When world-renowned tenor Andrea Bocelli touches down in Australia next week he will be bringing with him two of his greatest gifts.
His daughter Virginia, 10, and son Matteo, 24, who will be joining their father on stage at each Australian concert. The trio have just released a new album together, A Family Christmas.
Then, of course, there is the gift that is Andrea's voice, the beauty of which routinely reduces audiences to tears.
Andrea also brings with him on tour his long-term personal conductor Carlo Bernini, a 70-piece orchestra, a 60-person choir, soprano Stacey Alleaume and dancers Angelica Gismondo, Stephanie Kim and Brittany O'Connor.
And, to top it off, Delta Goodrem AM will perform with Andrea - and solo - at Hunter Valley's Hope Estate and Perth's Sandalford Estate, where new and final release premium tickets are on sale now through Ticketek.
Natalie Imbruglia and soprano Amy Manford will join Andrea on stage for already sold-out shows in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.
Audiences can expect a stunning selection of soul-stirring arias, enduring love songs and beloved crossover hits from the artist who made pop music audiences fall in love with classical opera.
"The Australian tour dates are not just concerts to me, they are opportunities for us to immerse ourselves in musical beauty on a grand scale," Andrea says.
"My aim is to restore some serenity and enter gently into people's hearts. If my previous tours are anything to go by, I've always found Australian audiences to be passionate, enthusiastic and friendly.
"I truly appreciate my generous and engaged Australian fanbase and am proud to be even a small part of the soundtrack to so many people's lives."
To date, Andrea has sold more than 90 million records worldwide.
In 1999 he released Sacred Arias, which remains the biggest-selling solo album in classical music history, and scored a Guinness World Record for simultaneously holding the top three spots on the US Classical Albums chart.
Celine Dion, with whom he recorded Golden Globe-winning duet The Prayer, once famously said: "If God had a singing voice, he would sound a lot like Andrea Bocelli." Andrea introduced his brilliance to a new generation of fans in 2019 by collaborating with artists such as Dua Lipa, Josh Groban and Ed Sheeran on chart-topping album Si.
On Easter Sunday, 2020, he live-streamed the Music For Hope concert from Milan's empty Duomo cathedral and attracted the largest simultaneous audience for a classical live stream in YouTube's history.
But Andrea remains humble and is matter-of-fact about the gift that is his voice. He relished the opportunity to work with Matteo and Virginia on A Family Christmas, saying that it had "given him joy".
"I think there is nothing more beautiful than making music with your kids," he says.
"I consider it a privilege. It was an engaging, demanding, tender experience. A father, two children, three voices, three different timbres, a single message: of hope and regeneration, through a repertoire that is good for the heart.
"Together with my wife Veronica and my children (including my eldest son, Amos, who is an engineer but also a musician), we chose not necessarily the best known songs but the most intense, those capable of speaking to the heart and triggering that Christmas spirit we were looking for.
"It is a selection in some ways atypical, certainly modern, devoted to intimacy and a feeling of universal solidarity, created by a family for families."
Adds Matteo: "Singing these songs together, feeling the holiday warmth with my family, is something really special. That's what Christmas is about - making memories together to cherish forever. It's really exciting to think that people will have a copy of our album sitting wrapped under the tree."
Having signed to Capitol Records in 2019, Matteo is pursuing a solo career in music. He was last in Australia in 2020 to film his debut movie, Three Thousand Years of Longing, a dark fantasy film directed by George Miller and starring Idris Elba, and describes it as "one of the most beautiful trips in my life".
"I have never experienced anything like that. Even with family in show business, the movie world was completely new to me," he says.
"Every single day and every experience I had with George Miller was truly incredible and emotional. It's not easy to find people in that industry who want to help you when you're so new to that world."
Matteo's first solo album is scheduled for release later in 2023.
"We already made a lot of songs but when you feel like you can make more - and feel this desire to create within you - you've got to do it. Of course, there will be a moment when you need to just stop and select. Not necessarily the songs that are the best, but the songs that are best at that moment for you. I'm super excited."
Matteo says it is "always emotional" to perform on stage with his family. For sister Virginia, it will be an eye-opening first.
"I am so happy that I get to perform on stage with my father and brother because we are getting to do something we love all together. It's especially exciting to perform with my brother because I have never done it before," she explains.
"I am looking forward to seeing kangaroos and koalas in Australia and maybe I will try surfing in the waves but I am very scared of the jellyfish!"
As for Andrea, he could easily rest on his laurels and reflect on a hugely successful career, but the drive to record and tour remains strong.
"I believe the time to do what you love, as well as the time to devote to loved ones, is always available, you just have to get organised," he says.
"I have the privilege of having made my profession out of my greatest passion. And it is a passion that remains alive, even after almost 30 years of doing this as my career.
"Singing is my medicine, it is a way to give lightness to life.
"Singing for me means making available to others a talent that I certainly do not deserve, but it is my responsibility to make it flourish and offer it to those who want it, to communicate positive emotions.
"Music is the voice of the soul."
Australia holds a special place in his heart.
"It is a land extraordinarily rich in stimuli; I keep very pleasant memories, both because of an audience that showed great generosity and participation, and for family reasons, as in the past I was able to visit it with my family, carving out some moments of tourism (which happens very rarely)," Andrea says.
"Compared to the Tuscan hills where I was born, we are on the other side of the world, yet, as empathy and communion of values go, geographical distances dissolve and the feeling is that we are truly neighbours."
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