As June 3^rd approaches, we feel the excitement in the air? After two long years, the World Tour will begin. The fans are starting to assemble in Verona to welcome the guys! This has been going on since last week but, it will intensify as June 3^rd draws near.

On June 5^th, 2021, Ignazio’s message to the press was, “Finally, June 5^th! You don’t know how long we waited for this day! How many days to think, to study, to develop ideas! How many days to hope it would come! Today is an important day for the entire music industry. We start singing in front of an audience!” Yes, they were the first to do a live concert in front of an audience in the ancient Arena of Verona.

You could hear the excitement in Ignazio’s voice! His words sent chills up and down my spine. His words said it loud and clear. We made it! Live is back! The event as you well remember was the “Tribute to Ennio Morricone.”

Can you imagine how the guys are feeling right now? They are so ready to go out and present their new World Tour, Il Volo Sings Morricone and more….

While we’re waiting for them to arrive at Verona, let’s take a look back at the Tribute to Ennio Morricone, where we witnessed An Amazing Transformation in their production. Not to mention the fact that it was their first Live Concert on TV with Rai 1. This will give us a hint about what to expect in their World Tour which begins on June 3^rd.

Let’s go to the stage!

Besides the superb performance, did you notice the interesting scenery? So different from what we are used to in an Il Volo concert. Spectacular scenery! And the videos that go along with each song. Such precision! Just amazing! Everything so well thought out. Down to the last detail!

The guys kept the set list a secret. They wanted to surprise all of us. Piero said, “As for the set list we like to keep it a secret. We will try to satisfy every need of our audience by always keeping the master at the center.” And that they did!

Remembering Morricone’s music and having our guys sing it is by far one of the most incredible things that can happen for us. An event that will never be repeated by anyone! Spectacular!

Piero went on to say, “The Concert will anticipate the album that will be released later.” ~ “Il Volo Sings Morricone”

While they were dealing with the pandemic, they were being very productive. Gianluca said, “We dealt with the pandemic productively, we tried not to give up. Young people must not give up the strength to believe in their dreams and pursue their goals.”

He also went on to thank the Morricone family for allowing them to sing an unreleased song, written by Andrea Morricone, “I Colori dell’amore.” A very beautiful song!

Piero reminds us that, “this is the first time we have performed a Concert live on TV.”

Well guys you did an amazing job!

“We really appreciate the tribute to Ennio Morricone because as Ignazio reminded us ‘it is the only (concert) date scheduled in 2021.’”

I must say, the Morricone project kept them very busy.  They had to select and study songs from the master’s repertoire. That was no easy task.

So how do you go about selecting the songs and fitting them to your voice. It’s very difficult! Let me remind you about something Ignazio said about recording a song. Ignazio explains, “…. a take is the recording of the single phrase that each of us sings when we record a song. We continue to redo it until we get the best version.”

Can you imagine going through all of Morricone’s songs and deciding which ones to choose? Remember a song that may be good for a baritone may not be good for a tenor. So, what do you do? You redo the arrangements to fit your voice. How? You take the song apart and then decide which part is able to accommodate a tenor or baritone. Not an easy task! Think about some of the concerts where the guys have sung a song as a group (the three) and then decided it should be a duet. Why? Because it is more suitable to two voices perhaps baritone and tenor or tenor and spinto tenor. You need to see how it fits your voice and how it relates. In the end it’s all about the delivery. Once you’ve taken the song apart, you must put it back together again. Shall I say it again, not an easy task! It takes months to rearrange this many songs and believe me these guys worked very hard for long hours and long periods of time, many, many months, to get these songs where they needed to be. Great songs, arranged to great voices!

Let me give you an example of what I’m talking about. This is the song “Se Telefonando.” It is a song that was performed by a famous Italian singer, Mina. It was released in May 1966. I want you to listen to Mina sing the song and then listen to Il Volo sing it. You will note that the words did not change. Just the arrangement changed to fit the voices of our guys.

Now the Guys!

So now you can understand what I mean by taking a song and arranging it to fit another voice. Without changing the words look at how the song has changed. The delivery is spectacular! Just magnificent!

The studio work was done. The songs were in the bag, and everything was in place. It was time for the guys to restart the live concerts! In essence, symbolically, restart the entire sector.

As to Rai 1, Claudio Fasulo explained, “For our flagship network it is an honor to host this date. Rai 1 wants to remember Morricone who has done so much for our culture through the many arts. I wanted three young people to do it that I admire so much. They were born into a talent, but they also teach us that talent is sometimes meritocratic.”

“Il Volo has the artistic and behavioral characteristics of Rai 1. It is no coincidence that in our schedules of great music, the trio is always present. Dedicating an evening to Ennio Morricone was a duty for us.”

Gianluca said: “For us it is a great journey, a wonderful adventure. A year after Morricone’s death we want to remember the master in the best way. We were born as child prodigies and after 12 years of career we can say that this project makes us proud and makes us feel more mature”.

Piero said, “At last, we sing. It’s been a tough year and there’s a desire to get on stage and bring all the workers in the show with us. I want to point out that it will not be the orchestra that will accompany us, but we will sing together.” Alluding to the long-awaited return to live.

Ignazio said, “Let’s go back to singing in one of the largest outdoor theaters in the world, finally safe. The ancient sayings are always the truest, hope is the last to die.”

In an interview given to the magazine Mio, Piero, allowed himself to go to a painful confession about the very hard period from which we come and, which now seems, fortunately, to give us a moment of respite. “Finally, we sing, after a year and a half. We could not take it anymore! Ours is a dream job. We are incurable dreamers. Every wish is finally coming to fruition. On June 5^th we will give a message of hope, there is a great desire to get on that stage.”

And that is exactly what they did!

So, let’s turn to the master!

You can ask anyone if they know who Ennio Morricone is, many people will say no. But, if you ask them if they know the theme song from “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.” They’ll say of course I know it. Everyone knows Morricone’s music! They may not know his name but, they certainly know his music.

So where did our guys begin the concert? They began with the most famous of Morricone’s songs from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly – “The Ecstasy of Gold.” Smart! This song set the mood for the concert. What they did with this song and, the other songs, is amazing!

Let’s talk about some of the music. Let’s start by asking the question, “What made Morricone’s music different? Why was it so popular? Why was he the most sought-after composer in the last 40 years? The answer is his arrangements and his style. Unlike anyone else in his time Morricone composed and wrote songs that reflected nature and reflected everyday life! In his music we hear the wind and the rain, the howls and the silence!  Again, I will go back to songs like “Se Telefonando,” where we hear three notes in this song that represent the siren of a police car. He wrote about reality. How he heard it, is how he wrote it. He didn’t describe the event he used the event! When you write a theme song or compose a score for a film, it has to draw you in. It has to tell the story before you witness it.

Now I’m going to step out of the concert for a moment but stick with Morricone because I need to pay a compliment to Ignazio.

As you recall, the first time we heard the song “Makari” which Ignazio composed and wrote, was during a commercial break at Sanremo 2021. When I heard the song, I felt like there was something very familiar about it. Last night after I wrote about three quarters of this article, I was tired, so I went to bed. And, as it often happens with me, I woke up in the middle of the night and thought about something I want to say in my story. This is what came to me. I finally figured out what was so familiar about “Makari.” Ignazio wrote in the style of Morricone. Think about it. What is Ignazio doing for us in this theme song? He is painting a picture! Remember I said, it has to draw you in. It has to tell the story before you witness it.

Ignazio’s song invites us to take a better look at this other land in the south (Sicily). It speaks of “a land of sages and a land of fools, made from devils and saints.”  It invites you to live a new reality through his eyes. This is exactly what Morricone does in his songs.

In a Morricone song you hear life! In Ignazio’s song you hear the sounds of Sicily. It is the “silence” of the land that screams for you to open your eyes and look around at the wonder of the landscape, of Makari, and the traditions of the land that go deep into your soul?

There is something very mysterious in the song!

Ignazio’s song sings about approaching Makari and, the colors of the island come to life. The houses, the people, it’s all there. It comes to life before you approach the shore! And that’s what I was feeling when I heard the song! It’s written very much like a Morricone song.

Ignazio, I said you are a great composer and, some day you will compose a great opera. This is the proof. You learned from the great masters about expression and intensity in music! I can honestly say, you are your own master, and you began your journey at the front door! Music is in your soul! Just amazing!

Now, let’s get back to the concert!

I’m not going to write in any detail about the songs. There were a few other articles which were written for Flight Crew which discussed the songs individually. I am merely going to name the new songs and where necessary, give you some details on how they came about.

“Your Love” from Once Upon a Time in the West, is a song we all are familiar with. It is the song that the guys sang at Sanremo 2021. As Il Volo fans, this song will be with us forever. There are tender moments attached to it.  It is an absolutely magnificent song. No one else could sing it like our guys. I know it touches my heart not just because of the circumstances but because of the emotion and passion the guys have when they sing this song. It will always be a signature song for them and for us!

So, what did they need in this production, a good pop song, set to music by Morricone, “Se Telefonando.” As I already mentioned, “Se Telefonando” is a song that was performed by a famous Italian singer, Mina. The music was composed, orchestrated and conducted by Ennio Morricone to Italian lyrics by Ghigo De Chiara and Maurizio Costanzo. The song was written for an episode of the Aria condizionata a Sunday morning television program. The main theme of the song was composed around just three notes, taken from the siren of a police car in Marseilles.

At this point in the show, the guys did their solos. Where do I begin to talk about the solos?

As I said, I am not writing about the individual songs, but I will say that each of the guys’ solos were phenomenal.

Gianluca’s “Your Song,” Ignazio’s “Listen” and Piero’s “No Puede Ser” were exceptional experiences in a sea of amazing voices.

When I originally wrote about this concert, I did not include the songs but for this story I will. Let’s start with Gianluca…

What I will comment on is little Julian. Many critics praised him and so do I! See guys, this is how you were at 8 years old. Blowing everyone’s mind!

And of course Piero singing “No puede ser” is just so amazing!

Let’s go back to the theme song of “Nuovo Cinema Paradiso” from the film of the same name. At the end of the song there is a small exchange between our guys and Salvatore Cascio, the child, now adult, of Nuovo Cinema Paradiso.

This was followed by Raphael Gualazzi on the piano with Nina Zillio and our guys performing the beautiful theme song from the film of the same name, “Metti, una Sera a Cena.” Nina Zillio is always so charming, and the guys enjoy performing with her.

Next came “Here’s to You”, the theme from Sacco and Vanzetti. This was preceded by a reading of the story of the two unfortunate Italian immigrants, read by Giallini. For those of you who don’t know the story of Sacco and Vanzetti here is a brief summary:

Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were Italian immigrants, anarchists, who were controversially convicted of murdering a guard and a paymaster during the April 15, 1920, armed robbery of the Slater and Morrill Shoe Company in Braintree, Massachusetts.

A series of appeals followed, funded largely by the private Sacco and Vanzetti Defense Committee.  As details of the trial and the men’s suspected innocence became known, Sacco and Vanzetti became the center of one of the largest causes célèbres in modern history.

Responding to a massive influx of telegrams urging their pardon, Massachusetts governor Alvan T. Fuller appointed a three-man commission to investigate the case. After weeks of secret deliberation, the commission upheld the verdict. Sacco and Vanzetti were executed in the electric chair just after midnight on August 23, 1927.

And so, we come to the end of the concert and the dedication of “Conradiana” to Vito Boschetto, Ignazio’s dad. “Conradiana” is a beautiful song written by Andrea Bocelli and Ennio Morricone. Very touching, very emotional and it certainly touched the heart of Ignazio and his brothers Piero and Gianluca, and I know it also touched our hearts.

In closing today let me say that the guys showed us their talent and their love in this concert. And they really dedicated it to us. When they were singing their song, to Sacco and Vanzetti, they were saying to us, their fans, “Here’s to You.”

I wrote about the staging of this concert so you will have an idea of what to expect in the upcoming World Tour. There will be An Amazing Transformation but they will not depart from their Bel Canto. They will add to what is great and make it greater!

See you in Verona on June 3^rd, 2022, for the start of the World Tour ~ Il Volo Sings Morricone and more….

Visit http://www.ilvolomusic.com for a full list of concerts around the world. Find one near you and buy a ticket! It will be the best night of your life!

Join me next week as I go back Through the Fields of My Mind and open the door to a new adventure!

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.ilvoloflightcrw.com

Credits to the owners of photos and videos.