For Vincenzo Pandolfi, The Piano isn’t his first taste of fame. Having inherited a love of playing the piano from his mother, Vincenzo joined his first band at 14.
He was a founding member of Quel Pazzo Mondo and they released three singles and appeared on several TV shows in his native Italy and the old Yugoslavia.
“You can still find videos of us that somebody’s put on YouTube,” Vincenzo, 73, told Woman’s Day. “And obviously somebody’s bought the rights to the record label, because they’ve recently re-released some of our records as a compilation.”
AGE-GAP RELATIONSHIP
Then there’s the time Vincenzo and his Australian wife Elaine were featured in none other than Woman’s Day back in 1977! The article saw the married couple discuss their age-gap relationship – Vincenzo was 26 while Elaine was 11 years older at 37, which was unusual for the time.
While he can’t remember how the interview came about now, Vincenzo clearly recalls the reaction from his workmates.
“At the time I was the production controller in a furniture company, and I remember going down to the office and they had put the magazine up on the wall,” he said with a laugh.
Having met in Genoa, Italy in 1971, the pair bonded over their love of the piano. “She was a very good piano player – much better than me,” Vincenzo said.
IN HER MEMORY
Sadly, as viewers will know, after suffering a stroke in 2014, Elaine passed away just weeks before Vincenzo went on The Piano. He continued to do the show in her memory.
“To have that opportunity was absolutely priceless,” he said. “I don’t know how I managed it, to be honest, but she would have wanted me to do it. I couldn’t have imagined a better tribute to my wife. I miss her every day, that’s not going to change any time soon. They say that the eyes are the mirror of the soul. Well, I think that the piano is the voice of the soul.”
A prostate cancer survivor, Vincenzo spends his free time raising awareness about the importance of testing for prostate cancer.
“Because testing is not a big deal, but not testing is a very big deal,” he said.
Vincenzo calls The Piano a “fantastic, amazing and totally unexpected” experience, not least because the participants had no idea what to expect going into it.
Enlisted under the guise of filming a documentary about street pianists and buskers, little did he or anyone else know that five finalists would be chosen to perform in front of a packed house at Sydney’s City Recital Hall.
“The first time they told us that Harry Connick Jr and Andrea Lam were there, we nearly died,” Vincenzo recalls with a laugh. “That was a bit of a shock. But we couldn’t have wished for better people to do that because they’re all fantastic. And [host] Amanda Keller, she wears her heart on her sleeve, and she’s just such a wonderful, warm, sensitive person.”
FASCINATING STORIES
Making it through to ABC’s final this week with Vincenzo is DJ, 46, Grace, 20, Stefania, 12, and John, 18 – all remarkable pianists with fascinating stories. While they’re all very different, they all use music as a way of dealing with things they’re going through.
Newlywed Grace uses music and songwriting to help heal from an eating disorder.
After suffering a stroke, DJ taught himself to play the piano with just his left hand to bring himself out of his depression.
An unhappy school life saw John seek solace in singing, songwriting and piano playing.
While 12-year-old prodigy Stefania simply sees the piano as an extension of herself, having started playing when she was five.
WRITING SONGS
While his latest turn in the spotlight might just see his star back on the rise, for now you can find Vincenzo cheering up patients with his music at the Chris O’Brien Lifehouse cancer treatment centre in Sydney’s Camperdown and busking for fun around the CBD. But don’t rule out a return to the airwaves one day.
“I just keep writing songs and putting them out to the world. No one listens, but that’s OK,” he says.
Something tells us a lot more people will be listening now!
