Singer, actor, TV host, theater director, showman, voice actor and dancer
. How many artists can boast a rich and articulated curriculum like that of
Massimo Ranieri
? The very popular
"cantactor"
, as he likes to define himself, a kaleidoscopic talent exercised with the scrupulous professionalism of the Masters of yesteryear, turns
70
.
From the push-ups and splits that enchant the audience in his shows, he would seem much younger. Giovanni Calone, this is his name at the registry office, was born on May 3, 1951 in Naples, son of Giuseppina and Umberto, fifth of eight children.
At the age of
13
, under the pseudonym of Gianni Rock, he recorded his first album and landed in New York on tour as Sergio Bruni's shoulder. It was in 1966 that it became 'Ranieri', an artistic surname which in 1968 was accompanied by the name Massimo. That year
Canzonissima
is called
Scala Reale
and he, fifteen, sings 'Love is a wonderful thing'. In '67 he won the
Cantagiro
in the group dedicated to young promises with 'Pietà for those who love you' and in '68 he took part in Sanremo with the song 'As a child' paired with the Giants, a success that reconfirmed him at the Cantagiro with 'Prayer for her'. It returns to Sanremo with 'When love becomes poetry'paired with Orietta Berti and again at Cantagiro winning it with
'Red Roses'
. A Canzonissima comes in second place with
'If it burned the city'
. The first LP comes out and
the singing career definitely takes off
.
Directed by Mauro Bolognini, he made his debut in the film
'Metello'
and recorded the song 'Io e te' by Ennio Morricone, the theme of the film. In '70 Canzonissima wins with
'Twenty years'
and in '72 he wins again with
'Erba di casa mia'
.
The list of awards that dot Massimo Ranieri's career is boundless
, starting with the David di Donatello and the International Critics' Prize for 'Metello', passing through the Silver Mask, the Taormina Arte, the Flaiano for the Theater, more times, the Fellini, Barocco, Sirmione Catullo Prize, the Patroni Griffi, La Pigna d'oro for Lifetime Achievement, the Special Jury Prize of the Busto Arsizio Festival and the De Sica Prize for Theater.
In the TV movie 'La Sciantosa 'is next to
Anna Magnani.
Ranieri has also worked with other great actresses such as
Mariangela Melato
and
Pupella Maggio
and with others of the caliber of
Carlo Giuffrè, Philippe Leroy, Kirk Douglas and Yul Brynner
. Many also the directors who directed it, from
Mauro Bolognini
and
Giuseppe Patroni Griffi
to
Giorgio Strehler Maurizio Scaparro and Steno.
In '75 he sculpted in the collective memory an unforgettable interpretation as a protagonist with
Salvo D'Acquisto
. Another interpretation that will leave its mark will be, many years later, that of
Pier Paolo Pasolini
in the film
'The Machination'
.
In '88 with
'Losing love'
Massimo Ranieri wrote a very important page in the history of
Sanremo
with one of the most sung and cited hits ever. A performance that enhances the artist's voice, with all its power and extension.
At the Festival he will later bring other songs of great elegance such as 'I think of you', 'The dressing gown', 'I will speak to you of love'.
Ranieri: "With Artegiani I was reborn. I had left music, with Losing love I convinced myself to return"
Shortly after, he returned to the theater as the protagonist of
'Rinaldo in campo'
, a musical comedy by
Garinei and Giovannini
written and interpreted, years earlier, by
Domenico Modugno
.
Still TV in 1989 with 'Fantastico-Cinema' but
Ranieri is not the type who lets himself be blinded by the sequins of the small screen
and so, two years later, he
returns to the discipline of theater and prose
and re-proposes 'Pulcinella', then 'Liolà' by Luigi Pirandello.
Collect dubbing experiences for
Disney too
: is the voice of Quasimodo in the animated film 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame'. In 2001 he was back on TV at the helm of 'You are all invited ... intercom Calone'. He begins a recording collaboration with Mauro Pagani by recording the album 'Oggi o dimane' with the reinterpretation of the Neapolitan classics and then another record, 'Accussì grande'.
He returns to perform in concert after 25 years with the theatrical tour 'Oggi o dimane'.
2004 is the year of his debut in opera
as director of Pietro Mascagni's 'Cavalleria Rusticana' and with 'I Pagliacci' by Ruggero Leoncavallo. He then signs the direction of Donizetti's 'L'Elisir d'amore' and 'La Traviata' by Giuseppe Verdi.
A true and ironic Neapolitan
, Ranieri, with his unmistakable smile, also lends himself to the
sit-com
Camera Caffè and is the voice of the narrator in 'Pierino e il lupo'. With the double album
'I sing because I don't know how to swim ... for 40 years' he
celebrates his 40th career, with
about 700 theatrical replicas
throughout Italy, and returns to tell his story on TV with 'All women except me', before releasing the first autobiographical book 'My mother didn't want to write with Gualtiero Peirce.
In 2010 one of Massimo Ranieri's great dreams took shape:
theater that becomes TV and TV that becomes theater
.
'Filomena Marturano' is
on the air
, the first of
Eduardo De Filippo's
four comedies
directed and interpreted by Massimo Ranieri and adapted for Rai1, which sees
Mariangela Melato
as co-star
in her last engagement before her death. Another theatrical success is 'Viviani Varietà', poems, words and music from the Teatro di
Raffaele Viviani
. In 2013 with the show 'Sogno e son desto', also on Rai1, he crossed, in addition to the great Neapolitan song, his repertoire with all his hits together with the songs of the famous Italian and international songwriters,by Fabrizio De Andrè a
Charles Aznavour.
Massimo Ranieri: "Charles Aznavour was my lighthouse, from him the gift of a song"
The spell of jazz animates 'Malia'
, another touring adventure that starts from the 2015 album of the same name, produced by Mauro Pagani, with jewels of the Neapolitan song played by five great jazz players: Enrico Rava (trumpet and flugelhorn), Stefano Di Battista (alto sax and soprano sax), Rita Marcotulli (piano), Stefano Bagnoli (drums) and Riccardo Fioravanti (double bass).
'At 65 I fell in love with jazz', THE INTERVIEW
The last presence of the pre Covid era on the stage of the Ariston Theater as a super guest in
Sanremo
is in a memorable
duet with Tiziano Ferro
, which will also be followed by a radio version of 'Losing love'.
SUMMER 2020 Massimo Ranieri, let's leave home to overcome fear
THE DUET WITH TIZIANO FERRO IN SANREMO
The latest album is titled 'Here and Now'
and is the fruit of the collaboration with Gino Vannelli.
The transmission of the same name is broadcast, for the first time, on
Rai3
, because it is never too late to debut again, not for him.
