Top 5 Musicians Who Will Help You Improve Your Italian

When it comes to learning a language, it’s easy to get bogged down in the bookwork, memorising grammar and vocabulary, and forget that language is primarily something to be listened to. This is even more so with Italian. If you’re not actively listening to it spoken or sung, you are not doing the language justice. While Italy certainly has a long and proud history of opera, it can be difficult for the modern listener to find the attention span for hours of arias. If you’re looking for some contemporary artists to serenade you through your Italian lessons, you’re in luck because Italy has plenty of those as well.

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1. Mina Mazzini

The legendary “Queen of Screamers,” this doo-wop idol turned rebel and poster girl for female emancipation has one of the strongest, most memorable voices ever recorded. She is such an iconic figure in Italy that even now she’s commonly referred to as just “Mina”. Paired along with her three-octave vocal range, Mina’s heartfelt, often controversial lyrics and sensuous performing style made her both famous and infamous. Some of her hits include “Se telefonando”, and “Il Cielo in una Stanza”.

2. Andrea Boccelli

Blind since the age of fourteen, Andrea Bocelli has gone on to international fame as an operatic tenor and singer-songwriter. With fourteen solo albums spanning multiple music genres and pop hits such as the prolifically translated “Con Te Partiro”, Bocelli has succeeded in bringing classical music to the forefront of international charts.

Jakub Janecki, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

3. Loredana Bertè

Another singer who crossed genres, Loredana Bertè became famous in the late 1970s and is known for her gritty voice and wild stage persona. Experimenting with ballads, rock, reggae, and funk, she is one of Italy’s most versatile singers and has collaborated with some of its top songwriters. She is most famous for her album Normale o Super, and her smash hit “Sei bellissima”.

4. Zucchero Fornaciari

In his career of over forty years, Zucchero has also experimented with many different musical influences, and his music is a mélange of soft rock, gospel, and soul. His smooth, melodic voice is what earned him his nickname “Zucchero” (Italian for “sugar”), and he has collaborated with many great names in the music industry, including Joe Cocker, Eric Clapton, and Miles Davis. His most widely known hit is “Senza una donna”.

5. Giorgia Todrani

Sara santopietro, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Famous for her impressive vocal range and capacity for fearlessly belting out high notes, Giorgia has been compared to both Mina Mazzini and Whitney Houston. She is currently one of Italy’s most popular jazz-rock singers and has also worked with such names as Michael Bublé, Elton John, and Luciano Pavarotti. She has sold over seven million albums worldwide and is known for love songs like “Parlami D’Amore”.

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Though these stars will provide you with lots of exposure to help you improve your Italian skills, all your effort will yield far more results with the guide of a professional Italian tutor. Our native instructors can prepare a course curriculum adapted to your specific needs and interests so you can make the most of your classes and reach fluency much faster. If you’d like to try out one of our classes before committing to a course, we can arrange a Free Trial Italian Class for you! Just contact us to get started.