The auditions and rehearsals are over and finally, we have the guys together at the Ariston Theater and they are about to meet but before they meet, I want to tell you a little more about the journey they took to get here and what this new adventure will be for them but, even more so for their parents.
For Piero and Ignazio, great sacrifices were made.
We know Ignazio’s parents worked hard and gave up all they had to make Ignazio have the opportunity to have singing lessons. In the end, thanks to someone dear to them, Ignazio finds himself on the stage of Ti Lascio Una Canzone.
From a very young age, Piero worked endlessly for a classical education which would lead him to the stage of an opera house. Thanks first to his grandfather, who paid for the piano lessons, and the sacrifices of his parents, Piero found his way to the stage of Ti Lascio Una Canzone.
As we know, Gianluca never had singing lessons and never competed in any singing competition. He was discovered while singing with his choir and that led him to the stage of Ti Lasio Una Canzone. So, there was no sacrifice by his parents but don’t think this is where the story of sacrifice ends.
No, the story just begins on the stage of Ti Lascio Una Canzone. The Big Sacrifice follows.
But let’s begin with the fourth night of Ti Lascio Una Canzone.
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 one step from stardom!
The first time they sing together everyone is 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.
Before the big night of O Sole Mio, the guys were already being praised by some very famous singers. These singers were in total awe of our guys. It seemed obvious that they were taking over the show! No one else could come close to them.
Piero did a duet with Al Bano.
Ignazio did a duet with Massimo Ranieri.
Gianluca did a duet with Riccardo Cocciante.
Ignazio did a duet with Fausto Leali.
Gianluca did a duet with Sara Pischedda.
Piero did a duet with Simona Collura.
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.”
They all performed exceptionally well. They all came in first one night during the performance.
Gianluca won the first night with the song “Il Mare Calmo della Sera.”
Ignazio won the second night with “Quando l’amore Diventa Poseia”
Piero won the fourth night with “Un Amore Così Grande.”
And Gianluca won the final episode.
Piero and Ignazio showed great respect for Gianluca who won the final episode. They may have been disappointed, but you would never know it to look at their faces. Their reaction to Gianluca winning was beautiful! Look at the video….
And the biggest win of the night, they walked off the stage, Il Volo! Well maybe they didn’t have the name yet, but they were certainly on the road to stardom!
But this is just the beginning of the story!
We know that the guys got a phenomenal contract with Universal and began an amazing career. They went to America and all the rest is history!
In the beginning I told you that great sacrifices would be made not only by the guys but also by their families.
When I write about the guys I always think about the sacrifice they made when they became Il Volo. They left behind the best years of their lives. Their teenage years. They left their families and there were times when they weren’t home for months.
In the beginning they had a parent with them because they were underage but once they turned eighteen, they were on their own. We all realized that this happened to them, and we all thought this was a great opportunity but what a sacrifice they made. True but what about the sacrifice their families made. When one parent traveled, the other was left at home to care for the other children.
I can’t even imagine how the parent who was left home with the other children felt. Of course, you feel joy for your child but to say goodbye I’ll see you in a few months. That’s got to hurt. And the parent who went with him had to leave his other children at home. That had to hurt too.
This was a big sacrifice that was made by the parents but there were others who probably hurt even more. How about their brothers and sisters? I’m sure some of them didn’t even understand why their brother had to go away!
All around tremendous sacrifices. I remember Ignazio saying in his story that he didn’t see his sister for five months and it really hurt.
Yes, they went around the world and became super stars, but they paid a high price for it. The Big Sacrifice they made is now in the past. But I’m sure that the guys wished they could have back some of those years to spent time with their families. And I’m sure the families wished they had an opportunity to spend more time with them.
On the bright side of the story, they got to spend a year with their families during the pandemic. The Lord certainly had a plan with that pandemic!
One last note before I leave you today. I just started writing a new book and I need to take some time off to do my research. So, for the next few weeks I will post old stories on Wednesdays about the guys.
In the meantime, you can also read some of the old stories in the archives. Just go to www.ilvoloflightcrw.com and you can either go into the search bar and ask for a particular story or a story about a particular guy. Or go into Galleries on the top of the main page and pull up stories by the year.
I promise I will work as fast as I can to get back to you. In the meantime, Daniela will be keeping you up to date with all the latest news including all that is going on in Sanremo. The guys start rehearsals for Sanremo this week!
Be back in a few weeks!
Let me leave you with the first video of O Sole Mio!
Join me next week as I go back Through the Fields of My Mind and find some really great old story for you!
*What I have written here are excerpts from the book the guys wrote about their lives. “Il Volo, Un’avventura Straordinario, La Nostra Storia.” (An Extraordinary Adventure, Our Story) This is just a small piece of each mans’ story. The book is written in Italian. If you can read Italian, I would highly recommend that you read it. It’s wonderful! If not, I can only hope that someday it will be translated into English. Or you can use Google Translate to translate it.
I also recommend you read their second book “IL Volo: Quello Che Porto Nel Cuore” (What I Carry in My Heart)
If you would like to share a story with me, please email: susan.flightcrew@yahoo.com
Susan, this was amazing! The videos were so great, the whole article was so much fun to read and “feel apart of”!
I can only imagine the trauma their folks had with their boys leaving home at such tender ages! By the time my kids left home for loooong periods, first college and then jobs or my sons case packing his truck with equipment and took of to run back and forth across the country….often twice a year. Worrying about his safety, if he was eating…playing in bars literally from NY to CA, anywhere they’d let him sometimes for food and sometimes getting paid! He did this for ten years. I fully understand the dread and fear but it was what he wanted after getting his degree in English! My girls went straight for the NYC, it was a lot of worry and we worried about the same things as for their brother. I cannot imagine having done that at 13,14 or 15. I think this makes their parents all very brave heroes even if one or more of them chaperoned and went with the boys. I congratulate them on making that tough decision to make their dreams come true. Then the kids giving up their teen years and all that went with that…friends and siblings and parents whoa so much to absorb! They all have expressed at one time or another of their being homesick! I’ve thought about often as a parent, it must have been exciting and gut rentching and tge same time!
Thank you this was terrific! We’re going to miss the rest of the story while you work on your book….has the other one come out yet?
Be well my friend, God Bless,
Carol 🩷🙏🏻☮️💖💖💖🎼🎶🎤
Welcoming the Holy Spirit with Padre Pio will be released on April 5, 2024. You came to the release of my first book. Will you be at the PPFOA for the second book?
That sounds wonderful but I won’t be back north until about June…….i can come after that if you let me know when you’ll be there! I’ll look forward to seeing you.😉🙏🏻☮️🩷🤗
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Look forward to hearing back from you when you’re done with your book. Thanks for all you do. 🙏
Thank you Susan for taking us along at the finals of the song contest and the guys’ emotions in connection with same. It must have been such an awesome and nerve wrecking experience to them – yet they seemed already comfortable and at ease on the stage. Still totally unaware of what was to come. And what beautiful voices already then – wow. I enjoyed seeing these videos very much.
But you bring a very vital issue to the table – the huge impact their new lives brought about – not just to themselves but not the least to their families. 3 families having their everyday lives changed overnight. The fathers must have given up their jobs in order to join them on their tours in the US, I presume? I mean. how would they have been able to fullfill their jobs as respectively chauffeur , car painter and bricklayer when having to be away in the US for months? Does anyone know how they coped with that situation? And the siblings – with Mariagracia and Ernesto jr. being just 8-9 years old at the very beginning – now having to stay back with their moms during long periods? It must have had a huge impact on them one way or another… one should have thought it leading to some sort of envy? But apparently it seems that they have grown into very close and loving relationships in stead. And the moms having to be left behind missing their boys immensely. Huge sacrifices for all family members indeed. That it has all turned out so well Is like a true fairytale ending that luckily became true. That our guys have managed to cope so well with such major changes and challenges in their vital teen years – – and turned into whole well functioning adults – is remarkable and it tells us that all tree families are unique and persons out of the ordinary. When I was just 17 I left Denmark to spend a year as an exchange student in the US – back in the ‘60th where there were no computers or cell phones – hence not seeing nor even talking to my family back home for 12 months and suddenly having to cope with everything all alone in a foreign culture. While being an unique experience in many ways it did also give me some deep scars on my soul still remaining there – and made me grow up overnight as I was so young, sensitive and still naive and really not sufficiently prepared to be on my own yet. I hope sincerely that the guys have been in better hands and with the support of their accompanying fathers have avoided similar traumatic experiences – it seems so, luckily.
Susan I wish you good luck with your book writing and look forward to your return here with more stories. Meanwhile all the best – Kirsten🇩🇰
Hi Kirsten
The parents seemed to take turns as to who accompanied them. The only one that stayed home all the time was Piero’s mother, as she doesn’t like to fly. But Ignazio’s mom accompanied him several times (I was at a concert where she sat across the aisle from me), I saw his dad on another occasion, Gianluca’s mother was there during a meet and greet I was at in 2014 (yikes, that was a long time ago!). I’ve seen his father at other times. So they shared the chaperone duties. Maybe even they switched during a tour, that I don’t know. But they certainly all participated.
Thank you so much Penns for providing me with this info. I didn’t realize that only a single parent was accompanying them – I thought each of them had one along. But sharing the shaperone job makes sense and maybe the fathers have been able to keep their regular jobs alongside as well. But what an awesome experience it must have been for the parents back then. And I wonder how they (the family members) feel today now that shaperoning no longer is needed? I sense that Gianluca’s father is joining the guys rather often – but I don’t recall hearing/seeing much of Piero’s dad? But I guess that none of the families have returned to anything “like before” lives…
Thanks for enlightening me and take care.
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They did each have a parent. I did not mean that there was only one parent for all three of them. I just meant that each couple took turns with chaperoning their son. The parents usually stayed in the background and didn’t make themselves visible. The time Mrs. Boschetto was sitting across from me she was as inconspicuous as possible. She came in after the lights went down and she left during the applause at the end.
Mrs. Ginoble once sat at a little table to one side of the room during a meet and greet. And Piero’s father looked in on an unusual meet and greet when the guys sort of threw the whole thing open and just mingled with the crowd of fans, talking to them, answering questions, etc. for a good 15-20 minutes before pictures were taken. Mr. Barone was watching the lively scene from a vantage point near a wall.
I have some good memories of those M & Gs! I hope I am around long enough to go to another one!
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Kirsten, you generously provide us with much interesting information and food for thought through your experiences and insights. Thank so much.
Thank you so much Mark for your kind words. I am glad to learn that my comments are valued. Warmest regards – Kirsten
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Thank you, Susan! This was a delightful trip back to their boyhoods and their “discovery” . I loved all the song videos, love to watch them again and again. Thank you, again, and good luck with your book !
Thank you for all this wonderful information about the boys and their rise to where they are today. I have only known about them for 18 months, having been living on the west coast of Canada outside of Vancouver! I appreciate knowing where they have come from and will follow them forever now. I am hoping to see them and have my code already to jump on a ticket whenever I find out they are in Canada or the USA.
Now if I could only speak/read Italian l could read their books!
Prayers and happy thoughts to you for all your work, I care 🥰🇨🇦
Hi Sheila
There are a few of us Canadians on this website, Dol Anderson is in the Ottawa area, I am in Toronto, and someone commented this week from Quebec. We are often silent, but we are here! I have been on this blog since it started way back when.
Dig into the archives and you’ll find a treasure chest of great articles, pictures, info, etc.
Thanks, so glad there are other Canadians on this site! Can’t believe the Italian press can be so insensitive and rude. These singers are so connected with their families, friends and fans and their country, yet media are not onboard!
I’d give anything to see them and always ask them to come to Canada again!
There seems to be a Latin America huge tour to Latin America in 2025! Piero was talking about all the cities they wou be visiting 🤬
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Thanks for the information. I first saw Il Volo many years ago on their first or second visit to Toronto. We stayed at he Hilton and they were sitting across from us at breakfast. I went over and shook Piero’s hand and told him that my son had brought me to see them for a birthday present. He waved to Danny and I talked with him. He might remember.
As we know, Gianluca never had singing lessons and never competed in any singing competition. He was discovered while singing with his choir and that led him to the stage of Ti Lasio Una Canzone. So, there was no sacrifice by his parents but don’t think this is where the story of sacrifice ends.
Susan what a wonderful story we will miss you good luck with your book love Jenny
Dziękuję bardzo i będę czekać z niecierpliwością na kolejne piękne opowieści.
Thank you so much for all you do! ❤️
Susan, this was amazing! The videos were so great, the whole article was so much fun to read and “feel apart of”!
I can only imagine the trauma their folks had with their boys leaving home at such tender ages! By the time my kids left home for loooong periods, first college and then jobs or my sons case packing his truck with equipment and took of to run back and forth across the country….often twice a year. Worrying about his safety, if he was eating…playing in bars literally from NY to CA, anywhere they’d let him sometimes for food and sometimes getting paid! He did this for ten years. I fully understand the dread and fear but it was what he wanted after getting his degree in English! My girls went straight for the NYC, it was a lot of worry and we worried about the same things as for their brother. I cannot imagine having done that at 13,14 or 15. I think this makes their parents all very brave heroes even if one or more of them chaperoned and went with the boys. I congratulate them on making that tough decision to make their dreams come true. Then the kids giving up their teen years and all that went with that…friends and siblings and parents whoa so much to absorb! They all have expressed at one time or another of their being homesick! I’ve thought about often as a parent, it must have been exciting and gut rentching and tge same time!
Thank you this was terrific! We’re going to miss the rest of the story while you work on your book….has the other one come out yet?
Be well my friend, God Bless,
Carol 🩷🙏🏻☮️💖💖💖🎼🎶🎤
Welcoming the Holy Spirit with Padre Pio will be released on April 5, 2024. You came to the release of my first book. Will you be at the PPFOA for the second book?
That sounds wonderful but I won’t be back north until about June…….i can come after that if you let me know when you’ll be there! I’ll look forward to seeing you.😉🙏🏻☮️🩷🤗
Look forward to hearing back from you when you’re done with your book. Thanks for all you do. 🙏
Thank you Susan for taking us along at the finals of the song contest and the guys’ emotions in connection with same. It must have been such an awesome and nerve wrecking experience to them – yet they seemed already comfortable and at ease on the stage. Still totally unaware of what was to come. And what beautiful voices already then – wow. I enjoyed seeing these videos very much.
But you bring a very vital issue to the table – the huge impact their new lives brought about – not just to themselves but not the least to their families. 3 families having their everyday lives changed overnight. The fathers must have given up their jobs in order to join them on their tours in the US, I presume? I mean. how would they have been able to fullfill their jobs as respectively chauffeur , car painter and bricklayer when having to be away in the US for months? Does anyone know how they coped with that situation? And the siblings – with Mariagracia and Ernesto jr. being just 8-9 years old at the very beginning – now having to stay back with their moms during long periods? It must have had a huge impact on them one way or another… one should have thought it leading to some sort of envy? But apparently it seems that they have grown into very close and loving relationships in stead. And the moms having to be left behind missing their boys immensely. Huge sacrifices for all family members indeed. That it has all turned out so well Is like a true fairytale ending that luckily became true. That our guys have managed to cope so well with such major changes and challenges in their vital teen years – – and turned into whole well functioning adults – is remarkable and it tells us that all tree families are unique and persons out of the ordinary. When I was just 17 I left Denmark to spend a year as an exchange student in the US – back in the ‘60th where there were no computers or cell phones – hence not seeing nor even talking to my family back home for 12 months and suddenly having to cope with everything all alone in a foreign culture. While being an unique experience in many ways it did also give me some deep scars on my soul still remaining there – and made me grow up overnight as I was so young, sensitive and still naive and really not sufficiently prepared to be on my own yet. I hope sincerely that the guys have been in better hands and with the support of their accompanying fathers have avoided similar traumatic experiences – it seems so, luckily.
Susan I wish you good luck with your book writing and look forward to your return here with more stories. Meanwhile all the best – Kirsten🇩🇰
Hi Kirsten
The parents seemed to take turns as to who accompanied them. The only one that stayed home all the time was Piero’s mother, as she doesn’t like to fly. But Ignazio’s mom accompanied him several times (I was at a concert where she sat across the aisle from me), I saw his dad on another occasion, Gianluca’s mother was there during a meet and greet I was at in 2014 (yikes, that was a long time ago!). I’ve seen his father at other times. So they shared the chaperone duties. Maybe even they switched during a tour, that I don’t know. But they certainly all participated.
Thank you so much Penns for providing me with this info. I didn’t realize that only a single parent was accompanying them – I thought each of them had one along. But sharing the shaperone job makes sense and maybe the fathers have been able to keep their regular jobs alongside as well. But what an awesome experience it must have been for the parents back then. And I wonder how they (the family members) feel today now that shaperoning no longer is needed? I sense that Gianluca’s father is joining the guys rather often – but I don’t recall hearing/seeing much of Piero’s dad? But I guess that none of the families have returned to anything “like before” lives…
Thanks for enlightening me and take care.
They did each have a parent. I did not mean that there was only one parent for all three of them. I just meant that each couple took turns with chaperoning their son. The parents usually stayed in the background and didn’t make themselves visible. The time Mrs. Boschetto was sitting across from me she was as inconspicuous as possible. She came in after the lights went down and she left during the applause at the end.
Mrs. Ginoble once sat at a little table to one side of the room during a meet and greet. And Piero’s father looked in on an unusual meet and greet when the guys sort of threw the whole thing open and just mingled with the crowd of fans, talking to them, answering questions, etc. for a good 15-20 minutes before pictures were taken. Mr. Barone was watching the lively scene from a vantage point near a wall.
I have some good memories of those M & Gs! I hope I am around long enough to go to another one!
Kirsten, you generously provide us with much interesting information and food for thought through your experiences and insights. Thank so much.
Thank you so much Mark for your kind words. I am glad to learn that my comments are valued. Warmest regards – Kirsten
Thank you, Susan! This was a delightful trip back to their boyhoods and their “discovery” . I loved all the song videos, love to watch them again and again. Thank you, again, and good luck with your book !
Thanks again so much, Susan. You will be missed but we look forward to your return.
They give up their teenage years and families give up their time to go with the boys,but they have made them very proud ,we’ll done guys
Gianluca won first place in a singing contest before he ever appeared on that childrens show.
Thank you for all this wonderful information about the boys and their rise to where they are today. I have only known about them for 18 months, having been living on the west coast of Canada outside of Vancouver! I appreciate knowing where they have come from and will follow them forever now. I am hoping to see them and have my code already to jump on a ticket whenever I find out they are in Canada or the USA.
Now if I could only speak/read Italian l could read their books!
Prayers and happy thoughts to you for all your work, I care 🥰🇨🇦
Hi Sheila
There are a few of us Canadians on this website, Dol Anderson is in the Ottawa area, I am in Toronto, and someone commented this week from Quebec. We are often silent, but we are here! I have been on this blog since it started way back when.
Dig into the archives and you’ll find a treasure chest of great articles, pictures, info, etc.
Thanks, so glad there are other Canadians on this site! Can’t believe the Italian press can be so insensitive and rude. These singers are so connected with their families, friends and fans and their country, yet media are not onboard!
I’d give anything to see them and always ask them to come to Canada again!
There seems to be a Latin America huge tour to Latin America in 2025! Piero was talking about all the cities they wou be visiting 🤬
Thanks for the information. I first saw Il Volo many years ago on their first or second visit to Toronto. We stayed at he Hilton and they were sitting across from us at breakfast. I went over and shook Piero’s hand and told him that my son had brought me to see them for a birthday present. He waved to Danny and I talked with him. He might remember.
Write fast Susan! Thank you for sharing the IL VOLO story!