With ‘O Sole Mio’ in hand, the boys set out for night four of Ti Lascio una Canzone.
It’s April 25th, 2009, and these three teenage boys who only met a short time before are getting ready to turn their world upside down. They are now Only One Step from Stardom!
Let’s see where do we begin? How about where they began, when they stepped on that stage, and immediately became stars?
The first time these three boys sang together everyone was amazed. Who wasn’t amazed, Roberto Cenci! He knew exactly what he was doing. He realized by putting these three voices together he would create an amazing sound! How right he was!
So, let’s turn to Piero who will tell us how the guys first sang together….
I remember Roberto Cenci calling us all three to the center of the stage during the rehearsals.
‘Piero, Gianluca and Ignazio, come here.’
They start ‘O Sole Mio’ and we sing as we had divided the parts. Gianluca begins with the first verse and then it’s my turn, I attack with ‘Ma n’ato sole,’ (but another sun). This ‘Ma n’naaaato’ with the note kept so long and vibrated, as we still sing it today, was born in that first test because I learned, ‘O Sole Mio,’ by listening to the Three Tenors, that is Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo and Josè Carreras. And Pavarotti made those three words of refrain with a very, fast, but difficult beat. I did not have that technique, so I did it slowly. Then I asked: ‘Roberto, sorry, can I do it my way the ‘ma n’ato sole?’ He answers ‘Yes.’ And I say, ‘Unplug the orchestra when it’s time and come behind me.’
Ignazio tells us about the reaction to their singing it on that Saturday night….
That Saturday night there was a great standing ovation for us, with ‘O Sole Mio.’ I think that that performance marked the real starting point of our career.
When I had agreed to do the auditions, I was aware that it would be a great experience and would last only two months. But I never expected that we could get all this great success.
Gianluca puts the event in the history books…
The theater came down.
Piero on my left, me in the middle, Ignazio on my right. In the history of music no one had ever seen three children of thirteen or fourteen sing these kinds of songs. So, we must also thank Roberto Cenci because, if it wasn’t for him maybe today, we would not be here. It was nice, it was something…. How can I tell you? It was natural. I immediately enjoyed singing together, there was no problem.
But it was also all unexpected.
I thought there were three hundred thousand boys singing like me, and instead that night I discovered that there are only two: Ignazio and Piero.
Piero looks back over the events since that night….
But can you think about how far we’ve come? We did not even know each other and now we have been working together for six years, we toast together, we cry together.
By now Gianluca and Ignazio, but let’s not let them know, they are a part of me, I do not know how I could do without them.
I’ll make you understand one thing: when I’m on stage singing my solo, as soon as I finish, I cannot wait for the other two to come because I feel their moral, psychological and even physical support. If I feel bad, I know that there are two of them that can help me, we can help each other, and this is fundamental for me, to feel that we support each other, that we are always together.
And if I think of how far we have come from Ti Lascio una Canzone, I am reminded of Antonella Clerici. Antonella was the one who, even after the program, has always supported our project. Every time someone spoke badly about us, she was ready to defend us, she never changed, she never, never, demanded a thank you and I must tell you that we still speak to each other every time there is something new. She’s just like you see her on TV: sincere.
So, let’s step away from the stage a moment and talk about what was going on behind the scenes. Well, we certainly know that the idea to put the three together was the genius of Roberto Cenci the artistic director and director of the program. But there was so much more happening!
In his book Ricomincio Dai Tre (I Start Again from Three) Michele Torpedine, their manager tells us what happened that night.
Alone in his apartment, Michele Torpedine was sitting on his sofa with the volume off on his TV. The show he was watching was Ti Lascio Una Canzone. He keeps looking at the screen and he suddenly thinks, Ignazio reminds him of Luciano Pavaroti, Gianluca seemed similar to Jose Carreras and Piero is similar to Placido Domingo. He still had not heard them sing. Out of curiosity, he raised the volume and Michele says, “here I am aware of another element, that is even more important than the first. The three casually put together to sing a song of the program possess an incredible vocality for their age.”
At this point Michele’s head is spinning. He’s thinking these guys are good and again repeats it to himself, they’re good! He thinks, “What if I try to put them together seriously? A trio he tells himself. Here’s what I could do….”
Michele says, “The next day I am a volcano. I want to talk to everyone: producers, managers, families.”
For Michele it was a return to the beginning. Only this time it was better.
Michele explained in his book that the day the guys came together singing, “O Sole Mio” on Ti Lascio una Canzone, he was at the end of his career. For him it was truly over. All he had done for so many now seemed in vain. But with this vision before him, three amazing teenagers, he was able to see a new light. A light that would start the wheels rolling again. A light that would reveal truth. A truth that never before was revealed to him. A truth he searched for his whole life but would only find in his relationship with Il Volo.
And so it begins…
Now the guys will tell us how it all came together….
Piero begins….
On June 9th, 2009, nine days after the end of Ti Lascio Una Canzone, my parents left for Rome. They were a bit mysterious about it. When I asked them what they were going to do in Rome they only replied that they had to meet a person and, I tell the truth, I did not even insist on knowing who.
They leave, and where am I going to sleep? At my grandparents, of course. The next day they come home and then, yes, I wanted to know something more. ‘Dad, what have you done in Rome?’
‘Nothing’ he answers, ‘we met a certain Torpedine.’
The first thing I do, is go on the Internet and look up ‘Torpedine.’ A lot of things came up, musician and record producer of people like Pino Daniele, Lucio Dalla, Fabrizio De Andre, Giorgia, Biagio Antonacci, Zucchero (and he took him to the Kremlin in 1990) and Andrea Bocelli, only to name some names. He has managed Gianna Nannini’s America tour, has edited the records and events for the thirtieth anniversary of Pino Daniele’s career, and has had the artistic management of an edition of Thirty Hours for Life. He was also the artistic director of the first two editions of Pavarotti and Friends, and he did a lot of other things that it would take a book just to tell them all.
Anyway, I read everything I found on the Internet and the same day I went back to dad: ‘But what did this Torpedine tell you?’ My father was very vague, really, very vague. ‘No, nothing, we talked like that.’
I did not know what to expect, there was a strange atmosphere since the show was over. I knew that the parents of Ignazio and Gianluca had gone to that appointment, but I did not know what to think.
After a month, my parents make another trip to Rome to meet the legendary Torpedine, while my brother, my sister and I go back to sleep at our grandparents’ house. The day after, mom and dad came back to Naro with a check. It was the advance of the contract.
‘Piero, we signed a contract with Torpedine for a record’ my father told me, immediately and without being vague this time. And do you know what I thought? ‘Wow nice.’ But so, very simply. I did not understand the importance of the thing, I swear, I did not understand it.
And what was Ignazio’s reaction….
And who understood it, Pie?
Immediately after the end of the program my parents, like those of Piero, received a call from the office of Bibi Ballandi.
Who is Bibi Ballandi? Eh, even here we should open not just a chapter, but a whole book to explain it because he is the producer with a capital P. Some examples? The shows on Rai Uno de Fiorello and Celentano, Dancing with the Stars and also Ti Lascio una Canzone.
From Ballandi’s office, they wanted the parents of the three boys – we did not have a name yet – to go to Rome to discuss their children’s future. I stayed at home, just like Piero. On their return, as usual, mom and dad sat down with me and my sister around the table to talk about what had happened in Rome. Michele Torpedine who came back after seventeen years of managing, Andrea Bocelli, and Tony Renis, Mister Quando, Quando, were interested in us. What did I think? What could I think, one who in the last five years had done nothing but sing from morning to night? After several meetings we signed our first managerial contract.
But, of course, Gianluca remembers it differently….
I do not remember all these things, Igna.
That is a period that I really cannot remember in general.
I was just a child who dreamed. While the other guys who had participated in the broadcast returned home to go to the beach and were preparing to start a new school year, the three of us walked towards a professional artistic career.
I really did not realize it. I did not even know what the contracts were like, I did not care. Once I told my father something like this: ‘But why, to be a singer, it takes a contract?’ I only remember that at a certain point we went to lunch in Rome, at Rome Cavalieri with Tony Renis to talk about music and recording songs. The contract had already been signed. I was there with my father, Piero, Ignazio and their parents.
Yes, during the period of Ti Lascio una Canzone there was a rumor about these three tenorini’s. After the program there was much talk about the three tenors. But as a child what can you understand?
Even when we first met Michele Torpedine and Barbara Vitali, who since then became the fourth member of the group, even if you never see her on stage, I did not understand just how it was possible that Andrea Bocelli’s manager was interested in us. It was something that upset me. I went to see Bocelli my idol and to work with the manager who had made him famous. A dream, in fact!
We were three funny, awkward, children: Ignazio fat, Piero roly-poly too, I was small and plump and with pimples. So, at the first meeting, I look at Torpedine and ask him: ‘But what came into your mind?’
Sometimes even today I look at the photos, the videos of when we were little ones and I still ask myself had he really seen into the future. And he also had a lot of patience, because in addition to being funny and clumsy, we were very confused and, wherever we went, everyone looked at us in a strange way. Like that evening, in Jesolo, when we met Michele.
We finally finished Ti Lascio Una Canzone and they invited us to sing on June 27th, 2009, at the nineteenth edition of Miss Italy in the world. The evening was broadcast on Rai Uno by the Jesolo Tourist Palace, conducted by Caterina Balivo and Biagio Izzo.
When we arrived in the dressing rooms, I saw Raf. ‘Oh my God, there’s Raf!’ I said. “Let me take a picture. I run to him like crazy, ‘Can I take a picture with you?’ We were three children at the park playing. Ignazio, to name one, he poured the Coca-Cola on the floor in the dressing room, and it ended up also on Michele’s jacket. Michele turns and says to Barbara look, I still remember it, with a face looking like ‘Oh my God.’
So, until now, I did not talk about the results of Ti Lascio Una Canzone because I was waiting to tell you all three stories. So how did everyone do in the competition?
Gianluca won the first night singing “Il Mare Calmo della Sera.”
Ignazio won the second night with the song, “Quando l’amore Diventa Poesia.”
Gianluca won the third night with the song, “La Luna che non c’è.”
And, Piero won the fourth night with the song, “Un Amore Così Grande.”
Gianluca won the competition with the song “Il Mare Calmo della Sera.”
Ignazio came in second with “Quando l’amore Diventa Poseia”
Piero came in third with “Un Amore Così Grande.”
And the biggest win of the night, they walked off the stage, Only One Step from Stardom!
The source for many of my stories is the guy’s book “Un’avventure straordinaria, la nostra storia,” (An extraordinary adventure, our story). If you can read Italian, I advise that you read it. It truly is an extraordinary story! (Available on Amazon)
And while you’re at it, Michele Torpedine’s book Ricomincio Dai Tre (I Start Again From Three) is also a good read. It is in Italian and available on Amazon.
If you would like to share a story with me, please email: susan.flightcrew@yahoo.com
To read more Il Volo stories visit us at http://www.ilvolo flightcrw.com.
On March 19, at the Pirandello Theater in Agrigento, an event in favor of peace in Ukraine was held. It was called, SICILY FOR PEACE.
Piero Barone took part in this event.
The event was organized by Silvio Schembri, (journalist) and Lello Analfino (singer and producer), both friends of Piero.
When Piero was proposed to participate, he wasn’t sure if he would be in Sicily on those days, but then when he was sure he could be there, he surprised everyone by attending the event.
The video begins with Silvio Schembri coming down from the stage and arriving where Piero Barone is seated.
Silvio makes Piero get up and the people, recognizing him, applaud, then Silvio, imitating the voice of a woman who says:
“Did you see, I told you it was him,”😁😁
and then presents: “PIERO BARONE, there is no need for an introduction.”(applause)
Come with me. (Piero takes off his jacket) Make yourself comfortable.
PIERO: Tonight, I am really happy, honored, to be attending this event. I was fascinated by the Pirandello Theater, because I had never been inside the Pirandello Theater.
SILVIO: This is news that I discovered today, Piero Barone who sang on the most important stages in the world ……
MAN: You went directly to the Ariston (Sanremo stage) without going through the Pirandello Theater, we can say.
PIERO: I realized that it is something that I should have done for some time, because today I arrived 100 meters from the theater and I asked a woman for information:
“Madam, where is the Pirandello Theater?” and she replied:
“You are not Sicilian.”(laughter)😁
“Yes, but unfortunately I don’t know where it is.”
SILVIO: There was never an opportunity, but who knows, maybe this is the first of a long series of occasions.
(on the stairs of the stage)
And here we are, moreover you tour New York, Las Vegas, all parts of the world, but always in Naro, then you come back.
VOICE: (from the audience) Bravo, Naro in the heart !!❤
PIERO: A little while ago I was saying, while I was doing the interview with Silvio…. (There is the overview of the theater, but the interview returns in the backstage)
MAN: The truth is that you like Agrigento so much, when you can live it, we have seen you around, on the seafront, at the tennis club, in short, when you want, Agrigento is your life.
PIERO: Agrigento makes you feel protected, it is a fantastic city. I was born in this magnificent province, I was born in Naro, but I often frequent Agrigento in the summer, I bring all my friends and collaborators to Sicily, I make them all arrive.
(continues on the stairs)
In the city of Agrigento, I don’t know many people, because I frequented it (Agrigento) for the choir of S. Cecilia (as a child, before participating in Ti Lascio una Canzone), when I was a beginner, with Professor Bonfiglio, I spent my childhood there.
SILVIO: Then at 14 you decided to become famous … right? (laughter)😁
PIERO: But I spend my holidays in San Leone (a seaside resort near Agrigento), it’s great, I take all my friends, my colleagues, I don’t go anywhere, they arrive here in Sicily …
SILVIO: Every now and then you also come to Siculiana Marina … (another seaside resort of Agrigento) 😁
PIERO: Because the best thing is to feel yourself. Today I called Silvio, but not only for this event, but also to ask him where we are going tomorrow, because the first phone call I make when I come to Sicily is to call Silvio Schembri (Silvio gives him a kiss …. applause and laughter)
SILVIO: Because he knows that I always take him to eat well, that you understand!! 😁
PIERO: Two weeks ago, Lello (organizer of the event) sent me a message, and I was far away (he was in the US), and I didn’t know what to answer, I would have said yes right away, but I don’t want to give a word, and then invent an excuse if I have a sudden commitment, because unfortunately I am here physically almost never, and now I am overjoyed to give my contribution. I don’t sing, without my colleagues (Gian and Ignazio), for various reasons, so today I called Ignazio and Gianluca and I told them:
“Any video you will see from tomorrow on the internet, don’t worry, I’ll sing in a theater, don’t worry”, and I’ll sing, we call it a song…. I want to sing a prayer, because everyone can come here and sing any song, but for an evening like this, I want to sing something special, an Ave Maria (Hail Mary) and it’s the only one way, for my part, to express my closeness, in such a complex and particular moment. (applause)❤
(The Ave Maria begins.)
MAN: Thanks to both of you, thanks to Silvio Schembri, thanks to Piero Barone, for what you are giving this evening to the Pirandello Theater, for the solidarity operation you are carrying out and which is not the first time, I also remember when the pandemic broke out, you took an important step.
SILVIO: With the help of many people who are also here, like Lello Analfino and Piero, in the midst of the pandemic, in the first wave, we immediately activated, with many other friends, to find funds.
PIERO: The idea was born during our phone calls: “Oh Silvio, what do we do?”
SILVIO: At the beginning of the pandemic our talks were about how to cook bread and pizzas, then we said: “But what can we do? Are we doing something concrete?”
Thanks to all of you.
(video resumes on stage)
LELLO: Piero Barone (hug) You are my nephews. ❤❤
And here is the full video of Piero’s entire performance, published by the Pirandello Theater.
SILVIO: I’ve dreamed of it for a lifetime (to introduce Piero) and tonight I have to do it myself: On the piano Maestro Salvatore Galante(applause), sings Piero Barone. (Applause – the Ave Maria begins, at the end, long applause, Lello Analfino enters, very excited, long hugs)
LELLO: You are like my nephews.
SILVIO: Yes, uncle, leave us some money later. (laughter)😁(To Piero) We talked about it before, now the concerts start again, the travels, the theaters full …..
PIERO: Yes, we start again on June 2nd after two years, in Italy, we start from the Verona Arena, we will also sing in Taormina, June 11th and 12th and maybe …..
SILVIO: .…. also, in other parts of Sicily, so to speak. Taormina is a fixed stop for Il Volo, as if it were a tradition …
PIERO: He is happy, because when he comes to Taormina, then we go to the disco.
LELLO: I know, he (Silvio) tells me crazy things.
PIERO: The last photo of the concert in Taormina ….
SILVIO: Be careful what you say there are so many secrets …
PIERO: …… it is not a photo of Il Volo on the stage singing, with Etna behind and the sea, but it is a photo of Silvio Schembri in the disco, without a shirt ….😁😁
LELLO: But did you have a bow tie?
SILVIO: I’ll explain why. We were in this disco, after the Il Volo concert, and all the girls were saying: “a photo”, Piero lifts his shirt and shows his abs and I thought, I can do this too …. and then I said: “Come here a second and I too will take off my shirt and take the picture, and the (the girls) came”😁
But one of the most beautiful things in Taormina, we tell this and then we let you go, it is a fixed stop, when I can, I always go there, and one of the fixed stops when Il Volo sings in Taormina, is Saretto al Bambar where we eat granite there in Taormina.
And when Il Volo arrives in Taormina, you can’t imagine what’s there, it’s all full, with their fans who come from all over the world, you hear them speak in all languages, and go inside the Bambar to get the slushes, with all these people, it’s packed, and so I pull away for a moment and put myself behind to let the fans get closer.
I put myself in a trajectory between Il Volo and two elderly people who were there eating the granita…. (while he talks he sees a woman in the audience laughing) “You already know this story madam? Already laughing?”😁
At one point the man stops eating and calls the waiter and asks: “Excuse me, this whole brothel (crowd of people)”
“You know, there are those from Il Volo.”
This man turns around and the first person he sees is me, he turns around and says to his wife: “How much has this become of Il Volo?”(he means: how much fat has this of Il Volo become)😁
I swear to you! 😁😁😁 It’s a true story !!
LELLO: And don’t you know that since Silvio goes to Bambar, they have made seafood granita😁
SILVIO: Piero, I don’t know what to say, thank you, thank you in my name and in everyone’s name.
final greetings
It was a really good event and for a good cause.
In these days, Il Volo was live on a pop program of a Korean radio show. I saw them live and it was very strange, because that radio transmits very different music from the one Il Volo sings, but it was beautiful and also appreciated by the young presenter.
Here is the video of Il Volo’s participation.
Concert dates continue to be added here in Europe and also in Italy and it is with great joy that the date of BRESCIA has also been added. I couldn’t believe it, and the news came from OHIO (thanks Rose Marie). The concert will take place on September 2nd outdoors in the beautiful Piazza Loggia, the place where in 2015 I saw my first Il Volo concert.
I struggled a lot to get the tickets, something didn’t work in the presale, but in the end I made it, third row. I hope I can make some great videos for you, ideally I will take all of you with me!! It will be a great night.❤
Over the last four weeks we’ve followed the path that each guy took on the road to success! We learned it wasn’t always an easy road. Many curves and disappointments but finally we have all three guys in the same place at the same time. So now they meet! Not exactly! They still have to do what they were put on earth to do! Introduce the world to their magnificent voices. But I’m getting ahead of myself. They still haven’t met.
The Il Volo family is large and just about everyone is in Rome for the audition but let’s let Gianluca tell you about his first meeting with a member of the family on the day of the audition….
From that day in Rome, I remember very well Ignazio’s mother. I do not remember seeing either Piero or Ignazio, but Caterina yes. During the audition they made us sing in a recording room, outside in the queue was Ignazio’s mother…. Caterina heard the voice of someone singing, and she had listened to me. When I came out, she looked at me and said: ‘Congratulations! Bravo, very good!’ She heard me sing and she thought Andrea Bocelli was in the recording room.
So, it seems Caterina Boschetto was the first to make contact, but little did she know what that meeting would lead to!
For me, I see this as the day their destiny is fulfilled. Call it La Forza del destino (the force of destiny)! I’ll call it as I see it! This was God’s plan! His hand was always guiding each of these young men. How else would you explain how they happened to be in the same place at the same time? We’re not just talking about three teenage boys with nice voices, we are talking about three teenage boys with phenomenal voices. Very unique voices! Truly one-of-a-kind voices! Touched by the hand of God! Let me call Gianluca back to explain what he thought about their voices….
I thought there were three hundred thousand boys singing like me, and instead that night I discovered that there are only two: Ignazio and Piero.
Of course, Gianluca was referring to the night they sang together for the first time on Ti Lascio una Canzone.
It wasn’t just that the voices were extraordinary, no, it was that they complemented one another. It was natural and it was apparent from the very first note that these voices worked well together! That their voices are in tune with one another. The first time they walked out on the stage, it worked!
So how is this possible? For me there is only one way to explain it! Before the Lord sent these three amazing young men to earth, he said what this world needs are voices that can bring joy to my people and so he chose three loving couples and sent each one a son who would bring joy to the world through his voice!
Alone each voice is phenomenal. Together they are a symphony! Listen to their voices when they sing. Their voices are coming from every direction like a symphony orchestra that is forming the music around you!
I always say I can tell you who’s singing at any given time. I can even hear their voices one over another and draw them out. That’s the other thing that makes them unique! Each voice is distinct even when they are singing together!
So, without further ado, let’s find out what each guy had to say about his experience at the audition at Via dei Gracchi! We start as we always do with Piero. Let’s see what he remembers are about the audition…
What do I remember from the audition?
I remember that it was in Via dei Gracchi in Rome and that I arrived there with ‘La Voce Del Silenzo’ and the unfailing ‘Un Amore Così Grande’ and the suits that my father bought me, I felt like a king.
‘Mr. Barone, we’ll let you know’ they told Dad when I finished singing. After five days, the longest of my life, they call and say: ‘Prepare these five pieces for the next audition.’ Those five tracks were: Sei Nell’Anima of Gianna Nannini, La Voce Del Silenzo, Un Amore Così Grande, Voglio Vivere Così, Domenica È Sempre Domenica
The aim was to test me on different genres, of course, to understand which one was the most suitable for me. So, I get to the recording studio in Rome and start singing. Only shortly thereafter, they stop the music. The first so, the second and I was already demoralized, if a test does not make it even to the refrain, it’s not a good sign. The first thing I thought was that it did not go well. At the third track I attack the refrain, ‘Un Amore Così…….and they stop the musical base. When I left the recording room and arrived in the mixer room, I found dad with my brother and a friend who had come to Cosenza with us at the Tour Music Fest, all three beautiful smiling, quiet. I died and they are happy. There is something wrong. Roberto Cenci looks at me and tells me: ‘Bravo, Piero, you are inside the program.’ But I really believed it only when they brought me to the seamstress.
If you ask my father, what he remembers about that audition …. the first answer will be a number: 1280. Those are the euros that he spent to buy two or three complete outfits in a very nice Naro store, because as a good Sicilian he said, ‘How? I bring my son to an audition at RAI, I have to make a good impression, no?’ I felt like a king with those clothes.
What about Ignazio? What does he remember?
I did not really believe it. I remained as usual with my feet firmly planted on the ground. I must admit, at first, I was a bit perplexed at the idea of going to audition because, I have always been a pessimist, but then, we talked about it in the family, as we have always been used to doing, we said to ourselves: ‘Why not?’ So, in the end I went to do the auditions in Rome, funded by mom and dad who, in the meantime, were continuing to make great sacrifices for me.
I arrived with mom and dad at Via dei Gracchi, where the auditions were held. There were many guys like me who were hoping for something positive without expecting anything, trying not to have too many illusions.
At the beginning I was also quite calm, it could not be much different from singing on stage. Anxiety began to rise as my turn approached. And here they call my name: ‘Boschetto?’
I got up and went into the studio where the boys were singing. There was, Roberto Cenci, waiting for me. He looked at me and asked, ‘Dear Boschetto, what are you letting us hear today?’ I had chosen Ti Cerchero by Gigi Finizio and Melodramma by Andrea Bocelli.
‘Thank you very much’ was the only thing Roberto Cenci told me when I finished singing. All there? But how was I doing? Was I okay? I had no idea but, climbing the stairs, Pannocchia, who was the manager who accompanied us, tells me that I have to study a song within thirty minutes. What song? The Winner Takes It All by ABBA. To help me there was Luca Pitteri, a vocal coach who collaborated with AMICI and who at that time worked for Ti Lascio una Canzone.
They gave me a CD player and I started to listen and study the song, and after exactly thirty minutes they called me back, we went into the studio where Roberto Cenci was waiting for me. ‘Please, start,’ he said, and the base started. I cannot say if I sang well, I do not remember anything other than the fact that somehow, they let me guess that I was inside the program, I had succeeded, but I tried not to build too many castles in the air as we returned home. What I did not know was that while I was inside singing The Winner Takes It All, outside my mother and Pannocchia spoke and he said: ‘Ignazio is in the program, madam!’ But they did not even tell me. Of course, I had a positive feeling, but how positive is the presentiment of one who is pessimistic. After a few days they called me back telling me that I had to go back to Rome. I did not know why but already the phone call filled me with joy. Maybe I had to take another test? I know it may sound strange, but I really did not know what to expect. Then in reality the reason for the summons to Rome was to tell me that I had been taken, I was in the cast of Ti Lascio Una Canzone.
Okay, Gianluca, we know your experience was different but how was it different? What happened at Via dei Gracchi?
I’m sorry for Piero and Ignazio, but I did not have to wait for a phone call to know the result of the audition for Ti Lascio Una Canzone. Via dei Gracchi in Rome, I remember very well. It is in a fairly central area, in the Prati district and not far from the Vatican, a very long street full of very beautiful buildings. From Montepagano to Rome, the distance is not much, just over an hour. We got in the car in the afternoon, calmly. There was the complete family: dad at the wheel, mom sitting next to him, I in the back seat with the two Ernesto of the house, my grandfather, who was proud and satisfied with that trip even if we did not know yet how it would end, and my brother, who at the time was only seven years old.
‘How much is missing (When do we arrive)?’ I asked my dad. And after five minutes: ‘And now how much is missing?’. And after another five minutes: ‘And now how much is missing?’ Fortunately, the road was short, or I would have made him mad. I was very anxious I had never done anything so important. Already for me to go to RAI, in short, it is not something that I can explain in words.
When we entered, I realized that I would not be alone to support that audition. There were many other guys, all with their parents, a long line of people, but I was not worried because I was there just for fun, it was already an adventure.
When they called my name, I entered the registration room. Roberto Cenci was there. It was the first time I saw him. The impact was a bit ‘so, because he has a very tough character, does not convey much sympathy at the first meeting. But the essential thing is that I start to sing: ‘I wanted to be a little alone to think, you know ….’ I had chosen The Voice of Silence. I remember it perfectly. I was thirteen – the first audition was in November 2008 – and I already had this deep, baritone voice.
I sang in the recording room and saw the others on the other side of the glass. There was Roberto Cenci, my grandfather was there with my mother, my brother, and my father, all in the other room. So, I sing and at one point, Roberto stops the music and says: ‘Stop all.’ ‘What happens?’ I thought. From where I was, I did not understand anything, I saw only the faces.
‘This boy,’ continues Roberto, addressing my family, ‘he was kissed by the Lord.’ All I could see were only the faces of my parents and in my head, I kept asking ‘What’s up?’ And at a certain point I did not make it anymore and I opened the door, I went to Roberto and in the meantime, I repeated: ‘What’s going on?’ I was small, I could not realize. My father, made a face, I do not forget, he looks at me and says: ‘Nothing, good!’
‘Congratulations’ Roberto tells me, hugs me, makes me sing another song, calls all the others on the staff. ‘Feel this baby, you feel like singing.’ I remember these scenes very well; I see it again. And I was very excited, I was very happy, I could not even sing, at one point I even stuck. Because I did not expect such a positive reaction from Roberto Cenci and all the others, producers, technicians and I do not know who else there was, that day, because Roberto had called everyone.
My mother and father never stopped smiling. My grandfather was very happy, if possible, more than when we left. My brother was small, but it was clear to him that it was a party. In the end, do you know until how late we stayed in that hall? Until nine in the evening, because Roberto Cenci called me back even after the audition to make me sing some more songs, to start making me try some duet. In short, when we said goodbye, I was exhausted, but I was bursting with joy.
Okay so they all made it. They were all accepted! But of course, you already knew that. So, let’s see what happened next.
Piero begins by telling us about the rehearsals in Rome in early March 2009….
Ti Lascio una Canzone was aired at the Ariston Theater in Sanremo but, the first of the rehearsals were in Rome starting in March. Upon landing at Fiumicino, there was a coach from the editorial staff waiting for us. We were still just a group of kids who did not know each other, we came from different parts of Italy, and we were all different ages. I did not know what to expect.
I get on the bus and the first person I immediately notice is a nuisance who sang (sang from morning to night, in continuation), who screamed, screamed, was never silent, never stopped. It went on all the way to Rome. I cannot forget it, especially because from Fiumicino to Rome center it is about an hour’s drive. All that time talking, screaming, and singing, damn him!
Anyone want to guess who it was?
We arrive at the hotel, and it was not difficult to start meeting other guys. But you know how certain things go! It was easy for people in the same room to communicate with each other. But I wanted to get to know the others, so alone, I went down in the hall, and I found Luigi Fronte, who was younger than me. I was fifteen. Then I met Micaela Foti and the guy who was singing on the bus.
“Hi, pleasure, I’m Piero.” I introduce myself.
“Hi, I’m Manuela.”
And this other one? “I am Ignazio.” Present here!
From the first moment, Ignazio and I established a strong relationship. What do I mean? We were looking for each other. We were always together. I, him, and Luigi. Luigi was the mascot, the little one who was with us. We rehearsed with Ignazio, we talked, we joked. Maybe because he was Sicilian like me. I did not know Gianluca right away and, in the beginning, there was not a great bond but, in time we built one.
From that very first Wednesday of trials, I remember perfectly, that I thought this seems to me the same image of the choir. I and Ignazio sitting on the left and around a lot of females. I sang, Non Ti Scordar Di Me, at the first episode and Mamma at the second, Granada at the third.
We sang on Saturday night, and, on Sunday, I flew back to Sicily. Monday, Denise was preparing all the things to learn, she told me the pages to study, ‘Of history, do this.’ ‘I have stressed the words to remember.’ I arrived at school on Tuesday morning, I did all the interrogations and left the following day.
When I got to the rehearsals, I had I to have prepared the pieces that had been assigned to me, by the editorial staff and sent to me on Monday. We had to study the pieces at home for the next installment.
On Monday, between the end of the third episode and the beginning of the fourth, I get the text of Un Un Amore Così Grande to sing alone. So far, all normal! And ‘O Sole Mio divided into three parts. What will this thing be?
Ignazio remembers every detail from the beginning and Piero is racing off to episode four! Let’s listen to Ignazio….
How much do you run Piero!
He is already on the fourth installment and, I’m still here thinking about how nervous I was that night. It was April 4th, 2009, the evening of the start of the program. I had never faced a television experience! It is also true that this agitation of television I only heard it, only at the beginning. Yes, we were all aware that this was television, but for the ingenuity we had at that age, for us it was like singing in the home theater. And then, I had already seen theaters and stages. The thing that made me understand that there was something different was to see all the famous guests. But for the rest, we did not realize the difference.
Even stranger was when I arrived, I was unusually quiet. Perhaps, because in the previous week I had the opportunity to meet my fellow adventurers, and I had immediately linked with Veronica Liberati, Sonia Mosca and Piero Barone, a Sicilian boy like me who was a little like me. I had also met Gianluca Ginoble, but I spent less time with him because he was part of the group of “jocks” (even today we take it around because some remained so!)
La Nostra Favola was my debut song on the first episode, I even got the words wrong, but it went very well. On returning to Marsala, I clearly felt that things were changing, peoplerecognized me, but I tried to take everything with great humility. The first rule for me has always been to keep my feet on the ground. The more weeks passed, the more people recognized me, but I tried to remain the same as always.
To get ready for rehearsals, the week before the episode, they gave us the songs to study for the evening. And on the third night I get the songs that I would have to sing the following Saturday, at the fourth episode. There was something strange. There were songs that I would have done alone, but also ‘O Sole Mio, that I would have to sing with two other guys. What news was that?
Let’s turn to Gianluca to get his take on how the rehearsals went….
Ignazio, I do not believe you were amazed by that news! In my opinion, the earthquake-Ignazio was not astonished, but he surprised others. At the audition, I told you, I have no memory of seeing either Ignazio or Piero. But once the selections were over, we were all put together in Rome, I do not remember in which hotel, from where we started by coach to go to rehearsals with the RAI orchestra.
From there it was impossible not to notice Ignazio. We were about thirty kids with their parents, and he was screaming, singing, making a mess, he alone seemed to be the choir of the southern corner of Rome (football team) all together. Ignazio has always been like that, even today he is, he will never lose this way even at the age of fifty, and that’s what makes him special.
And Piero? Of him, I’m sorry to admit it, I have no particular memories of that period. We were all in the same hotel, but we were many and I tied up with other guys first. But there was a nice climate, we all had a lot of fun together.
From March to the end of May, it was impossible to study on the days dedicated to rehearsals. I did homework and school questions on Monday and Tuesday… I told you, at school I had always been a lazy man, but despite all that year I managed to keep my average, in some matters I had the capacity six and some other seven. At the school interviews with the parents before the exams, my father heard the same thing from all the teachers: ‘All right, he kept the average.’ They were not telling me that I was a genius, I never was, but I managed to do well despite my commitments. So, my dad was satisfied. What matter was missing? Music. Could I go wrong with music? Yes. To the point of risking the insufficiency. In my opinion, the teacher was joking. Real teacher? The truth is that in addition to the commitment that I put myself in, I had to thank the principal and my teachers at the school ‘Gabriele d’Annunzio’ of Roseto who had always understood that my life was changing.
Gianluca tells us that suddenly things changed….
It started on Monday before the episode of April 25th, 2009, when I got the songs that I had to prepare and I saw that there was one, ‘O Sole Mio, divided into three parts. Of course, a little strange it seemed to me. Almost all of us had made duets in the show, but no trio had been composed until that moment.
I had no idea what to expect. Maybe I did not even ask. The important thing, I told you, was to sing and have fun.
All three have succeeded at The Audition and Beyond! The Ariston Theater awaits them. They are ready to step on the stage at Sanremo!
Join me next week as I go back Through the Fields of My Mind and open the door to a new adventure!
Next stop the Ti Lascio una Canzone!
The source for many of my stories is the guy’s book “Un’avventure straordinaria, la nostra storia,” (An extraordinary adventure, our story). If you can read Italian, I advise that you read it. It truly is an extraordinary story! (Available on Amazon)
If you would like to share a story with me, please email: susan.flightcrew@yahoo.com
On the evening, of March 1st, Gianluca, Ignazio and Piero got on a plane to Los Angeles to participate in the Filming Italy event.
But what is Filming Italy?
Created and organized by Agnus Dei di Tiziana Rocca and the Italian Institute of Culture Los Angeles, Filming Italy – Los Angeles promotes Italy as a film set and bridge between Italian and American culture. The Festival whose artistic direction is entrusted to Tiziana Rocca, is presented under the auspices of the Consulate General of Italy in Los Angeles and will see the presence of Consul General Silvia Chiave.
This year, among the various guests, there will also be IL Volo who will also receive an award
Here is the greeting from Il Volo to Filming Italy.
PIERO: We would like to thank Filming Italy LA and the Italian Cultural Institute.
IGNAZIO: Because these have been two difficult years, and a festival like this really was needed.
GIANLUCA: Yes, to start over, to return to reality. We would also like to thank Tiziana Rocca, because she believed in us since the beginning of our career.
And here is Il Volo with Tiziana Rocca and in some beautiful shots. 😉
And here we are on the evening of the event, on the red carpet.
The guys after they received their award!
The following day Il Volo performed, three songs, in the theater but there were only short videos of the performance. Luckily, I found the full video.
“The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly!”
And here is an article that talks about the Filming Italy Festival in Los Angeles. I have translated the part that interests you, Il Volo.🤗
Il Volo reserved for those present a tasty preview of the concert to be held at the Dolby Theater on October 15: an exclusive performance of three songs taken from the latest album, dedicated to the memory of maestro Ennio Morricone. ‘If’, ‘In Fantasy’ and ‘The Ecstasy of Gold’, the latter famous theme of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, with the words written by the master’s son, Andrea.
The voices of the two tenors and baritone were so powerful that they shook the walls of a theater usually reserved for private screenings, not for a concert of such intensity.
After the Festival, dinner with Tiziana Rocca and the Italian actor Salvatore Esposito.
Here they did a short interview with Access Hollywood.
While they were in Los Angeles, Il Volo was also interviewed by Morning News:
And then, they had an interview that aired on Fred fm.
(enter this link and press the PLAY PODCAST button, the interview is in English)
So, when we left the guy’s last week, they were teenagers, and they were starting to realize their potential. Well at least Piero and Ignazio were! Gianluca, not so much!
An Amazing and Playful Video
When Piero started elementary school, there were no music classes and this was a great disappointment for him but now that he was in middle school, the music lessons became an important part of his day. And his teacher Professor Nisi made sure that Piero was a part of every aspect of music even to the point of having him enter the festivals around Sicily. Of course, that was interrupted by the change of voice!
At the age of fourteen Piero was back on track. When he resumed his singing, he was in high school, an accounting school, and there was no music, no music teacher and no festivals.
Could Piero live without the festivals? Not a problem! His father took the situation into his own hands, and he started the festivals again. As Piero said, “One summer I took part in six festivals, and I won all six. And Piero was more and more convinced that if there was one thing he wanted to do in life, it was singing, living for and with music.
So, let’s join Piero as he steps on the road that leads to Rome….
If I have to tell the truth, my project was to become a tenor and a singing teacher. Many opera singers have this double life because, unless you reach a certain level, you cannot always live by only singing!
I, who always thought I would sing alone for the rest of my life, I imagined myself a tenor divided between theater and teaching. But before we got there the road was very long, and it was also in the strict sense of the word. From Naro to Vittoria, there was the master who had advised me to go to the teacher Bavaglio of Palermo. It was a two-hour drive in the first leg and as many on the return.
Having to travel to sing was not new to Piero, he always traveled with his father. Every Saturday his father took him to Agrigento to the rehearsals of the choir of Santa Cecilia. Piero said, “those afternoons were so beautiful. He sacrificed those afternoons to be with me. He could have spent the time at the bar playing cards with his friends but, he chose to take me to Agrigento, a fifteen, twenty-minute drive from Naro.”
Piero remembers….
At the first lesson, with the teacher Bavaglio, we arrived in Vittoria and, we go to the house of this baritone. I was all excited to do the vocalizations and comments. The master Bavaglio says, “I expected more from you.” I was demoralized. But the goal was there, I wanted music to become my life and so, despite the disappointment, for four or five months I kept going to him.
Before the baritone of Vittoria, for about two or three months, Piero studied with a soprano from Caltanissetta. He rode to the lessons with his cousin Giuseppe and returned with a boy from Naro who was studying with the same teacher. The boy who gave him a ride lived near his paternal grandmother so, he always left Piero with her and then his father came to pick him up when he finished work. One evening, when he arrived, his father was already there and, he was talking on the phone. When he finished his conversation, Piero asked, “Who was that dad?” His father replied, “Wait, let’s go home and I’ll tell you later.”
Piero recalls….
It was strange that he would act so mysteriously, but I always trusted him blindly and if he said ‘after’ he meant that it was okay. I was curious, for sure, but I waited calmly. We finished dinner, and daddy kept his promise and told me. ‘On the phone was a lady, a certain Isabella Abiuso. She is part of the casting for Ti Lascio una Canzone and she was given your name by the Tour Music Fest.Stop all and take a step back, ‘what is the Tour Music Fest?It’s a festival that I did not want to do. It’s not that I was undecided, I wanted to think about it. No, I did not want to do it because I won all these festivals and, I was a little tired. Yet it is a great European festival dedicated to emerging music born in 2003. It has several stages, runs throughout Italy and not just singers, but also bands and musicians participated. The stage closest to us was that of Cosenza. ‘I have to drive,’ dad had told me ‘We have a comfortable car, you sleep and, I drive, you will not even notice.’ Twenty-four hours to do Naro-Cosenza, Cosenza-Naro. We arrive there, I sing, and they do not give me more news. But they gave it to someone else.
“Isabella Abiuso,” Piero says, “was one of the talent scouts who selected children for the broadcast Ti Lascio una Canzone. She called the editors of the festival and asked for a name to try someone interesting for that kind of television program. They told Mrs. Abiuso, “Here there is nothing that we can give, apart from a certain Piero Barone, which for us did not work out because it’s not the kind of music that we deal with, but he certainly has an innate talent.”
Piero continues his conversation with his dad…
I was not sixteen yet, it was November 2008. ‘Dad’ I immediately said, ‘this Ti Lascio una Canzone, I’d like to do it. Let’s try, why not?’…. My father thought about it and said: ‘Wait, let’s talk with the maestro in Vittoria.’
‘You are crazy’ was the teacher’s answer. ‘You ruin him with these things because television takes the boys’ heads, it spoils the future.’ Is it possible? Before I was not good enough and, now I could not do the audition because I could ruin the future? My father did not see this anymore. ‘No, I have to make him do it.’
And so it was that Piero auditioned for Ti Lascio una Canzone!
So, Piero has made the leap and stepped on the road to Rome. Let’s turn to Ignazio and see how he made the decision to go to Rome.
When we left Ignazio last week, he was traveling back and forth to Siracusa to study with Giovanna Collica.
You will remember Siracusa is on the east coast of Sicily and Marsala on the west coast. No matter the distance, studying with Giovanna was a great opportunity, so the sacrifice had to be made and once a week Ignazio took the bus with Nina, or drove with his parents to Siracusa.
You also remember, finances were not so great by this time. It took a lot of money to cover the travel expenses, the lessons and the registration for competitions that in many cases were not free. But Ignazio tells us, “The decision was made to ask a person dear to us, a loan that, as soon as mom and dad had settled a little, would be returned. This person has helped us with great generosity, so as, to allow me to continue to pursue this dream.”
Ignazio was happy with the lessons and with the direction he chose with his singing but, he was at a point where he wanted out of the competitions! All the hard work seemed in vain. Facing one competition after another. After a while the stages change but not the faces. Those who work so hard just to be on that stage and those who walk in and take what rightfully belongs to another. No Ignazio had it. He was done with it. Not with the singing, no that was who he was that was never going away. Singing from morning till night no, that wasn’t going to end. No, it was time to hang up the dreams and walk away from the competitions! Life can be so unfair!
So, let’s pick up on Ignazio talking about his decision to not go to anymore competitions….
I felt like crap. No, not when they called me to audition, before I felt like crap, so much so that I almost lost it that night when they talked to me for the first time about Ti Lascio una Canzone. The fact is that competition after competition, year after year, perhaps because I grew up and became less naive – now I was fourteen – at a certain point in 2008 I realized that, as wonderful as it was, the music world was starting to give me the first disappointments: people who paid to see their child win, recommendations and various scams.
My problem is that I have always been for healthy competition, getting to the first place because a person really deserves to be rewarded as such. But it was not like that anymore. I did not want to participate anymore in any competition. I began to give up many proposals. I was in a terrible mood when, in September of that year, I was offered a competition in Caltanissetta, which was presented by the great Nico dei Gabbiani and had as president of the jury Franco Fasano, author and composer of songs like Ti Lascero,’ who won the Sanremo Festival, and also singer/ songwriter as E Quel Giorno Non Mi Perderai Piu’.
It seems Ignazio began to realize that life isn’t always fair and there are people in life who cheat you out of the things that can give your life meaning! Can you imagine working so hard and knowing you did your best but, someone walks in and takes it away from you for selfish reasons? That’s a hard lesson to learn at such a young age. I think this experience was one of the things that made Ignazio as compassionate as he is. He didn’t care about winning for himself, he cared about the competition being fair.
Ignazio continues….
Instinctively I said no. I did not want to take part in any competition that could turn out to be made up. But after so many evenings talking to my family and Liliana, who was always present and always ready to give me some advice, I convinced myself, I am happy to say that there are no recommendations in that competition. I reached third place. But the greatest satisfaction was not the result. At the end of the final evening Franco Fasano took the stage, proposing to do a test in Rome, he did not promise me anything for sure, for a television program that, having seen the great success of the first edition, had reached its second edition.
That program was Ti Lascio Una Canzone!
So, we leave Ignazio on the road to Rome and turn to Gianluca….
Last week we left Gianluca at the recording studio recording what he thought would be his only CD. He recalled, “If I think about it today, it makes me smile. But never, never would I have thought that it would not be the only one, that I could make music my life. I told you: I only sang because it made me feel good, I was happy!”
And so, we sum up where Gianluca was when his father received the call that would change his life.
Gianluca will tell you I was not like Piero or Ignazio. I never took a singing lesson in my life. Gianluca spent his days on a soccer field. He loved to play! He still does but life seems to get in the way now! Gianluca loved to sing but mostly for his own enjoyment.
Gianluca was thirteen when his father received a phone call that changed his life. He recalls….
I do not know exactly what happened because everything happened very quickly…. If I think of 2009, the year in which I met Piero and Ignazio at Ti Lascio una Canzone, it seems like yesterday. Instead, six years have passed. To tell you the truth, seven years passed from the casting sessions because it was 2008 when my father received a call from Licia Giunco.
It is difficult to explain who Licia Giunco is. She’s an incredible woman, known throughout Italy for being the creator of an annual event called Sport for life, a great international ice-skating gala.
The reason for Mrs. Giunco’s phone call was Gianluca’s performances with the choir. “We have a great talent here in Roseto” Mrs. Guinco told Mr. Ginoble. “I would like to bring him to Rai.”
Gianluca continues….
My father had never thought about it. My parents had never even imagined that I would participate in competitions, let alone send me for an audition for television.
‘Let’s try,’ my father replied to Mrs. Giunco. ‘It would be a great opportunity.’ Dad thought it was just a different experience something that could make me have fun. Mrs. Giunco made available her contacts, we talked to Franco Fasano, whom Licia knew, and he took us to audition with Roberto Cenci for the broadcast of Rai. Maybe this is what I liked, the idea that it was only a life experience to do, an experience that would allow me to sing for a while. My parents, as they had always been until then, did not force me in the least and, as enthusiastic as they were of the idea of what I could do, they completely left the decision to me. I had not the slightest idea of what awaited me, but I decided instinctively, with my belly, that yes, that audition I really wanted to do it.
So, we find Gianluca already with one foot in the door. He was given a great opportunity. This woman saw his potential. She knew he would be the perfect competitor. For Piero or Ignazio, they had to wait and see if they would be accepted. But they were used to competition and so they understood how to be patient.
I have told these three stories before but each time they seem somehow different. Why? Destiny! La Forza del destino! Who could imagine that at the same time in history, three boys who come from three different cities in Italy, Naro, Bologna and Montepagano, would be born with absolutely amazing voices? Three different voices but voices that complement one another. Truly gifts from God! Who would imagine they would show up at the same time in the same place on a show which was looking for one special talent but found three special talents?
After each guy made the decision to go to Rome things started to move very quickly!
Suddenly, the guys found themselves on a collision course with life. All they did to get to this point, the great sacrifices made by their families especially Piero and Ignazio were about to pay off. What they learned from this experience is All Roads Lead to Rome but not everyone gets the opportunity to follow that road!
Join me next week as I go back Through the Fields of My Mind and open the door to a new adventure!
Next stop the Audition!
The source for many of my stories is the guy’s book “Un’avventure straordinaria, la nostra storia,” (An extraordinary adventure, our story). If you can read Italian, I advise that you read it. It truly is an extraordinary story! (Available on Amazon)
If you would like to share a story with me, please email: susan.flightcrew@yahoo.com
To read more Il Volo stories visit us at www.ilvolo flightcrw.com.
Come in and share the love of life, friends and Il Volo!
