Andrea Bocelli - 'Reality Has by Far Exceeded My Expectations'

THE ITALIAN TENOR REFLECTS ON HIS ILLUSTRIOUS 30-YEAR CAREER IN MUSIC AND HOW HE'S KEEPING THE FLAME OF LOVE ALIVE.

- DANIELA AVILA

Andrea Bocelli has always been passionate, whether it be in love or in pursuit of his dreams. "When I was a young man, I loved music.

My dream was to live [off of] music. However, I never even dared thinking that this would materialize," the Italian tenor, 66, says (through an English translator), reflecting on his three-decades-long career.

Now the singer is celebrating his time in the music business with Andrea Bocelli 30: The Celebration, a concert movie (in theaters Nov. 8) that was filmed over three days in July at the Teatro del Silenzio in his hometown of Lajatico, Italy. As he looks back on his rise to crossover classical superstar, Bocelli says: "Reality has by far exceeded my expectations."

Born with congenital glaucoma, Bocelli was sent to a boarding school for the visually impaired at 7. "He would come home only [on] holidays. We'd go visit him once a month," the star's brother Alberto says in Andrea Bocelli: Because I Believe, another new documentary that premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September.