage.
He wasn’t born a singer. His first love was theaterand was on stage at Piccolo Theater in Milano who started his career, along with director Giorgio Strehler, mentor, pygmalion, and companion. From that experience he brought an intense and measured theatricality to his singing, the ability to ‘inhabit’ the words before even singing them.. His first song was the famous ‘canzoni della mala’: a dark and popular ballad, which Vanoni interpreted with grace and honesty, restoring the dignity of wounded humanity. “Ma mi”, “Le coatlate”, “They killed Mario” are not just songs, but unique acts of civic theater. Strong start.
In 1959, at the Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto, he actually brought it to the stage underworld songsperformed in Milanese and Roman dialect, and excerpts from “The Threepenny Opera” by Berthold Brecht. The turning point came in the sixties, when he began collaborating with great Italian singer-songwriters, especially Gino Paoli.with whom he shared an intense and creative love story. Thus was born “Senza fine”, his first international success, which was followed by “Che cosa c’è”, “La musica è finite”, “Casa bianca”, “I fell in love with you”, “Eternity”, “One more reason”, “Just one hour I want you”, “Tristezza”.
In addition to music, the theater continues to call him: he plays “Rugantino” by Garinei and Giovannini, which takes him to Broadway. Meanwhile, his discography continues to grow. The most iconic and timeless songs appeared in the seventies: “Promise”, “Tomorrow is another day”, “So that I don’t die”, “I’m sick”, “Details”.
In 1976 he founded his own label, Vanillaand published “The Desire to Dream”, and then signed the fundamental work: “Desire, madness, recklessness, excitement“, along with Vinícius de Moraes and Toquinho. This was the consecration of his love of Brazilian music, an influence that would remain in the hallmarks of his style.
That eighties see the release of “Ricetta di donna”, “Vai Valentina”, “Musica musica”, “Uomini” and the return of concerts with Gino Paoli for “Ti lascio una canzone”. In Ninety Gold records came with “Stella Nascente” and “Perduto”, produced by Mario Lavezzi. In jazz style, he collaborated with Paolo Fresu for the album “Argilla”.
In 2008 he celebrated 50 years of his career with the album “Più di me”, duetting with artists from every generation: Claudio Baglioni, Fiorella Mannoia, Jovanotti, Carmen Consoli, the Pooh, Lucio Dalla, Gianni Morandi, Eros Ramazzotti and finally Mina, in an unprecedented duet event: “Amiche mai”. In 2018 he returned to the Sanremo Festival with “Imparare ad amorsi”, receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award: the first artist to obtain it.
In 2020 he published “Unica”album of unreleased songs with a symbolic title. The following year he was a guest at the Sanremo Festival, where he sang “Smile in tears accompanied by Francesco Gabbani. In the summer, the irreverent “Toy Boy” was released with Colapesce and Dimartinowith a video clip directed by Luca Guadagnino. In 2023 he was a guest again at Sanremo. Meanwhile, thanks to the irony and imitation of Virginia Raffaele, it conquered a new generation and found a permanent space in “Che tempo che fa”with Mara Maionchi and Fabio Fazio. On the occasion of his 90th birthday, the new album, “Diverse”, a collection of his hits is reinterpreted in a new version, including “Ti I Want” which is reinterpreted with Elodie and Ditonellapiaga.
Ornella Vanoni has participated in eight editions of the Festival Sanremotook second place in 1968 with the White House and earned fourth place three times. He was the first artist to receive the City of Sanremo Lifetime Achievement Award (1999). He won three Club Tenco awardsthe only woman and the first person to receive two awards as a singer-songwriter, and in 2022 she was awarded the Premio Tenco Speciale, created especially for her.
Vanoni he has sold more than 55 million records. He was a songwriting inspiration, world music pioneer, interpreter of jazz with names like Herbie Hancock and George Benson. He has created musicals, cinema, television, variety shows, soundtracks. He duets with everyonecovers several generations.
In recent years, his lightheartedness and irony won the hearts of television audiencesconfirming the paradox that always accompanies him: a diva devoid of rhetoric, vulnerable and biting, ironic and profound. When asked about his age, he replied: “Am I old? Yes. But I am unique.” And that’s true. The album title “Unica” is not unusual. That is the truth. So he will be remembered. (by Paolo Martini)
