One of the first things that Frida Bollani Magoni clarifies at the beginning of the interview and that, sooner or later, all her answers will end up talking about the engine that has driven her life since she was a child: music. «Music is always involved in my life. Whatever she may talk about, she will always and in any case arrive there ”, says Frida on the phone at 10 in the morning, sleepy from having gone to bed around three o’clock because of the exercises on the piano that kept her up late. For her, angelic face and melodious voice, visually impaired, it is a golden moment: after making his television debut in a historic episode of Via dei Matti n ° 0 together with his father Stefano Bollani and his wife Valentina Cenni and after having performed at the Quirinale in the presence of President Mattarella, the time has finally come for her first album.
Is titled First Tour, is available from 20 June and is nothing more than the collection of the most present songs in Frida Bollani Magoni’s concert repertoire, including a ballad version of Toxic by Britney Spears suggested by Frankie hi-nrg mcm, The cure from Battiato and especially, Halleluja, that in the disc we find proposal at the moment of her very first solo concert in 2020. “It is interesting that in the year of the lockdown everything started for me”, reflects Frida who, during the phone call, will often laugh every time the questions will try to get closer to private life and his habits, as if he were trying to keep them by putting, once again, his work as an all-round artist in the foreground.
Why that version of Halleluja at the 2020 concert is that special to you?
“At that concert there were my father and my mother who, in the end, went up on stage to sing with me. Something more unique than rare, of great emotional impact ».
He also put us in the middle The cure, which he proposed for the first time at the Quirinale. She said that, on that occasion, she had forgotten her words at some point but she was able to pick up the thread right away.
«I was very agitated, I had studied the piece for that occasion and, to accompany it, I had created a particular arrangement that I was not sure would reach people. I had a slip, I didn’t really know how to do it, but then I went away with a little break that, from that moment on, I always do when I perform. We need breaks from time to time ».
Is it a mistake that has been forgiven?
“I have forgiven myself. It went well, there was also the emotion that Battiato had died a few days ago ».
Do you consider yourself a perfectionist?
“Sometimes. It depends on what I’m playing ».
Are we the strictest judges of ourselves?
“Of course. In the case of the record, we were very perfectionists on mixing: in the two months that I was in London with my mother to do it, I was lucky enough to work with Andrea Lepori, a professional who has also collaborated with U2 and Paolo Nutini ».
In general, how do you exorcise anxiety?
“By playing. Perhaps the only time I was agitated while playing was at the Quirinale. But I don’t think agitation is the right word. I would say more adrenaline, which often helps. Like when I sang The cure: if it hadn’t been for the emotion, I don’t know if it would have really reached the public ».
It remains that she does not seem like an anxious person: is that so?
«It always depends on the situations. At a working level now I do a lot of concerts and, every time, I just feel the joy of being on stage ».
His whole life was marked by music, perhaps even a little by predestination: father Stefano Bollani, mother the singer Petra Magoni. Have you ever been afraid of not being worn?
“No. I’ve always had the awareness of having to improve a lot, especially as a singer. I started out as a pianist, I approached singing as a self-taught, hearing others sing: I have been studying for so few years that I feel I still have to work on it. You can always learn ».
How do you read the scores?
“There are those in Braille. A blind person must learn to read and write before others. I, for example, learned a year before going to first grade, while braille music came soon after. The first years I went by ear, then Paolo Razzuoli taught me to read music ».
Does this involve having to study the score first, not being able to consult it while it plays?
«Yes, but in some ways it is an advantage: when you play by heart you have the piece in mind and you don’t even stop to turn the page. Not to mention some sighted artists who get lost in the score and have to start over ”.
With social media, however, how do you do it?
«I manage them all myself. There are so many people who write to me, especially after the performance of The cure, which I think was the song that remained the most in people’s minds ».
Notoriety on social media exploded the day after his television baptism in Via dei Matti n ° 0 with your father Stefano Bollani: did you expect that your life would change from that moment on?
“It has only changed from a professional point of view. The next day there was a real explosion on social media which, frankly, I didn’t expect. The followers and the articles have arrived, but music has always remained central to me ».
Meanwhile, she is still a student.
«I have just finished the fourth grade of the musical high school: next year I will reach the maturity».
And then?
“Still do not know. The paths that close open the doors to others: I hope many beautiful things. I certainly dream of doing many concerts around the world ».
Together with the maturity, they will also reach 18 years.
«I have them on September 18th. Lately I never say that I am 17, but “almost 18” ».
Why are you waiting 18?
«Because you are definitely of age, mature and independent. When I was in London those months I realized that life for those under 18 is very limited. Often it was not even possible to attend concerts: on those occasions I think I never wished I was 18 so much ».
It also has to do with the fact that in concert venues they cannot give minors to drink.
“Which, for someone who drinks only water and apple juice like me, seems absurd. I even thought of shooting with a sign: “I drink only water” ».
Have you ever tasted alcohol?
“I think it’s a matter of taste. The water is healthier ».
Is there anything else in your free time besides music?
“I’m building a small home studio to record and play: setting it up takes my time, especially taking into account that I’ll be on tour all summer.”
No holidays, then?
“My vacation is to go out and play concerts.”
Now that she’s about to turn 18, do you ever fantasize about going to live alone?
“Great to travel. I feel like a citizen of the world, I really like going to different places ».
What remains of the new places you visit?
“Every time I arrive in a place I always think of the music scene that characterizes it: I told you that, as we shoot it, we always end up talking about music”.
It is in his DNA, on the other hand.
“I have two parents who make music, my grandparents are passionate, an aunt who sings: I live almost only on music because I get the energy from all these people around me”.
Including Valentina Cenni, who directed her first video clips.
«A couple of very home and experimental videos as I like them. We get along very well”.
A regular presence in the next season of Via dei Matti n ° 0 would you like it?
“We will see. It’s a beautiful program: dad and Vale together give off an absolute positive energy, it’s a beautiful way of doing television ».
If I tell you Sanremo what do you answer me?
“That is not the time. Apart from the fact that I prefer to sing in English, I have not yet released any unreleased music. When there is a record, we will see, but now it is not in my plans. First you have to think about making music and then about how to publish it ».
I do not believe, however, that it does not already have something new.
“I have written a lot in the last few months. I also like to collaborate. An unreleased song I play at my concerts I did with another girl: I wrote music on a text of her ».
Why do you prefer English to Italian?
“It’s my favorite language at the moment, that’s why.”
In an interview with Courier she said that not seeing is a gift for her, because it allowed her to listen and to develop such an intimate and close bond with music: when did you arrive at this awareness?
“Right away, I think. I was less than a year old when it happened – I think it was a shock to my family to find out, but I don’t know. It is a condition that I have had since I was born: I have never seen more than I see now and, by now, I am used to living with it. I have not known another life in which I saw us. Perhaps, in other conditions, I would not have made music and I would not have had a musical ear ».
Do you perceive color shades by chance?
“I see white light and the shadows of people and objects that are darker. The main distinction my eyes make is to distinguish shadows from light ».
Is music light?
«When they explained the colors to the children they explained the Do, the King, the Mi. The reason I got so close to this world is that I have never seen the colors, but I have always heard the notes ».
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Frida Bollani Magoni: “Music taught me that nothing is impossible”
The magic of Frida Bollani Magoni in concert
Stefano Bollani and Valentina Cenni: “We are made of music”
Source: Vanity Fair
