Andrea Bocelli and Alberto Bartalini, two friends coming together with the idea of a theater in Lajatico that comes from nature that goes back to nature after performing.
The village of Lajatico, hometown of Andrea Bocelli, opens up every summer to performances with the Teatro del Silenzio.
Sometimes life takes you around and around and even far away and then, when you don’t expect it, it just takes you back exactly to where your journey started. This is exactly the story of two guys, both from a little town not far from Pisa called Lajatico in Tuscany, one called Alberto, the other Andrea. They both lead restless lives, traveling around the world, engaging in new and ever more challenging adventures, but their best memories have been formed during their youth in Lajatico. Alberto is an architect and one day he comes back from one of his travels feeling like his love for the Tuscan hills, for that beautiful landscape that surrounds his birthplace has never wavered so he decides to do something meaningful to commemorate it. He has an idea and he drafts it on a piece of paper during one of his train journeys to Rome. Afterwards catches up with his friend Andrea, a singer, who is quite busy himself touring the world, but has many friends that can help in his companion’s project which they both agree is a stupendous idea.
This is how a natural amphitheater, called Teatro del Silenzio (Theater of Silence) is created on a hill near Lajatico. It’s meant to host only one show a year, and, once such performance is over, the building becomes once again just a part of the natural environment. Its stalls, made out of Tuscan stone blocks, are removed and the stage becomes an artificial lake. So, after every event, the theater goes back to being in silence, as per its name, surrounded exclusively by the sound of the natural environment it’s located in.
The two protagonists of the aforementioned story are Antonio Bartalini and his friend Andrea Bocelli. The Theater, since it was conceived, has been active every summer since 2006 and it hosts a summer show whose scenography changes every year. The first scenography made in 2006 by the Polish sculptor Igor Mitoraj has become the symbol of the theater.
This new concept of theater and music was extremely innovative, as was the concept of a sort of eco-theater with minimum impact on the landscape. This project has also given the little city of Lajatico a new vitality, Andrea Bocelli,’s genius creation has attracted major artists from every possible field, not just from the music world, because everybody wants to take part in this summer event and contribute to the popularity of this little town.
Since 2006, many famous names have walked the streets of Lajatico to then take part in the Teatro del Silenzio: Andrea Bocelli has performed with many illustrious artists, just a few names are Placido Domingo, Jose Carreras, Toquinho, Lindsay Kemp, Zubin Mehta, Mika, and Dua Lipa. Lajatico has then organized a contemporary art exhibition called ArtInsolite with the involvement of the community to create art events all summer long.
There are many examples of summer theaters in Italy that have shows or operas performed in the open, many of which are quite remarkable even being set in ancient remains like the Roman theaters of Verona or Rome. Teatro del Silenzio is just one of the examples of a space where the landscape is predominant in comparison to the structure itself.
If you are a fan of Andrea Bocelli, this is an umissible experience you will surely love. His story is about a little boy that was born with a glaucoma and then, after a soccer accident, became completely blind at 12 years old. He probably wasn’t very confident in his ability as a singer because he actually went on to get a law degree even though he had learnt the piano, the flute and the saxophone. Fortunately, his love for music and singing could not be held back, and today Bocelli has become a world-renowned singer, famous for his unique blend of opera and pop music and has won any possible award performing alongside all his other great legends.
Teatro del Silenzio is just 30 minutes by car from Pisa and one hour from Florence. If you, like us, love the idea of putting excellent music together with the unexpected opportunity of a holiday or day out, Lajatico is a great starting point to plan a tour to Volterra, or San Gimignano and all the medieval little places and trails that are around the province of Pisa. Then, when the sun is setting on the gentle hilltops and the wind calms down, take your place on a seat at the Teatro del Silenzio and enjoy the harmony that nature, music and Andrea Bocelli will bring you.