On August 16th, Piero received an award from his beloved NARO.
Let’s go in order:
This message was published by Piero, I translate the words:
On August 16th evening I will have the pleasure of dedicating time to my splendid NARO: being recognized and honored, from one’s native country, is an honor that is not at all obvious.
Here are the roots, here my story is born: the houses, the alleys, the faces, with which I grew up and of which I could tell a thousand stories.
At the moment, I will tell you only one, the affection I have for my country.
All Naro waits on the beautiful staircase.
Here is the moment of Piero’s arrival.
And here is the awarding of the prize, by the mayor, very proud of our Piero.
Mayor = Meanwhile I wanted to put the institutional band, even if it is wrong (Piero rushes to fix the band), to give the official status of the institution, the solemnity of this moment, to pay our affection, our gratitude, to a great, to an international star, which is Piero. (applause)
Considering that at this moment, I do not feel I am just the mayor of Naro and its 7500 inhabitants, but I feel like the mayor of all the Naresi (inhabitants of Naro) scattered all over the world.
So I make myself an interpreter, of all the Naresi, scattered around the world, to say THANK YOU to Piero, for the emotions he always gives us. I also greet all the friends of Canicattì who are here for Piero.
I will not dwell much, but I must tell you that I am particularly excited. You saw the first part of the video (before calling Piero, they projected a video dedicated to Piero ), well, that little boy was Piero …. (to Piero) I don’t know where your grandfather is … . (Piero indicates with his hand, on the stairway). Pietro, a big hug to Pietro, to whom a family friendship, of many years, binds me.
That mayor of 10 years ago, when Piero started it all, was me.
To give you the prize, I would like to call Magda. (Magda is a small child, new promising star of Naro, Piero goes to meet Magda and kisses her.)
With the hope that in 10 years we will be here again to celebrate even Magda.
Best wishes Piero. (kisses and hugs to Piero and delivery of the prize)
I was at Piero’s house, I saw, how many plaques, how many photos with “the powerful of the world” ….. Piero, but this is the gift of NARO !!!(applause)
One last thing and I finish, a memory, when they, in the theater of Taormina, dedicated the song to their mother, and he bowed and Eleonora, beat the song’s rhythm on his leg ….. Eleonora and Gaetano, thank you for what you you have done, for believing us, for the sacrifices you have made to make him a great man.(applause, a second awarding ceremony continues, during which Vincenzo Porrello gives Piero a special gift.)
And here is the video broadcast by local television. At the beginning Piero sings a beautiful song “NARO FULGENTISSIMA” (I think his grandfather composed it, during the video, while Piero sings, you can see his father Gaetano and his mother Eleonora, sitting on the staircase, near a white lantern.)
Mayor= For us it is a source of great pride, to celebrate 10 years of IL VOLO activity, but in particular, allow me, of our fellow citizen Piero Barone. A boy who is an international star, but who has remained a humble boy, has remained a boy devoted to his city.
I am the mayor of all the Naresi scattered in the world and for us, having Piero Barone this evening, who is the ambassador of the beauties of this city, but above all of the heart and love, of this city, can only make me absolutely happy.
Piero= My first thought, but I also think of all of you here, goes to the Bracco family, for the pain that struck them. (a young citizen of Naro, on vacation on the lake near Rome, drowned … applause).
The love I have for this country, and for our city, will never end.
Host= What do you feel for this city?
Piero= Naro, it’s me, it’s my blood. I grew up here, my whole story is here.
If it’s about my past, it’s all my grandfather’s fault, he gave me my passion for music.
When I was 8, it was he, my grandfather Pietro, who had me engraved, “UN AMORE COSÌ GRANDE”.
In one of those beautiful summer evenings over 10 years ago, my grandfather made my father hear that song, and from that moment, my father, stubborn as he is, every time someone came into the garage (he repaired cars), put me up on the bonnet of cars and made me sing either “GRANADA” or “UN AMORE COSÌ GRANDE”. I couldn’t take any more, every customer heard “GRANADA” or “UN AMORE COSÌ GRANDE”(Piero’s parents laugh).
In the same evening, there was the election of Miss Naro, and here is Piero photographed with all the participants.
Some shots of the evening, thanks to Il Volo Sicilia fanpage.
What a beautiful emotion Piero, to hear you sing that beautiful song dedicated to Naro.
And your words, for your city, fill every citizen with pride.
Bravo Piero !!
Daniela
Piero Barone with Nonno Piero Ognibene Singing “Naro Fulgentissima”
Surely in these days, this beautiful photo has not escaped you, but perhaps (Italians aside), not everyone knows who this man is that warmly embraces Michele and Gianluca.
He is a very good singer, indeed a true complete artist.
For those who do not know him, Massimo Ranieri is a fantastic singer with excellent vocal talents, but also a good actor, a historian, in the true sense of the word.
The photo below has been posted by Ranieri himself, with a beautiful dedication. He was in Roseto degli Abruzzi, for a concert, which was very successful. Michele and Gianluca also went to his concert.
The dedication:
Ieri magnifica serata a Roseto degli Abruzzi in compagnia dei miei cari amici Gianluca Ginoble e Michele Torpedine.
Translation:
Yesterday wonderful evening in Roseto degli Abruzzi, in the company of my dear friends Gianluca Ginoble and Michele Torpedine.
Il Volo, in 2016, had already been a guest of a transmission conducted by Massimo Ranieri, entitled SOGNO O SON DESTO?
During that transmission, Gianluca showed the photo with Ranieri, whom he jealously kept in his cell phone.
Here is the video of the evening, it is not of excellent quality but it is seen and feels quite well.
Massimo, at the end of the song “QUANDO L’AMORE DIVENTA POESIA”, presents IL VOLO with these words, “Here they are, these three fantastic, wonderful boys”.
After the pleasantries, Massimo says he was moved when Gianluca showed him the photo, stored in his cell phone.
There is a lot of respect and affection between Gianluca, Ignazio, Piero and Massimo Ranieri.
Another thing you may not know, is that the beautiful song “VENT’ANNI”, sung in concert in 2016 by Gianluca and Piero, is a song brought to success by a young Massimo Ranieri.
And here is the video of Massimo Ranieri who sings “VENT’ANNI” during Canzonissima (a transmission of songs) of 1970. Massimo was 19, the song was a great success.
And here, the beautiful words of the lyrics of the song.
VENT’ANNI
La mia vita cominciò Come l’erba come il fiore E mia madre mi baciò Come fossi il primo amore
La la la la la La la la la la
Nasce cosi La vita mia Come comincia Una poesia
Io credo che lassù C’era un sorriso anche per me La stessa luce che Si accende quando nasce un re
Una stella una chitarra Primo amore biondo e mio Con l’orgoglio dei vent’anni Piansi, ma vi dissi addio
E me ne andai Verso il destino Con l’entusiasmo Di un bambino
Io credo che lassù C’era un sorriso anche per me La stessa luce che
si accende quando nasce un re.
Io credo che lassù…..
Translation:
TWENTY YEARS
My life began Like grass like a flower And my mother kissed me How I was the first love
La la la la La la la la
Thus was born My life How it begins A poem
I believe that up there There was a smile for me too The same light that It lights up when a king is born
A star a guitar First blonde love and mine With the pride of twenty years I cried, but I said you goodbye
And I left To destiny With enthusiasm Of a child
I believe that up there There was a smile for me too The same light that
It lights up when a king is born
I believe that up there……
Did you enjoy getting to know Massimo Ranieri better?
In these days Regina Hanna, who is part of the crew, sent me an e-mail and wrote “do a summer post on this video”.
Okay, I thought, it’s a beautiful video from almost four years ago, and maybe some of you haven’t seen it and, for those who have seen it, it’s certainly nice to see them again.
Unfortunately there is only one single video of that evening, but I remember well all that happened in the transmission and that now I am going to tell you.
Francesca Lorito, is a beautiful and good girl who participates in the program broadcast on TELEFE, called LATEST CORAZONES(an Argentine television program) , where the children sing with their parents. Francesca performs with her father Giorgio, of Italian origins. Giorgio taught Francesca the beautiful Italian songs and that evening they will sing “VOLARE”.
Francesca likes IL VOLO, which are fresh from victory, in Sanremo (we are in October 2015). What Francesca does not know, while singing, with her beautiful little voice together with her father, that Gianluca, Piero and Ignazio, are behind the scenes, ready to go out during the live, to give her a nice surprise.
When the boys come out into the open, Francesca remains open-mouthed, but then, after the initial astonishment, she starts singing with them, and the voices of all four are very beautiful and well blended.
This beautiful video is really moving, but I remember very well, the emotion of Gianluca, while he was singing and holding little Francesca, the tears ran down his cheeks, and the presenter, seeing so much emotion in Gianluca, told him, not to be ashamed of show his emotion and sensitivity.
Definitely very excited Francesca, but perhaps even more our treasure of Gianluca. His gentle soul could not resist, sweet Gian.
Francesca told the camera that it was her mother who introduced her to IL VOLO and she immediately fell in love with Gianluca: “What I know about him is his name is Gianluca and he is the most beautiful of all.”
The conductor thanked Il Volo, describing them with words of respect and admiration, saying that they are great personalities of international music but also humble and very helpful boys.
At the end of the stay IL VOLO sang “Grande Amore” dedicating it to Francesca who was giving them big smiles. She certainly felt like a real princess! 👸
Thank you guys for making this little girl’s dream come true!
Crew, did you see this video before and know all the background?
I hope I told you something new.
Daniela
This is a tribute to Il Volo in the first decade their career.
Some time ago Valeria Bosch wrote this beautiful article, which talks about true Friendship, the one with a capital F.
Perhaps not all of you have had the opportunity to read these beautiful words, which only Valeria knows how to compose so well, and then I propose to you this beautiful reading.
1 – Traveling to Rome.
Who knows what was going on in the minds of those three kids while, in the spring of 2009, who on the plane and in the car, headed for Rome. The expected convocation had arrived and now they could hope to be selected for the television show of Antonella Clerici – to perform on the most important national network, to be seen by everyone and return to their towns with an upturned nose, at school with the comrades boasting of having been seen in the magical world contained in the television box, and of having sung just like the most famous stars, in short as they too had become, “VIPs”!
Not even the unbridled imagination of three thrilled and enthusiastic teenagers could ever remotely imagine what the destiny behind that convocation was concealing for them: it would have taken a magic mirror more powerful than Snow White’s to see inside the journeys, the planes, the thousands of discs sold, prizes, awards, the Radio City Music Hall and the Barclay Center in New York, the Olympia in Paris, the Royal Albert Hall in London and the most prestigious theaters in the world, the thousands of people across the planet standing to applaud their every song, the adoring little girls that crowded under the hotels waiting for them, dealing, on equal terms, with the most famous celebrities of the music world.
The story that starts from that journey to Rome could be told in a thousand ways, the songs, the theaters, the people, the prizes, the interviews, the relations with the press. But I would like here instead, and just to honor the ten years of activity of Il Volo, which is equivalent to ten years of life in common, choosing a really personal and delicate button, something that, especially considering the current times, is extraordinary and amazing, and that is friendship, the true friendship that exists between these boys, strengthened more and more over the years, a friendship as used in ancient times, that is made of mutual support, understanding, capacity for forgiveness, of confidence of the most intimate secrets, in short, a feeling that, in certain situations, can prove even more solid and satisfying than love.
2 – A true friendship
At first it was certainly not a bed of roses: who was that kind of a nuisance that was already talking and singing on the pullmanthat tookthemto Rome? and that timid little bit of snobbish, who singing, brought out apowerfulvoice? and that other one with glasses and command modes, who was nevertheless always ready for a joke and a laugh? Bringing together three males still in full adolescence, tearing them away from their habitual context, home, school, friends, to get them to travel the world, subjecting them to considerable physical and psychological stress, was adaring feat. There is no doubt: at first the thing seemed titanic, but then, over time, something was changed. There was something more in them than the normal vivacity of adolescents, the whims, the desire to have fun: there was a basic solidity, a great loyalty and goodness of character that in the formative years had been shaped in them by three exemplary families, parents and grandparents united, full of intelligence and love, who had managed to convey to them the need to be serious, the beauty of doing their duty, the acceptance of fatigue and sacrifice.
And so, slowly, they began to look at each other not with mistrust, but with sympathy, not with rivalry, but with a spirit of collaboration. The friendship has been strengthened and has managed to create an understanding between them that, to those who have to observe it during performances, both in concerts and in interviews, can only appear obvious and even incredible: just a nod of one to start (or block) the other, sometimes they touch their shoulders to look for security, they hug each other to welcome the ovations of the audience, they shake hands in a superstitious gesture before each concert. Really three voices and one soul, as is often said.
The litmus paper of the by now profound mutual affection was, as told in their testimony book An Extraordinary Adventure (Un’avventura straordinaria: La nostra storia), an accident that occurred in Miami in 2013, when during an evening at the disco among friends, Ignazio was unknowingly drugged, beaten and left unconscious on a lawn. The fear felt in not seeing him return, the anxiety of waiting that drove Gian to watch all night in the hotel in the hope that he would appear, and Piero, on a motorbike on the streets of Miami to look for him, cemented them indissolubly, made them understand, how important they were to each other, and urged Ignazio to give a public thanks during a subsequent concert at Radio City Music Hall in New York, without mentioning the incident, but expressing to his friends his affection, his joy of being together and sharing all the experiences with them.
There is no rivalry, there is no envy, there is no jealousy between these three boys: they collaborate in the work of recording in the studio, in the technical preparation of the pieces, in all the activities required of them, and they are sometimes seentogether even outside the stage, this is a true sign of sincere understanding. In fact, if they felt annoyed with each other, after work they would immediately split up, to live each their own life.
This is their secret, their spring, their added value: in the DVD that was released after the victory in Sanremo in 2015, one is surprised to hear Ignazio declare that, “Gian is the best boy in the world.”, and Gian reiterating, “We love each other so much.” and Piero,“There are no problems between us because when one is born, we resolve it immediately, where it is born it must die.” No more friends, therefore, but brothers, as they themselves have been declared several times.
3 – The bench of Montepagano
Even the magic mirror of Snow White, no matter how powerful could tell us if, after this first decade, the guys of Il Volo will still celebrate others together. It is also possible, with the golden voices that can be found in all three, that to someone, and it would be completely legitimate, the desire to probe new ways and to pursue, at least at times, a solo career. But we do not need the mirror of Snow White to be certain that their friendship will be celebrating the 2nd, 3rd, 4th decades, and so on: Ignazio will forever remain an indelible piece of the life of Gian and Gian of Piero and Piero of Ignazio, and vice versa.
Perhaps, when they are three sprightly old men, without the need for tricks and wigs, they will meet again on the bench of Montepagano, made famous by “L’ amore si muove”. And there, they will still be friends and brothers, it will be enough – a joke, a laugh, a memory, a hug – to find each other as they have been for the whole life, “three men and one soul”.
What a beautiful story, of an incredible friendship, born by chance, but lasting over time. Certain feelings are connected with time and events.
Valeria you have the gift of finding the most beautiful words to describe this beautiful friendship between Piero, Ignazio and Gianluca.
While they were in Abruzzo for the Chieti concert, Ignazio, Gianluca and Piero made a very special visit.
This video was broadcast by the Abruzzo TV news program.
Man = Exceptional visit to the small patients of the pediatric oncology department of Pescara. The singing trio of IL VOLO has arrived to bring gifts and joy.
Woman = They kept their promise, they returned to find the small children of the oncohematology department of the hospital in Pescara, the children of IL VOLO.
Occasion, the stage of the tour, for the concert at the Civitella di Chieti, before going on stage, Ignazio Boschetto, the Abruzzese Gianluca Ginoble and Piero Barone, wanted to meet the small children who in these days, are hospitalized in the structure of Pescara.
Among small gifts, photos and hugs, a moment of true solidarity among those who suffer.
I= We do a little, but we know that it is worth a lot for these children, and it is a pleasure every time, to be able to come here to Pescara and thanks to AGBE (Association Parents Emopathic Children) that gives us this opportunity. Woman = Gianluca, for you Pescara and Abruzzo, have a special value. G= Absolutely, then I adapt to what Ignazio said and what we want to do is give strength to children, and especially to families, being close to them with a few gestures, for us it is important.
P= There is nothing more beautiful than sharing our passion, we are extremely lucky, because there is nothing more beautiful than seeing the people who look at you and smile at you.
A gesture of great significance for the AGBE, which accompanies children and families, in the difficult moments of their lives. Achille Di Paolo, is its president.
AdP = We are proud to have these guys, who support us every time. Whenever they are in the area, in Pescara, even in the Marche, a visit always make a visit to us. They fill us with joy and above all, they make our children smile and this is very important.
P= We have to thank heaven every day, for what we are experiencing right now, we are all extremely lucky, but we don’t realize it. These experiences give you a strength that fills your heart and makes you understand so much about life. I= It’s nice, when you can give a smile to younger children, it’s always a beautiful thing. Besides, I am one who tries not to see only the tragedy, today we live in the present and tomorrow, we will worry, when it will be tomorrow. Today we are here, in the present and we are with these young people and we try to give them a smile now.
G= I am very close, like Ignazio and Piero, to AGBE, we thank them for all the work they do every day, to stay close to these children, and their parents, who need support, above all moral support. Children are naturally unaware of what is happening, but parents, it is clear that they need as much strength. We promise to return, this time too, absolutely, every time the boys, Ignazio and Piero, are here in the area, for a concert, or whatever, we promise to come back, to give you a smile too, to stay together, which is the most important thing.
And here is the AGBE video of the visit of IL VOLO.
Also these days, Gianluca, Piero and Ignazio, have also given this special message.
I= A few days ago we heard about a sad story, we met a little girl, her name is Jo. She needs an intervention at the heels, this intervention can only be done in America at a cost of around 500,000 euros. We are here, to raise awareness, people like us, who can help us, even with little. P= For more information, go to the Facebook page, “Jo’s dreams”. G= We can help this little girl, who needs all of us, please…
Below are the donation codes from Jo’s photo enlarged.
This is the least known part of our boys, but it is a part that does them much honor.
Always look to those less fortunate than you.
Try to give a smile to those who don’t want to smile.
What a big heart.❤️
Thank you guys!
Daniela
Credit to owners of all photos and videos.
Come in and share the love of life, friends and Il Volo!
