Michele della Valle

Ornella Vanoni (1934-2025)

Ornella Vanoni (1934-2025)

Ornella Vanoni was a beloved Italian singer and songwriter with a long and illustrious career spanning over seven decades. Ms Vanoni started performing in the early 1960s as a stage actress. Her interpretations of Bertolt Brecht were well received, as a consequence she started performing Brecht songs and branched out into art songs and so-called Canzoni della Mala or gritty songs about the Milanese underworld sung in Milanese dialect.

In the 1963, she rose to more widespread fame with the hits 'Senza fine' and 'Che cosa c'è' and started participating in music festivals such as the legendary Sanremo Festival. Throughout the 1960s and 70s her popularity rose steadily and she experimented with different genres and music styles. In addition to recording music and giving concerts, Ornella Vanoni was also active as a television and stage actress. She was also noted for her frequent collaborations with other Italian singers throughout the last decades, making her a mainstay of Italian pop culture for generations of adoring audiences.