Imagine being an opera star at the age of nine.
In front of the azure hues of the Classics is Groot stage stood renowned opera singer Patrizio Buanne. Behind him is an orchestra and right beside him is a girl about his shoulder height.
The girl is Amira Willighagen, and while you can’t notice it outright, she has an impressive voice whistling inside her.
Buanne then began the performance by saying he wanted to sing for the girl.
The song he chose is a popular Neapolitan song which he said was the place he came from. Then, as he cued the maestro, a jovial tune fills the stage.
“Che bella cosa ‘na jurnata ‘e sole” Buanne began. It is the opening line of the famous song “O sole Mio” by Giovanni Capurro and Eduardo di Capua.
Then, as Buanne ended his part, Willighagen sings with an unbelievable pitch.
The audience can’t help but greet her lines with applause. At a young age, Willighagen wowed audiences around the world with her perfectly operatic voice.
Willighagen’s continuous control of her voice made, not only Buanne, the audience emotional. She is gifted with a talent and it is something she’s generous to share.
She started her career when she joined Holland’s Got Talent.
In her audition, she sang the aria “O mio babbino caro” from Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi. She also performed the piece in Buanne’s concert. She then performed “Ave Maria” in the semi-finals, before winning the competition with her rendition of Puccini’s “Nessun Dorma”.
This performance catapulted her to fame as she impressed the world with her graceful yet powerful voice. Soon enough, musicians all over the world wanted to collaborate with her.
Her first international performance was in South Africa.
She then donated half the revenue from this concert to her own children’s charity. By March of 2014, she released her debut album which was a commercial success.
A year later she released a Christmas album. Her latest album, With All My Heart, was recorded and produced in South Africa.
Meanwhile, her duet partner is a force on his own.
Besides his talent for music, Buanne is a polyglot who’s fluent in Neapolitan, German, English, French, and Spanish. His parents even thought his career would involve languages but alas his talent was too good to ignore.
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According to his bio, Buanne learned to sing at a very young age. He would sing out loud while playing with his toys. At age 11, he began joining talent contests.
His claim to fame was his performance during a papal visit where he sang for 85,000 people.
His international debut album “The Italian” was finished at Abbey Road Studios where he performed with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
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He then released other albums like Forever Begins Tonight and the platinum-awarded Patrizio. Buanne has performed in front of international audiences including in Australia, Europe, and South America.
Their success, especially Amira’s, only proves that classical music and opera are still alive and will be heard by generations to come.
Watch the duet between one of the youngest opera singers and the “ambassador of the Italian songbook”.
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