Con the death of Ornella Vanoniwhich took place in Milan on the evening of November 21st, much more than a singer is leaving. A sophisticated interpreter who was able to give voice to the most complex nuances of love and melancholy is leaving. Beyond 55 million records soldeight participations in Sanremo and a unique record: being the only woman to have won two Tenco Awards.
But beyond the numbers, there are the songs. Songs that are not simple hits, but chapters of a musical novel that starts from Giorgio Strehler’s theater and reaches the contemporary pop charts. Here is the journey through the melodies that made her a legend.
Ornella Vanoni, love and the Genoese school: Endless
We cannot talk about Ornella without mentioning the meeting that changed her life, the one with Gino Paoli. It was 1961 when Vanoni, having left the “songs of the underworld” behind, affects Endless. Written by Paoli with her and her hands in mind, this song becomes the manifesto of an all-encompassing love and marks her consecration in pop music.
It is the beginning of a journey that sees her as muse and protagonist. Successes come like What is there and participation in Sanremo with I will give you morea song from 1966 which, despite being born from a forced recording, would become one of his most beloved classics, consolidating his presence on the radio and in the hearts of Italians.
The queen of melancholy: The appointment and the 70s
If there is a song that identifies Ornella Vanoni in the collective imagination, that is it The appointment. Published in 1970 (cover of a Brazilian piece by Roberto Carlos), it is the perfect synthesis of his art: a voice that can be fragile and powerful at the same timerecounting the wait and disillusionment. It is his interpretative masterpiece, a song that crosses generations and that cinema and advertising have never stopped quoting.
But those years were a gold mine. There is the lucid desperation of Tomorrow is another dayan ode to emotional resilience, and the dramatic intensity of One more reason. The latter was born from a unique combination of talents: music by Mino Reitano and lyrics co-written by Vanoni herself with Franco Califano. A piece that reveals the soul of a woman capable of singing the end of a love with heartbreaking dignity.
The Brazilian soul and pop lightness of Ornella Vanoni
Ornella Vanoni was also the one who taught Italy to love saudade. His collaboration with Vinicius de Moraes And Toquinho he produced unforgettable pages. Songs like The desire, the madness And Sadness (Italian version of For a punch of samba) showed his brighter and more rhythmic side, fusing songwriting with bossa nova.
As the years passed, his curiosity never waned. In the Seventies and Eighties it was able to renew itself with the refined lightness of Lipstick and chocolateup to the more mature tests such as Learn to love yourself. Brought to Sanremo 2018, this song is a spiritual testament: the invitation to accept one’s limits and to understand that true love always begins with self-care. One last great lesson of an artist who always lived and sang with her head held high.
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