“In general, the songs that spark an authentic intensity of emotion in me are the ones that I always feel comfortable with,” Bocelli says.

Although Bocelli is often on tour in December, he makes sure to be home in Tuscany in time to spend Christmas with his family. Celebrating Christmas Eve is typical for many Italian families, but Christmas Day is the centerpiece of the holiday season for the Bocellis.

“In the morning we all go to Holy Mass,” says Bocelli. “Once we get home, we take turns opening our presents before having lunch. In the Bocelli house, there must always be a nativity scene as well as a decorated tree: these traditions warm our hearts.

In addition to reflecting on the “deep spiritual meaning” of Christmas, Bocelli cherishes the time he spends with his family during the holidays. In recent years, his professional life has also included more time with family. He has been collaborating with Matteo, one of his two sons, since 2018, while his 2022 chart-topping album “Family Christmas” featured Matteo, now 27, and his daughter Virginia, now aged 12.

“It’s difficult for me to describe the magnitude of joy I feel when I’m on stage and, at the same time, almost sharing ‘family time’ with my children singing around the microphone and in front of our “extended family” that is the public,” says Bocelli.

Although Bocelli enjoys as high a reputation as possible in the music world – Variety reported in 2021, when the pop-opera crossover star’s albums have sold more than 90 million copies and generated 5 billion digital streams – he’s conscious of letting his children chart their own path. He insisted that all three children study music as “a vital component of education.” What they do with it is up to each of them.

“If my children ask my opinion, I will happily give it to them,” he says. “However, it is essential that they develop their own talents, that they express their own personality, that they find their own style, whatever our ambitions and our convictions. »

Matteo Bocelli is part of a vast list of performers who have sung with his father. Indeed, the partners of Andrea Bocelli’s duo cover all genres and all cultures, from Luciano Pavarotti to Jennifer Lopez via Ed Sheeran. Earlier this year, Bocelli recorded a new version of his 1994 single “Il mare calmo della sera” with country singer Chris Stapleton. The song appears on Bocelli’s album “Duets,” which marks the 30th anniversary of his career. After all this time and so many duets, Bocellis says the right combination of voices remains a matter of chemistry.

“Each duet is equally delicate and, in some ways, mysterious, and that’s not something you can plan out at the drawing board,” says Bocelli. “Finding a vocal partner is a complex process: we singers are always looking for talented colleagues with an authentic interpretative personality, capable of bringing the magic of a duet to life. And when it works, the expressive qualities of the two singers are highlighted and valued.

As his career enters its fourth decade, Bocelli is happy to have improved his vocal range over the years through lots of practice and to have become “gentle and a little wiser.”

“If I think of myself, aged 20 or 25, I remember a young man who was energetic, curious, but also a little arrogant and impulsive,” Bocelli says. “What I would say to Andrea who was just starting her career is to be less impatient and practice more gratitude to God and the rest of humanity every day. I would tell him to take what life gives you without asking too many questions, because nothing happens by chance and you have to trust in the divine design that governs the life of each of us.

Andrea Bocelli

At TD Garden, 100 Legends Way, Boston, December 14 at 8 p.m. Tickets are available on the secondary market, www.ticketmaster.com/andrea-bocelli-in-concert-boston-massachusetts-12-14-2024/event/0100607DCE288AEA.