INTERVIEW: Celebrate Valentine’s Day with crooner Patrizio Buanne

Photo: Patrizio Buanne will play the New Jersey Performing Arts Center’s Victoria Theater. Photo courtesy of the artist / Provided by Prana Marketing with permission.

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The voice of Patrizio Buanne, an Italian singer heading to New Jersey Feb. 15, is unmistakable and romantic. He croons songs in several languages, most notably giving life to Neapolitan love songs.

Buanne will bring his dynamic stage presence to the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark, New Jersey. The singer’s Valentine’s Day concert is something of a tradition in the Garden State, and audience members keep flocking back year after year to hear his powerful, energetic voice.

The performer grew up in Naples, Italy, although he was actually born in Vienna. This means two of the world’s great music capitals are pulsating in his blood, and he draws inspiration from all of his collective heritage and history.

Recently Buanne exchanged emails with Hollywood Soapbox about his upcoming concert. Questions and answers have been slightly edited for style.

What are your earliest memories of hearing Neapolitan love songs?

Hmm, probably when my parents played the music loud at home, and music was recorded from LPs into cassettes and, of course, at that time while walking the streets of Napoli-music everywhere!

What do you think it is about this music that has captured the hearts of listeners around the world?

I think that people associate my music with certain memories or a certain lifestyle. At the end it is classy, romantic, sophisticated and timeless. Not without a reason there are three generations that come to see my show. At the end — although I sing old covers of sexy, timeless classics, songs that makes you get up and dance or some songs that I wrote with my team or myself — I think it is about honesty and being yourself. ‘The most personal is the most creative.’ So I am grateful to be myself and have people to come to see me, regardless what genre I perform or what repertoire I sing. It is not what you do, but how you do it. You can only be yourself, but you can be very good at it. So I worked on it hard since I was a child. Today I am extremely fulfilled and happy. At first I brought my voice to the world. Now it is the people that want to hear my voice.

Is the Napoli of your childhood still the same? Do you still have fond memories when you go back to the old neighborhood?

I was raised between Napoli and the capital of Austria, Vienna. Both [are] big cities with extremely a lot of history, culture, traditions and elegance. Everything changes all the time, so I do not like to hold on to things — as things change all the time. I do not tie my happiness to a thing, a person or a place; I tie it to a goal. Happiness is a lifestyle not a destination. You can take the boy out of Napoli or Vienna, but you can’t take Vienna or Napoli out of the boy. So I don’t hang on to memories anymore and create momentums. 

Last year at the NJPAC show, you said you might slow down your touring to focus on your personal life. Have you been able to take a break?

The massive changes in the music industry due [to] the invention of free streaming platforms on the internet have caused that CDs or DVDs are no longer selling as much as they used to, and a musician really only lives from touring or other complicated business solutions. In times where all of this has caused a total confusion and uncertainties, I preferred to step aside from this craziness for some time, and I have decided to let all of these ongoing changes and the confusion just fall into place and to take my personal life as a priority, rather than doing what I usually do, which is planning with my team the next project, next tour or next concert. Simply work on me, the man, not the performer or the artist.

Looking back at 2019, I have achieved great new chapters that are very challenging but even more so, interesting, such as getting married to one of my best friends that I knew over 10 years and becoming a father, which is the greatest thing that a man can wish for. Therefore I fulfilled my personal desires, all the necessary criteria from my bucket list and was indeed and immediately ready to work on my awaited album. Yes, my first-ever Christmas album.

What can your fans expect this year in New Jersey?

I am proud and am happy that I was blessed with true friends that keep confirming me that I have remained ‘real’ through all these years, regardless of trends. That I have remained ‘Patrizio,’ and maybe that is the reason that you may say for sure: ‘No, he was not a one-hit wonder. He has grown in career and as a person.’ I take it not only as a healthy reminder or compliment, but as a gift. The result is that I will perform a selection of my hits over 13 years and songs that I have been either brought up with or inspired as well as passionate to co-write and share with you, my friends and fans around the world, especially now for Valentine’s Day weekend 2020.

At the end of a performance, are you drained? Excited? Restless? At ease?

After the show I will make sure to sign everyone’s CD that was purchased that night, especially my latest release, which is my Christmas album that I release December 2019. But I was not in the U.S., so here we go ready for Christmas 2020, hahaha. May any CD or song fill your homes and hearts with all the love I have ever received and am sharing always with the fans what I do. I love meeting my fans and talk to them after the show, especially people who are new at my show. So, don’t miss the show. Nice to meet you. Viva la dolce vita.

By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com

Patrizio Buanne will perform Saturday, Feb. 15 at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark, New Jersey. Click here for more information and tickets.