He says that music is an urgency, a job, a need, and even a blessing. He understood this very early: "At twelve, I was already obsessed. I wasn't sure what I would do when I grew up or what I would play, but I knew I would become a musician."

Thirty-two years later, it's clear that Raphael Gualazzi —44 years old, seven albums released, an internationally renowned composer, pianist, and singer-songwriter—was right on target. Born into a musical family—his father Velio founded Anonima Sound with Ivan Graziani—he won the Sanremo Music Festival in 2011, in the youth section, as well as a slew of awards and performances around the world. Tonight, at 9 p.m., he steps onto the stage in Molentargius Park, in Quartu, for the Festival of Culture.

Latest album, Dreams... do you dream?

"I dream of music, of the possibility of continuing to live my happiness in this wonderful art. Which is at once a vocation, a job, a necessity, and an urgent need."

Being a child of art: advantages and disadvantages.

"There's no disadvantage: luckily, I never learned to play the drums. I might have liked it, but I've never felt such a strong attraction."

Dad is a musician, his mother?

"She's a brilliant ceramist. She's always taught me the purest meaning of art, the importance of being authentic and experimenting, while still honoring one's roots. She also supported me in my first piano lessons and encouraged me to sing in the choir."

Musician or unemployed: he had no other options?

"I said it, but life is always full of surprises. Of course, it would have been a music-related job anyway."

Gualazzi as a teenager.

I was very shy, awkward, and obsessed with music. Even though I didn't know what I would do with my life or what I would play, I was certain I would become a musician. I had a rather late adolescence; I spent my years studying and learning the piano.

What does success sound like?

"I don't even know what it is. I believe fame is one thing and success is another. True success is what a pastor or a worker can achieve when they wake up in the morning and are in love with their partner, their family, their work."

Fame?

“When they know you and everyone comes to applaud you.”

Does the judgment weigh?

"You decide how much and set the bar. The sense of contentment is there, and it doesn't mean settling."

Sanremo is...

"Cool! A celebration of Italian folk music. There used to be more jazz, and I hope it returns. But it's always been a magical place for song."

Does it still make sense?

Who am I to say? In 2011, I won the young talent section, which was a great experience; I've participated in other capacities on other occasions. Time passes, fashions change, but Sanremo endures.

Where does inspiration come from?

«More than anything, where he finds you!».

Where?

"In different places, it can happen in front of a sunset, on a lake, perhaps in the sound of a car engine. I remember when I wrote Follie d'amore: I was inspired by the sound of three spies. It finds us at the moment when we are vulnerable to beauty."

Do you really think music is a blessing?

«Not in a religious sense, but a spiritual one.»

In what sense?

"Music is a sublime vehicle for all our emotions. It helps you rediscover your inner harmony and becomes a vehicle for expressing who you are. Imagine finding yourself at home on a difficult day: put on a record without too many pretensions, and in twenty minutes it puts your thoughts back together."

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