“Last night I couldn’t sleep, and have never been able to sleep. I am very sad about his death Ornella Vanoni: we will miss one of the most extraordinary voices we ever had in Italy. She was a great performer, a graceful and sensual woman. There is so much saudade in his songs, and his voice manages to drag you in, giving you incredible emotions. It’s not just Roberto Carlos’ ‘The Appointment’: Ornella is so much more than that.” To say the least at AdnKronos is Cristiano Malgioglioin memory of his “great friend and artist” who died in Milan at the age of 91.
“I remember when I worked at Isoradio and I interviewed Silvio Berlusconiwho entered the world of politics – said Malgioglio -. I asked him what he was listening to and he answered: “Ornella Vanoni and the album with Toquinho”. That album (‘Desire, madness, unconsciousness, joy’ from 1976, ed.) is a masterpiece of Brazilian music. Today I feel very painful because we often meet at ‘Che tempo che fa’. One night I took him to listen to a song called ‘My Love, My Best Friend’. He asked me: “Who sings it?”. I answered: “That’s you”. He recognized himself and wanted to include it in his show.”
Later he observed: “Today the music is darker, darker without Vanoni. We miss this woman, as well as Milva, who I want to remember”. The last time they met was two weeks ago: “We met at Fabio Fazio’s house, we said goodbye – says Malgioglio -. Then I called him: he told me that he was not well. We talked about many things, he was very kind to me. Today we miss him and we will miss him. The important thing is that his voice remains, along with his stories and his extraordinary repertoire. Thanks to his beautiful songs, we are lucky enough to always be able to listen to him again”.
Vanoni, Malgioglio concludes, “was one of the greatest interpreters of Italian song, unique and magical. When he sang, it was as if he was telling a story: he knew what he was saying, others did not. Ornella’s magic was this. Today we miss a friend, we miss a woman, but most of all we miss her art”.
Fuksas: “It changed my life, I told it in my film”
“Ornella is the person who changed my life. Luckily, people like that change it for everyone, not just those who know them, because they are legends.” Likewise with the director Elisa Fuksas, recalls Ornella Vanoni with AdnKronosto whom in 2022 he dedicated the documentary ‘Senza fine’, a portrait of the great singer and his monumental career.
“This film brought everything together: through cinema we became friends, to this day – emphasizes Fuksas, who spent a month with Vanoni shooting the documentary -. It was a difficult film to make, because it tells the story of a life. I tried to get him to do my job and I asked him: ‘Why are we making a film about you, Ornella?’. And he answered: ‘A film about me is like a fairy tale’. And all exemplary lives are like fairy tales”. (by Federica Mochi)
