“WHITE VOICE” by ROBERTINO LORETTI

There was a time when in the Soviet Union “O sole mio”, “Jamaica” and other famous songs performed by Italian boy Robertino Loretti were heard from almost all open windows. He began to sing almost from birth, which is not so unusual for Italy. Everybody sings in this country, and most Italians have beautiful strong voices. A different future awaited the child, and his voice was not just beautiful and strong. He was unique. Therefore, already at the age of six, the boy became a soloist of the church choir, and at eight he sang in the choir of the Rome Opera Theater.

Carousel
There are choirs in classical operas for the so-called “white voice”. Its timbre, light and clear, is characteristic only for boyish children’s voices before mutation. High adult female voices cannot perform these parts, since they still produce too much pectoral sound. When Robertino performed one of these parts in the choir, he was noticed by a Danish impresario and decided to make a star out of a boy.

Sayr Volmer-Sørensen, who gave an impetus to a professional singing career, singer Robertino Loretti Roberto (under the name of Robertino) invited the future world “star” to Copenhagen, where a week later there was a performance on the TV show “TV i Tivoli” and signed a contract to record and release Danish records Triola Records. Soon came the single with the song “O Sole mio”, which became the “gold”. Tours in Europe and the United States were a huge success. The French press called Loretti “new Caruso.” During his first visit to France, President Charles de Gaulle invited Robertino to speak at a special gala concert of world stars at Chancellery Palace. Soon, the singer reached the popularity of the USSR, where his records were also released (at the Metody All-Ukrainian State Theater) and he acquired a cult status, despite the fact that his first trip there was only in 1989.

USSR and Robertino Loretti
The life of the young Loretti spun in a kaleidoscope. Tours followed one after the other, the plates came out in millions of copies. They were sold in the USSR. Robertino singer Robertino Loretti dreamed of visiting this far and mysterious country for him. However, he did not know that in the USSR it was not customary for artists to pay as much as all over the world. The main income from any concerts received by the state. Nevertheless, the Soviet leadership wanted very much to arrange a Robertino concert in Moscow, because his popularity here was great. One of the Komsomol leaders went to Italy. But Robertino’s impresario, bearing in mind that performing in the USSR was financially unprofitable, did not allow the singer to meet with the Soviet representative.

There was a difficult situation. Tour Robertino was looking forward to the whole Soviet Union. And the public would hardly be satisfied with any explanations whatsoever. We had to do something. The resourceful official came up with the myth that the boy had lost his voice.

It was a fiction. Robertino’s voice did not lose, but the complex process of restructuring the voice did not pass without a trace. During a voice mutation, one of the Danish music singer Robertino Lorettiprofessors said that the boy needed to wait with performances for at least 4-5 months to make a tenor out of his voice. But entrepreneur Robertino did not want to heed this advice. And again began touring in different countries.

Soon Robertino really got sick, as everyone claimed, and seriously. In Austria, on the set of the film “Kavalina Ross”, he caught a very cold. Treatment was necessary. In Rome, a boy was given an injection and carelessly polluted with a needle. A tumor was formed, it captured the right thigh and was already approaching the spine. Little Italian was threatened with paralysis. Robertino’s life was saved by one of the best professors of Rome. Everything ended well. And, having recovered completely, the singer returned to work in Copenhagen.

Robertino, but not the same
The whole world was looking forward to returning to the stage of the singer and speculated on what his “new” voice would be. Singer Robertino Loretti Loretti with honor out of a difficult situation. His new voice was not a lyrical soft tenor, as might be expected, but rather a dramatic tenor. Speeches resumed. And in 1964, Loretti entered the top five strongest performers at the Italian song festival in San Remo with the song “Little Kiss”. He played both new and old songs that the audience loved. Among them are the hits of the fifties “Jamaica” and “Return to Sorrento”. They sounded new, but unfortunately less interesting than before. The glory that the boy Robertino had, the adult Roberto was no longer …

In 1973, Loretti decides to change his occupation. There were several reasons why he left the stage. First, singer Robertino Lorettipevets tired of the life of a guest performer. I wanted to live another life. Secondly, styles began to change on the stage. New musical styles were coming into fashion. They were not close to Roberto. For the rest of his life he remained a fan of traditional Italian songs.