Andrea Bocelli reimagines the Ave Maria

This touching duet finds its lyrics in the Hail Mary.

Hail Mary,
Full of grace,
The Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou amongst women,
Blessed art thou amongst women,
Holy Mother of God.

Andrea Bocelli dropped his newest album, Sì, last month and since then he has become the first classical artist to reach #1 on the Official UK Album charts since the Three Tenors, in 1994. The 17-track record brings together some of the most popular voices in classical, pop music, and even jazz, including Dua Lipa, Ed Sheeran, Josh Groban, and Andrea’s son Matteo Bocelli.

In the latter half of the album, Bocelli is joined by Aida Garifullina, a Russian soprano with a downright gorgeous voice, who has performed with Andrea in many live events. The song “Ave Maria Pietas” finds its lyrics in the Hail Mary prayer, and the accompanying music video was shot in a beautifully ornamented cathedral, with dancers to complement the vocals.

Andrea’s new album is his first collection of all-new music in nearly 14 years. Of the work Andrea commented:

“I wanted to go back to my memories of being a young man, playing at a piano bar. Obviously since then, I’ve produced lots of albums, sung lots of covers, performed many other things. But at a certain point I said to myself: ‘Maybe the time has come to put my effort into finding new songs.’ Like starting all over again, as it were, in my career.”