Friar Alessandro on life and major record deals

10 October 2012, 11:57 | Updated: 16 October 2013, 14:31

Friar Alessandro Brustenghi talks to Classic FM's Anne-Marie Minhall in a revealing interview about his youth and his journey towards music

The headline-grabbing story of the monk who signed a major-label record deal couldn't be further from the truth - Friar Alessandro's real story is one of a pure love of singing. Classic FM travels to Italy to meet the monk at his monasterial home and get to the bottom of what it's like to be a practising Franciscan Friar and a recording artist.

As he tells Classic FM's Anne-Marie Minhall, his desire to make music was evident early-on in his life: "Music was the most important, the most beautiful passion I had in my life."

In this revealing and in-depth interview, Friar Alessandro tells us about his early life, his music, his love of Michael Jackson and how he became a recording artist.

We get a history of Friar Alessandro's home and his early life

Friar Alessandro discusses his teenage years and how God came into his life, and the temptations of the Devil

The story of how Friar Alessandro's album came to be

Friar Alessandro's album The Voice From Assisi is Classic FM's Album of the Week - listen to John Suchet every morning this week to hear a track from it.