On November 17, Il Volo was a guest on Radio Italia, only Italian music, for the promotion of their latest CD.
The event was led by Mauro Marino and Manola Moslehi.
It was a great interview and Piero, Ignazio and Gianluca also sang two songs live.
In November two years ago, I was able to go to Radio Italia and it was wonderful. Unfortunately this year, due to COVID restrictions and also the afternoon hours, I was unable to go, too bad.
Here is the video and its translation.
Please click on the photo to view the video.
MAURO = Here we are in the Reward Music Play, complete with an audience, welcome back, well arrived, purely female audience, I must say.
MANOLA = Of course, also because today’s guests are three beautiful guys, so even the eye wants its part.
MAURO = Exactly, and for the eye, we also greet the friends who follow us on Radio Italia TV, Manola Moslehi, Mauro Marino, and then let’s call them, we are standing here on stage, because in front of these microphones, soon, yes, will perform live, the three guys from:
MANOLA = IL VOLO !! (applause, enter Piero, Ignazio and Gianluca).
MAURO = Here they are, take a seat, please, please. You can sit down.
Manola ran away and I don’t know why.
I + P + G = Hi, hi.
MAURO = When you are ready ….. here they are: IL VOLO
(Manola returns to the stage)
MANOLA = I thought they sang right away, do you understand? I didn’t want to waste time.
MAURO = Are you ready?
IGNAZIO = Very ready.
PIERO = But we haven’t warmed up our voices.
MAURO = Try to do it now.
PIERO = How do we do it? Let’s start like this?
MANOLA = Come on, come and sing.
GIAN = We are yours today …..
MANOLA = Sing, sing ….
MAURO = It’s just that you don’t have microphones (the microphones in front of the boys are just for singing), it’s just for that, then you tell us everything when we get off here in front.
PIERO = Can you come near here? ….
MAURO = I can come, but I can’t give you my microphone, you know the rules (this are the new rules for COVID the microphone is personal and must be disinfected before being used by another).
MANOLA = Piero has to ask for things …
MAURO = Tell me, what is it I have to do, tell me.
PIERO = Are we on live?
MAURO = We are on live, yes, yes.
PIERO = Ah,on live without warming our voice, beautiful.
MANOLA= But no, go , go live!!
GIAN = We greet all those who look at us with their mobile phones from home !!
MAURO = I know what you will do SE TELEFONANDO, right? You let us listen to it and then we talk about it.
Il Volo on Radio Italia.
(starts SE TELEFONANDO live)
MANOLA = Live on Radio Italia only Italian music, Il Volo, strictly live !! Wonderful guys.
MAURO = Thanks guys.
So, we wanted to specify that they sang from the vivo, you already said it …
MANOLA = Yes, yes.
MAURO = … and they haven’t even warmed up their voices, so now guys, you are machines that go automatically …
MANOLA = Think if they had warmed up their voices …
MAURO = Great, thanks guys !! Here are the microphones, perfect and I sit down too, voila!
MANOLA = (To the audience) Did you like them?
YES!!
IGNAZIO = Here we are.
MAURO = So, there is a new album, dedicated to the great maestro Ennio Morricone, besides you have just sung this song, everyone knows that the song (the text) was also written by Maurizio Costanzo (great Italian television entertainer) and the music, is also by Ennio Morricone, we wanted to remember this because it is with this song that you opened today’s appointment.
IGNAZIO = You know how this song was born, don’t you?
MAURO = I know the story, but you tell it.
IGNAZIO = No, no, Piero tells it. 😁
MAURO = Come on Piero.
PIERO = When the idea of dedicating an entire album to Maestro Morricone, and the project was born, started for us, an extremely complex course of study, because when we entered the world of Ennio Morricone, on tiptoe, we discovered that he had written nearly 500 melodies.
IGNAZIO = More than 500 compositions.
PIERO = Not only soundtracks, we discovered that he made the arrangement of IL MONDO and also of SE TELEFONANDO.
IGNAZIO = ABBRONZATISSIMA (Ignazio mentions a very famous Italian song from the 60s)
MAURO= Also!
MANOLA = Also, it’s true! (she refers that even Abbronzatissima was set to music by Morricone)
PIERO = Lots of songs. Since we had the support of the entire family of Ennio Morricone, including his son Andrea Morricone, he told us several anecdotes, including the birth of SE TELEFONANDO. His father was queuing at the post office, to pay the electricity bill, and he hears the ambulance and the sirens of the ambulance “ta-na-na”, is born: SE TELEFONANDO.
MANOLA = What a genius though, it couldn’t be otherwise.
How was your first meeting with him?
IGNAZIO = It was in 2011, because in our first album there was a song, it was a medley between Once Upon a Time in America and Malena: E PIÙ TI PENSO. So, he (Morricone) was recording, working in the studio at that time, and we met there and then in 2011 we collaborated, we sang E PIÙ’ TI PENSO in Piazza del Popolo directed by him and so it was nice. There is also the anecdote that we always tell, that Gianluca gives a YOU to the master in front of the orchestra and everyone OH OH, and he says: “Don’t worry, kid, I’ll take care of it.” He was a man of few words, he showed little, but a lot.
Then, unfortunately we had little time and opportunity to spend time together and get to know him more, but it would have been really interesting and beautiful.
MAURO = While you were talking and singing before, we looked at you, out here, and we said: “We saw these three who were kids, now you are men, now you are men.”
PIERO = It’s the beard that makes the difference
GIAN = Three years ago we were 24, in three years we are 30.
MAURO = Perfect.
GIAN = The 30th begins to approach.
PIERO = Sorry, if we had 24, how do we get 30? Where did you go to school??
GIAN = Oh yes, in three years we will be 30, we are no longer children.
MAURO = But it’s nice to see this transformation, from boys to young men.
IGNAZIO = This transformation from ugly (to Piero) to beautiful ….
MANOLA = So, in reality, it sounds strange to say to three still very young people, that you have 12 years of career behind you, one is at least impressed, I mean.
PIERO = You know that we, the pre-COVID, just before the COVID were celebrating 10 years of career with a world tour. On March 11, we suspended the tour to suddenly return to Italy, and we will be back on tour exactly after two years, so it’s a 12-year career, but two years homebound as if time had stopped.
MAURO = In stand by.
IGNAZIO = A little like those birthdays that last a week, we the ten-year that lasts two years.
MANOLA = So, we have an incredible event in Piazza Duomo (Milan) it was 2018, you were very tanned, you were, but you are still beautiful, I wanted to know from you, looking at that image there, with that crowded square, what a feeling you have on.
IGNAZIO = I was hideous.
MANOLA = That’s not true!
PIERO = But it’s strange, it’s a strong feeling to see the audience, we’ve been missing that feeling for a while.
Now we are restarting with the tour, with the events, it is a slow, uphill process, but soon we will return to that feeling of serenity that we saw a little while ago.
MAURO = We all wish it a little, we said it before while we were waiting for you, together with the friends who are here (audience), there are not many, because you have to keep your distance, but see people live, meet people, for those who do yours craft, it is crucial I guess, especially for you.
You were talking about tours, then we will talk together about the tour, which will start in March, meanwhile, here they are launching the pens ….
MANOLA = The lady from the audience threw a pen …
GIAN = But it’s Hermione Granger’s magic wand (Harry Potter’s little witch)
PIERO = (he took the pen and this one has a big fake diamond on the end) Oh my, it looks like Queen Elizabeth’s pen.
MANOLA = We explain to friends who listen to us on the radio, that a lady from the audience threw them a very discreet pen, with a diamond ….
IGNAZIO = (Ignazio took the pen in his hand) Madam, is this diamond real? Ah, is that true? (he puts the pen with the diamond in his pocket)😁😁
MAURO = The pen is gone …😁
IGNAZIO = Another pen, thanks.😁
MAURO = Let’s go back to the album, because rightly I saw that, looking at the cover, the friends who follow us can see the image here in the background of the stage, (meanwhile Piero is unwrapping the vinyl record), it reminds us a little of Sergio Leone’s films obviously (director of many westerns with Morricone’s music).
GIAN = But it was totally inspired by that world there. Shooting that world from “Sergio Leone” and those Morricone’s music, is a return to the past that is eternal, that will never die. The vintage taste that really takes everyone, especially the generations who lived through those times, but also young people, who maybe discover something they have never heard or seen.
MAURO = Indeed, she is very beautiful and this (the vinyl record that Piero is discarding) I will tell you immediately, I will steal this, tell Torpedine, where he is around here: “Torpedine, this is for me, thank you “, 😉 your producer.
So 14 songs, you said before that Morricone composed more than 500 songs etc., how did you choose these 14?
PIERO = This was the most difficult phase, choosing the songs, because there are so many. It is clear that we have chosen the most famous ones, those to which we are most connected, for example personally a song that I have always loved, is the one taken from the film NUOVO CINEMA PARADISO, “SE” (meanwhile Piero signs the vinyl record.)
I am linked to that film because you know, it is about this Sicilian child who goes to Rome, to chase his dream, so when I sing it I feel that strong emotion.
Then, together with Andrea Morricone and our producers, who are Swedish, also very knowledgeable about Morricone’s repertoire, we finally found a meeting and this 14-track setlist was born.
MANOLA = Furthermore, this new album was preceded by a concert at the Verona Arena, and directed by the son of Maestro Morricone, Andrea, also an incredible experience.
IGNAZIO = Yes, it also went on the air (the concert) a few days ago, on November 10th for Maestro Morricone’s birthday. It was a great experience, because we were finally back in concert after almost two years in front of an audience, it was the first concert in front of an audience and certainly singing all those melodies, many of which tell true stories, such as Here’s to you, which is one of my favorite songs, which talks about the story of Sacco and Vanzetti and a huge injustice. So it was exciting, both for the songs sung and for the situation in which we found ourselves, after a year and a half, to go back to the concert in front of people, we were also preparing the album, which is now out, so it was a lot nice.
MANOLA = We were talking about your 12-year career before, but there is a moment in your career, even at an international level, that you remember with more affection ….
IGNAZIO = When we met you (laughter)😁😁
MANOLA = I wanted to know this ☺….. I thank you infinitely …. and the second important moment ????
GIAN = When we saw you again (laughter)😁😁
MANOLA = For me the interview can be concluded here !! Thanks.☺
MAURO = (to Piero) And what’s yours?
PIERO = Everyone has their indelible moment, personally when we sang in front of Pope Francis in Panama, during the World Youth Day, that was something unforgettable.
MAURO = There is no Manola to keep!😉
MANOLA = Compared to the Pope, I withdraw !!😁
(starts the live of the song SE…..applause)
MANOLA = It is strange to enter at the end of this song, because it seems to disturb me, Il Volo on Radio Italia only Italian music, strictly live, we specify it, because you look like a record, guys, it’s incredible !!
MAURO = Really good.
GIAN = Thanks!
MANOLA = Well done, well done, well done
MAURO = But, among the 14 songs on the album ….
GIAN = This is my favorite ..
MAURO = His too though (by Piero)
GIAN = …. especially for the text, not only for the melody, because this was written by Andrea Morricone, the son of the master, the film (the music) was written by Andrea, but then the text is wonderful, tells a beautiful love story.
MAURO = Exactly.
IGNAZIO = What I often think is that it is totally different from everything there is today, from all the fashion music, which we listen to today, but I think that these melodies are a little like pizza for Italians, that is they are part of our culture, and we must be really proud of them, because the maestro Morricone has spread great emotions to the whole world with his soundtracks to all the greatest films.
GIAN = I imagine that tomorrow we will read in all the newspapers “Morricone is like pizza” ….😑
MANOLA = Yes, but it’s a nice compliment though.
PIERO = I understand what Ignazio means, we want to explain and clarify the title of this project, of this album, Il Volo sings Morricone. Morricone is not a man whose work is celebrated, Morricone is a genre apart, he has created a completely different genre, and is an eternal genre, which will never die.
MAURO = Indeed, the comparison is correct, it is right.
IGNAZIO = It is part of our culture.
MAURO = It is right and then you are the only ones to bring the Italian Bel Canto around the world, and therefore it was right to think of an album of this genre, with the music of the maestro Ennio Morricone, so congratulations for the idea.
What I wanted to ask you, what was the hardest song to sing, among these 14?
PIERO = Maybe “Amalia por amor”, because it is in Portuguese.
IGNAZIO = No, I think that one of the most difficult has always been “E più ti penso”, yes!
PIERO = Even “Metti una sera a cena”, it was difficult …
MANOLA = Gianluca what do you think?
GIAN = I have to tell you that for them (Piero and Ignazio), it was all particularly difficult … (laughter)😁😁, for me a little less …. no, I’m kidding!
IGNAZIO = He faced everything with high chest !!
GIAN = But I must say that it is not only the acute, the high note, it is a matter of interpretation…
MAURO = Bravo!
GIAN = …. they are very difficult melodies, which move away from “Nessun Dorma” or from songs where there is a need for vocal power, without interpretation these songs cannot be sung.
IGNAZIO = For example there is “Here’s to You”, it is a song that we expressly wanted to sing it in a much lower key than what we could have done, because in any case the songs, especially these songs, as Gianluca says, need of a great interpretation and we worked hard on it, in fact, we sang, re-sung and re-sung this song in the studio to find the perfect emotion and interpretation.
GIAN = Then if you live it in first person, as for example in the song SE of Nuovo Cinema Paradiso ….. even better
PIERO = We understand it, that you are in love, the text speaks of love, we understand it !!!😁
MANOLA = It seems to me a beautiful thing.!
GIAN = It is beautiful indeed …😘
IGNAZIO = I understand, but he is becoming a little like Abruzzo, in everything he puts Abruzzo in the middle !! (laughs)😁
MANOLA = Today it is like this, today Gianluca is in the middle (she mean that Gian is made fun of by Piero and Ignazio)
PIERO = When he breaks up, he’ll sing “And the more I think of you” (laughter)
MANOLA = But why should he leave?
MAURO = Later we hope …
MANOLA = But as late as possible! Since these are the last minutes we spend together, let’s talk about the 2022 tour right away. The orchestra from live and your voices that will somehow blend with this incredible orchestra. You will also leave for the US.
PIERO = March 3, from the US, March – April and then the rest of the world.
We would like to remind you that we will sing in Italy in two different periods: summer and autumn.
In the autumn we will do the sports halls and soon we will publish the dates.
MANOLA = Are you excited?
IGNAZIO = A lot
MANOLA = Meet the live audience again …
IGNAZIO = We can’t wait, but we really can’t wait, because we always say that concerts are the maximum expression of an artist, where you can feel really free, because yes, the interviews where you tell about yourself are beautiful, but on stage you can express everything and have that adrenaline, and it’s very different from doing interviews.
PIERO = It is the magical expression of our deepest joy.
MAURO = In the meantime, between now and when you leave for the tour, you can always come here and meet the audience in our Reward Play.
IGNAZIO = Yes, but I don’t want to have that man who hurries everyone (he points to a man behind the scenes), if we come here, we start in the morning and finish in the evening.
MAURO = No, no, don’t worry, we’ll tie him up that day.
PIERO = But you have to redo Palermo (He refers to a summer event made by Radio Italia in a square in Palermo, with great success)
MANOLA = We will do it again, we hope.
MAURO = But surely, if it can be done, it will be done. In the meantime we are waiting for you here, if you come to visit us: Radio Italia live, so at least the friends who are here (audience) can see you sing live, do a kind of dress rehearsal.
PIERO = So let’s do the rehearsal (he shows the vinyl record) This is the new album, close-up on the album: Il Volo Sings Morricone, our new album.
MAURO = Thanks guys, thanks to everyone.
MANOLA = Thanks to IL VOLO.
G + P + I = Grazie mille, bye bye.
Nice interview, and how wonderful those two songs.
I’m sorry that you have waited a long time for this translation, but my PC started to throw a tantrum, several times I had to redo some pieces.
Meanwhile, our young men, tireless, continue the promotion of the CD, they have already been to Spain and Germany and now they will also do two instore, one in Milan and one in Rome.
Finally I am attaching this beautiful video that was published a few days ago, it is Piero who sings the AVE MARIA at his best friend’s wedding, in June of this year. Good viewing!
Daniela
Credit to owners of all photos and videos.