Royal Albert Hall, May 23, 2017 ~ Personal Review by Patrizia Ciava

STAGE FOR THE BEST IN THE WORLD

Only seven Italian artists have performed on the most important stage in the United Kingdom, the Royal Albert Hall. Now it is Il Volo’s turn.

For most of the international artists, a performance at the Royal Albert Hall in London represents an unreachable dream.

Since its inauguration in 1871, the Royal Albert Hall has carefully built an impeccable reputation. The most famous orchestra directors in the world, such as Leonard Bernstein and Herbert von Karajan, have performed there and it has hosted performances from legendary groups such as the Beatles, Rolling Stones and more recently Coldplay and Stereophonics. The fortunate artists, who are able to enter the imposing Victorian Theatre as protagonists, normally arrive there at the height of their artistic careers, after decades of international success.

This is not the case of the three members of the pop-opera group Il Volo, who, with their ages of just over twenty years, are amongst the youngest artists who have ever performed there. Before them only the Beatles and Bob Dylan, who was 23 years old when he first stepped on that prestigious stage for the first time, managed to achieve such a planetary success as to be admitted by the demanding Royal Albert Hall committee.

From 1871 until today, only seven Italian artists have had this privilege: Pavarotti, the great pianist e composer Ludovico Einaudi, Zucchero who with seven concerts from 2004 until today, holds the record of presences for an Italian singer, Umberto Tozzi in 1988, Claudio Baglioni in 2010, Laura Pausini in 2013 and Luciano Ligabue in 2012 and 2013.

On 23 May 2017, Il Volo was the eighth Italian artist to perform on the “stage for the best in the world”, one of the legs of their “Notte Magica – a Tribute to the Three Tenors” tour, thus completing the series of triumphant, sold-out concerts in the United States, including the equally prestigious Radio City Music Hall in New York and those of the Italian tour that will see them perform next, on three dates, in the splendid setting of the Greek Theatre in Taormina, Sicily.

The “ Notte Magica” project was supported by the “original three tenors” to whom the tribute is dedicated, Jose Carreras, the Pavarotti Foundation and Placido Domingo, ideally considered the “musical godfather” of the three young singers, whom he has directed in the Florence concert debut and in Los Angeles, during the American tour.

The official site of the RAH reads: “The multi-award-winning pop opera group Il Volo is one of the biggest names in the classic crossover genre, with a sound that combines traditional opera, pop and classical symphonic music. In 2017 they landed at the Royal Albert Hall in London, making their debut in this historic site on Tuesday, May 23. Within a few years, Volo has continued to amaze the public all over the world with their vocal talent and their stage presence, becoming multi-platinum artists worldwide. “

The former “enfans prodiges” of “Ti lascio una canzone” have turned into three outstanding artists who thanks to their undeniable talent but also to hard work and professionalism have bewitched millions of fans all over the world. Il Volo is in fact the only Italian reality not only to collect sold-out concerts in every part of the world but also to reach an extremely heterogeneous audience whose age ranges from 5 to 80 years and beyond. For this reason they are a unique phenomenon in the international music scene.

 

Transcribed by Susan J. Ambrosini

This review has previously been published on All About Il Volo.

~~Jane~~