CARLY PAOLI shows us her beautiful family home in dramatic Puglia, the heel of Italy
ON FAMOUS FRIENDS, FINDING ROMANCE AND HOW w
From grand palaces to vast arenas, Carly Paoli has performed at some of the world’s most prestigious venues, where famous fans have included the Prince of Wales and the Pope, but as we talk at her family home in Puglia, the soprano tells us of her latest – and rather unusual – audience… of fishermen.
“When I am here, I love to throw open the windows and sing across the water. It is amazing how the sound travels.
“We are situated in a national park on rocks overlooking the sea, so there is nothing around us, and when boats pass by it is incredible how I can hear the fishermen talking, so I am pretty sure they can hear me singing at the top of my voice as well,” she tells us with delight.
It is obvious why 32-year-old Carly and her parents, “my complete momager” Tina and her dad Paul, were so enamoured with the location of this property when they first saw it six years ago.
“We are right on the heel of Italy in a place called Santa Maria di Leuca. On a clear day you can see Corfu to the left, and to the right you can sometimes see Albania, so you can imagine how far south we are,” says Carly who has her mother’s heritage to thank for her Italian roots.
“We fell in love with the views, but the villa was almost derelict. It took three years to make it liveable. My uncle worked in construction all his life and oversaw it, and now we love every minute that we are here with my nieces and nephews, too.”
MAKING A SPLASH
In constant use this summer during Italy’s unprecedented searing heat, is the swimming pool. “It is the hottest I can ever remember it being here,” says the Mansfield- born star, who grew up in Nottingham but now splits her time between Puglia and the family farm in Wiltshire.
“Most mornings I go down to the pool before it gets too hot. When I am in the UK
‘I love to throw open the windows and sing across the water’
I run or dance but here I do an hour of lengths. It sets me up for the day.” However, it’s not the only workout she does, as her voice also needs constant training. “I do normally train four or five mornings a week. But it doesn’t feel like work, it is something that I love to do.” Carly has not been workshy during lockdown, taking on the epic logistical feat of a new album of duets, Carly Paoli & Friends, due out next month. “It was a challenge to make the album but also a celebration of music across the whole spectrum,” she says. The album is a departure from the traditional soprano style and sees her performing a mix of contemporary, classical and spiritual songs, including some from musical theatre. “It has been a joy working with these artists, and it allowed me to use my voice in different ways.” The music was recorded with
‘Life seems to stand still. Once you have been here, you can’t help coming back’
the Czech National Symphony Orchestra in Prague, with Carly on a Zoom feed from a studio in London, liaising with renowned American conductor Steven Mercurio as each piece was recorded. This “became the backing tracks for each individual artist, most of them recording in studios close to where they live, many in different countries”.
“Everyone rose to the challenge, and I am over the moon. It is something I am really proud of.”
Sure to be favourites are her duet with Ramin Karimloo on A Million Dreams from The Greatest Showman; Be Thou My Vision with Aled Jones, with whom she is touring as a special guest on his upcoming Cathedral Tour; and her Kiss the Stars duet with Tony Hadley, with whom she recently filmed at the historic Otterburn Castle in Northumberland – which belongs to one of her aunts – for a new Sky Arts programme.
‘People have put romance on the back burner because of Covid but some day my prince will come’
RAINBOW’S END
Could Puglia be the place where Carly finds her own love duet?
“I think a lot of people have had to put romance on the back burner because of Covid but, you never know, I might find love here in Italy. Some day my prince will come.”
Another highlight is a medley of three of Carly’s favourite rainbow songs with Elaine Paige, including Over the Rainbow. She performed with Elaine at Pope Francis’s jubilee celebrations five years ago at Rome’s Forum.
Carly’s own rainbow’s end is here in Italy. “My grandfather lived in a tiny village called Spongano, and so when I was about seven my parents got a little apartment there in a block of four, and I had my aunt and uncle and cousins above me and to the right; all family in one apartment block, which we nicknamed Paoli Palace.
“My grandfather’s family are all musicians, so I fell into a world here where everyone is musical. From an early age, he would take me out with him, and I would be performing from the age of 12.”
It seems only right as she shares childhood memories that she mention that one of her favourite places in the grounds of the villa is a trullo, a traditional dry-stone hut “built as a little dwelling or sometimes used for storage”, which reminds her of fantasy classic The Hobbit.
“It was originally a dwelling
and it looks like it could have come straight out of the Shire in The Hobbit. It has a wood fire, a tiny bathroom, kitchenette and bedroom, but you just need to not be very tall,” she laughs.
HOLLYWOOD GUEST
The villa also has a well-established garden. “I have learnt lots of recipes from my aunts, and the garden is brimming with olives that we take to the local press, figs are in abundance for cakes and jam, and we have capers and lemons.”
Another of Puglia’s famous inhabitants has been able to enjoy the garden’s produce.
“Helen Mirren has a beautiful home here,” says Carly. “She has been over for dinner.
“This is the kind of place where nobody bothers you, and I suppose as a superstar that must be one of the reasons she loves it.”
Even when she i s away performing or touring, Puglia is never far from Carly’s thoughts. “We call the villa Non Ti Scordar Di Me, which is ‘Do not forget me’. As a Christian family we have it in the sense of ‘Do not forget Him’, but it is also the very beautiful song Luciano Pavarotti used to sing.
“Life seems to stand still here, and people work to live, they don’t live to work,” she adds. “Once you have been here, you can’t help coming back.”
‘Helen Mirren has a beautiful home here. She has been over for dinner’
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Carly Paoli & Friends is released on the Abiah Ltd label on 24 September on CD and download. For more on the album and Cathedral Tour, visit carlypaoli.com.