Italian singer Mina (full name Mina Anna Mazzini) was born in Busta Arsizio in 1940 and brought up in Cremona, Lombardy; she’s one of the great ladies of Italian song and can boast an international fame.
In 1978 she retired from the musical scene and bought a house in Lugano with her partner Eugenio Quaini, a famous heart surgeon, six year her junior that she had met at the end of the 1970s (the two married in 2006).
Mina’s career has been long and full of great successes; true milestones in Italian pop music; from Canzone di Marinella or Marinella’s song that Fabrizio de André wrote for her to Grande Grande Grande and Brava or You’re so good.
Despite her partial retirement from showbiz years ago, her fame has never diminished.
This year, as many of you know, Mina has been chosen to open the Sanremo Festival with a real Italian classic: Nessun dorma from Turandot by Giacomo Puccini; it goes without saying that she will not be there in person and only a video of her performance will be aired.
By the way, if you want to watch streaming videos of the festival, go to the Rai International website.
The above video shows Mina duetting with Giorgio Gaber.