Sal Viviano was brought up with the songs of Frank Sinatra in his home, his parents being big fans of the singer. When he saw Sinatra live on television for the first time… “Even though I was a child, I was taken by his power, by his command of style and of making things look easy and breezy and fun, and get emotional,” said Sal Viviano in a Jazz FM interview on the eve of his concert with the Classic FM Orchestra, conducted by Grigor Palikarov. Perfectly Frank: A Century of Sinatra will take place on 14th of November at the Bulgaria Hall, just weeks before we celebrate the centennial anniversary of the birth of Frank Sinatra. This is the first of a series of six concerts that are included in the new season of The Music of America programme, presented in Sofia by Cantus Firmus and the America for Bulgaria foundation.
Sal Viviano performed lead roles on Broadway before he was noticed by the founder of New York Pops Skitch Henderson. He invited the young performer to be their vocalist at a Carnegie Hall concert and suggested that he sings the great songs of Frank Sinatra. These we are going to hear in Sofia, together with some of the lesser-known pieces that are important for fully displaying the genius of Sinatra. “Frank Sinatra is truly a legend! The body of work he left behind is extraordinary. He created a tremendous style that impacted the entire world – that sense of cool, that sense of romaniticism in an open way,” Viviano holds a great respect for Sinatra. Some of the orchestrations had been done for Sinatra himself, others – especially for Sal Viviano. The concert will celebrate the European premiere of the new song, Sinatra, written for Viviano by two Grammy-winning composers.
On this Jazz FM interview Sal Viviano also outlined the imprint that Sinatra made on society: “He was a great believer in people's rights for all races, all religions, all peoples. He was a man with so much power because of his talent, and he took this power and used it to great advantage to make things better for others around him. The message of social, economic, racial and religious equality that he promoted is a message we are trying to promote today, so that all people feel that they have a choice in their life, are able to be free, are able to speak their mind and have safety in their home and their country. That is something the whole world is struggling to bring to other parts of the world that haven't got it.”
You can listen to Svetoslav Nikolov’s interview with Sal Viviano using the Audio button.
