Ornella Vanoni, who died yesterday Friday November 21, was the protagonist of an intense and tortured love that marked her personal life. From the first heartbeat of acclaimed director Giorgio Strehler, through her troubled history with singer-songwriter Gino Paoli, to her brief marriage to impresario Lucio Ardenzi, the singer experienced strong feelings, always with unmistakable grace and irony.
First love
Ornella Vanoni’s first important love was with Giorgio Strehler. Only twenty years old, the young artist fell in love with the maestro of the Piccolo Teatro in Milan, learning his first acting and interpreting lessons from him. However, Strehler’s age difference and marital status made the relationship scandalous at the time, and it was the director’s bad temper and jealousy that led him to make the painful decision to leave her.
Vanoni himself later stated that he left the director because of some unshared bad habits, such as taking cocaine. In this regard, Vanoni would state a few years later: “My addiction to coca would last for two years, because with a man who drinks it for years, you either drink it too or you can’t stay with it”.
Wedding (short) and Gino Paoli
In 1960 Vanoni married Lucio Ardenzi, a theater impresario. However, the marriage was not guided by love and the relationship with Ardenzi ended two years later, shortly before the birth of their son Cristiano. Ornella is the grandmother of two grandchildren, Matteo and Camilla. In the same period Vanoni met Gino Paoli, rekindling an artistic partnership that soon turned into passionate love. Despite their mutual attraction, this story is filled with betrayal and hardship.
But their musical understanding remained strong: together they also published the book “Noi due, una lungo storia” (Mondadori, 2004), which traces the details and memories of their relationship. Ornella Vanoni had many loves in the following years, including Danilo Sabatini with whom she founded the record company Vanilla and manager Vittorio Usigli. (by Paolo Martini)
