Andrea Bocelli and his son, Matteo, have released a new version of ‘Time To Say Goodbye’ produced and arranged by Hans Zimmer.
In celebration of the the Italian tenor’s 30th anniversary, the father and son duo performed the rousing rendition at the Academy Awards at Los Angeles’ Dolby Theatre on Sunday (10.03.24), during the In Memoriam segment honouring the likes of late ‘Friends’ star Matthew Perry, ‘Harry Potter’ legend Michael Gambon, and ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ star Richard Lewis.
Andrea, 65, said: “It is the song of my life, it is the melody that represents me in the eyes of the world: reinventing it, thanks to the collaboration with Hans Zimmer, and singing it together with my son Matteo, represents an exciting challenge. It will be a new debut (and it is part of a larger upcoming project), and I am happy that it will take place on the same Oscar stage that already hosted me in ’99 together with my friend Céline Dion.”
Matteo, 26, commented: “‘Time to Say Goodbye’ is more than a song to me, it’s my family’s national anthem, it’s the soundtrack to hundreds of memories. Singing it with my father in a new orchestration is a great honour, and to sing it on the Oscars stage is simply a dream come true!”
Zimmer, 66, added: “It was an honour and a thrilling challenge to find a new musical perspective on a masterpiece; and to provide a cinematic landscape to two of the greatest voices in the world.”
The remake of the classic is part of an upcoming project for his 30th anniversary.
The Italian version (‘Con te partirò’) and the English duet with Sarah Brightman catapulted the Italian tenor to stardom in the 1990s.
Andrea has previously teamed up with his son on the festive LP ‘A Family Christmas’, and their popular duet ‘Fall On Me’.