Life according to: Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli and son Matteo

The Italian tenor and his son on family, the meaning of Christmas and singing together. 

A Family Christmas features the voices Andrea, son Matteo, 25, and daughter Virginia, 10. Why did you decide to work together as a family?

Andrea: Family is the main core of society and nowadays families have been attacked from everywhere. So when our record companies came with the proposal for this Christmas album, I thought that it would be an amazing idea.

This was Andrea’s second festive album, was it like to record together?

Matteo: We were quite anxious. Well, not anxious, but when you have already done a great job with something, and you know you have to repeat it, it is not easy. We knew it was a big challenge. But we were very happy with the results and that is the most important thing.

Andrea: Songs send subliminal messages, subtle messages, because music is a sort of hidden type of mathematics and the songs give you some joy, some lightness in life. And that is the spirit, the feeling, that I had when I recorded (with) them. For instance, Virginia, when she sings…she seems to be an angel. Matteo sings with a lot of hope, with a lot of trust in the future. You can tell when he sings. These are the messages which are very important, very deep, that we’re trying to convey.

What does Christmas mean to you?

Andrea: I have always tried to make my children understand, as well as other people, that in Christmas we can find the meaning of life. I do think that everything has meaning, has a sense. As a consequence Christmas Day is the day in which we should stop and reflect upon the meaning of life and the value of life. And the fact that life is an immense gift that we were given.

Matteo: Christmas is family, it’s being with the people that you love. The most important people to you. This is what Christmas is about.

What is Christmas Day like in the Bocelli house?

Andrea: It is the moment where we all go together to church for mass because that’s the real meaning of that day. Everything else (that we do on Christmas) is what everybody does in their families. We have lunch together. We have the Christmas lunch and we unwrap presents.

You have just finished touring stadiums together. How is it to perform live as father and son?

Matteo: Today I feel way more comfortable on stage with my father. It’s since 2018 that I have been travelling the world and performing with him. To sing with him, for me it’s quite a normal thing because it’s something we have always done in the house together, and making music together.

What was it like returning to live concerts after the pandemic?

Andrea: Honestly, I could feel a much greater desire or willingness to listen to my music. They desired to share time together, to be together because what we have been going through in the last few years, it’s been an unprecedented event for us all. And it’s something that none of us imagined would happen. It was a shock for many of us, and mainly for the younger generations. So going back to performing live was a feast, a moment of celebration for me as well.

Matteo: I could really tell the energy he put in his concert after Covid was very different. You could really tell how much he was missing those moments. We were also making fun of him because usually he goes on stage and he’s very focused on singing. But when he came back on stage after Covid he was also saying few words during the concert.

A Family Christmas by Andrea and Matteo Bocelli is out now on Decca Records