ADVERTISEMENT
Vanoni’s early artistic journey intertwined with two great loves — both personal and professional.
Giorgio Strehler
Her first love was Giorgio Strehler, the visionary theatre director of Piccolo Teatro. Their bond was intense, passionate, and complicated, especially because Strehler was married.
Vanoni later described their relationship as transformative but deeply painful.
Gino Paoli
It was another love — the legendary singer-songwriter Gino Paoli — that pushed her fully into music.
Their relationship, equally romantic and artistic, produced the 1961 hit “Senza Fine,” a haunting, timeless song that launched Vanoni onto the international stage.
Through Paoli, she found not only the courage to sing, but the authenticity that made her voice one of the most distinctive in Italian music.
The ‘Underworld Singer’ Who Became a National Icon
In the early 1960s, Vanoni earned the nickname La Cantante della Mala — “the underworld singer.” She performed songs that told the stories of Milan’s criminal underbelly, a bold and provocative choice for a young woman in conservative post-war Italy.
Her interpretations were raw, dramatic, and deeply human. They revealed a performer unafraid of emotional complexity — a trait that would define her for the rest of her life.
But Vanoni was not confined to a single style. Her career grew with extraordinary versatility:
- Elegant jazz arrangements
- Modern Italian pop
- Brazilian-inspired rhythms
- Stage and television performances
- Collaborations with contemporary artists
Whether singing delicate ballads or bold theatrical pieces, Vanoni embodied emotional truth.
From Italy to Hollywood: A Global Legacy
Vanoni’s songs traveled far beyond Italy. Her 1970 hit “L’appuntamento,” adapted from a Brazilian classic, became globally recognized when it appeared in the soundtrack of Steven Soderbergh’s Ocean’s Twelve in 2004.
Continue reading…
ADVERTISEMENT
