No question about it, Il Volo has achieved worldwide fame! From the first time they stepped on stage they won the hearts of people around the world. Every place they perform at you will find thousands of people waiting for them. Why? Because they deliver a perfect concert every time. It’s always about the delivery. It’s always about giving the fans what they want! Every performance is an event to be written in our minds that we look back on when we hear a certain song or remember a moment when they first touched our hearts!
It’s a feeling you get. It’s not just a song, it’s their voices that captures our inner being and draws us to them! Many people will say, about other groups, “isn’t that a wonderful song” but with Il Volo they say what phenomenal voices. Gianluca said when he first heard “Grande Amore,” he didn’t like it, but he said what he should have considered was “our voices change the song.” It’s not the song that changes, no, it’s their voices that make every song phenomenal! It’s how their voices draw us to them and to our past and important moments in our lives. Yes, all their music, all their songs are amazing but above all it’s the voices! And this explains their continued success worldwide! Three absolutely phenomenal voices.
When I think about their voices, I immediately go to Ecstasy of Gold and the opening of the Tribute to Ennio Morricone at the Verona Concert. I can’t help but talk about the intensity of their voices when they sang The Ecstasy of Gold. What force! But it doesn’t stop there! I must add that you need to watch how their bodies react to the music! They are in motion.
Look at Gianluca! Watch his fist come at you! This is the punch, just the beginning.
Listen to Ignazio ride the note that guides us into the story! Now we’re sailing on the wind!
Piero intensifies the moment with his powerful voice that says the journey has begun! Follow us in this new adventure!
Now I need to go beyond the Voices, Movement, Expressions to bring you to what it all equals ~ Sceneggiata.
On stage in Verona, their voices, their expressions, their movements blended into the background becoming a part of the movie behind them. They themselves felt this and they looked back from time to time to absorb what was going on behind them. The movie, the orchestra, the phenomenal lights constantly changing color and reflection! Just intense!
The soundtrack of “the Ecstasy of Gold” from the 1966 Sergio Leone film The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is considered one of the most influential soundtracks in history. It was so important that it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. It is one of the most well-known of Morricone’s themes and one of the most iconic pieces of cinematic score in history.
I usually don’t repeat videos within a story, but I find it necessary to do so in this story because I want you to see where it even goes beyond the voices and body movements. Watch the expressions on their faces. Movement and expressions tell a story that goes beyond the voices. It’s like a story within a song. There’s a Neapolitan name for that. Sceneggiata (pronounced shen~en~ja~ta) which means a story that’s built around a song. Believe me their songs in videos are Sceneggiata. So today, I want to tell my story a little differently. I want you to watch these videos and I want you to listen to the song and live the story. I want you to see how the story builds as the song goes on. The whole idea of a video is to do just what Sceneggiata does. It tells the story within the story of the song!
When the major video for the album, Il Volo Sings Morricone, needed to be produced we followed the guys to Sardinia for the videoing of The Ecstasy of Gold which brought back memories of American cinema in 60’s, 1966 to be exact, the year The Good, The Bad and The Ugly was released! Some of the early American Western Films were made in Italy and Spain. Remember Clint Eastwood made many Italian Westerns.
Now, let’s take a look at the guy’s official video from Sanremo 2019. Let’s watch and listen to Musica che resta, which came in third at Sanremo. Who can forget the intensity of this song as the story builds within it!
The next video is a very important video. Grande Amore, the song that won Sanremo 2015. This is three stories within a song. Each story holds our interest and brings us to a beautiful conclusion.
A Chi Mi Dice took us on a journey along the Amalfi Coast. The song is about losing the woman you love and hoping she would come back. In the video you feel the cool and calmness of the day as the guys sail around the Mediterranean Sea. Are they searching for something or someone?
The vastness of the Arena and the emptiness lets us feel the absence of the woman they are singing about in Si Me Falta Tu Mirada. It makes you feels how much they miss the gaze of the woman they’re singing about!
Your Love needs no explanation! Of course, this story is about the 50th Anniversary of Grotte di Frasassi but for all of us who knew Vito Boschetto, Ignazio’s father, this song reminds us of him because it was the song the guys sang at Sanremo 2021 three days after Vito passed away. A very sad day but at Verona it became a tribute to Vito and it’s a song that always makes us think of him.
When I think of Per Te Ci Sarò I think of the guys growing up. This video is about young love! And it says it so well!
This video is a story of a lifetime. The video L’amore si Muove takes us through the lifetime of two children born at the same time. It tells of how they grew and fell in love and married and had a family.
In this video, the guys sing about being in love – We Are Love – While the artist is expressing love through peace.
This is a fun song Noche Sin Día. There’s no night without day. It’s like the rhythm of the night. The song begs the question, “What would life be if love didn’t exist,” and it acts it out almost as a game we play to find love. See if you can find Fabio Ingrassia in the video.
So, we come to Capolavoro. A true Masterpiece. The song talks about a masterpiece that fell from the sky. And how is it expressed in the video? This is different. The song says, “You were the only light giving things a meaning, and this life spent with you, my life spent with you, is a masterpiece. So, the guys are singing about the creation of a love that forms from a masterpiece (a person) that fell from the sky (came out of nowhere).
That’s the song, now think of the story. The masterpiece fell from the sky – that’s the light that we see fall from the sky. The light that fell from the sky lit the world – and a new creation was formed – a masterpiece. This is expressed through the four elements of life. Think of the video. Earth, Wind, Water, and Fire come together and a whole new story of life begins! It is a story of creation! What is the creation? It’s the new Il Volo! It’s their new way of looking at life! Their new music! Their new beginning! Each is the story of a creation!
What a beautiful presentation!
In conclusion, I want to tell you how the word Sceneggiata came about. After World War I, the Italian government increased the taxes on variety shows, which mostly included various types of singing and music, but they did not increase taxes on actual theater, thus causing many authors to devise a mixed type of show that would complement songs with dramatic acting, in order to circumvent such duties. So, a story was merged with a song to form a dramatic production and no taxes were charged.
Well in this day and age it’s not about taxes. Back then it was more about what the song became in order to survive in the industry. Today it’s about making a song more dramatic or giving it a reason by giving it a background with a story!
At times it could act like a fresco in medieval times. They would paint frescos on the walls of the churches so that those who couldn’t read would know the stories in the gospels. Many of you don’t understand Italian but you understand what’s going on because of these video clips!
That’s what videos do today! They give a story within a song ~ a Sceneggiata ~ that brings every song to life!
Before I close, I want to say Congratulations to Piero on his run in the Bologna Marathon. Great Job! He came in 1,556th position in just over two hours!
For your listening pleasure Il Volo Takes Flight Detroit 2011.
Join me next week as I go back Through the Fields of My Mind and bring to you the next exciting adventure of Il Volo.
The guy’s new album Ad Astra will be released on March 29, 2024. Available For Pre-Order NOW! It’s available on all digital platforms including Spotify and Amazon Music.
If you would like to share a story with me, please email: susan.flightcrew@yahoo.com
I LOVE who they are, and how they relate to each other during a concert as well as their voices. They are so loaded in all of those ways and their lives just serve to make they more as they go on. Yes, their voices are like none other! They are so rich and full. I love the stories about how each was discovered by their families and peers. How Ignazio went outside at school and sang and you could hear him all over the place!!! Just everything!! Look! We have a voice like you’ve never heard before!! But what they bring to that stage is who they are. They are so generous and kind to the audience and to each other! Where in the world do you find that? Thank you Il Volo. We really do love you dearly and your lives matter to us.
Thanks for all the great videos, to watch time and again, Susan. Didn’t know who Fabio was, so couldn’t look for him/her in the video. Loved the one about the babies and who they grew up to be. Also our Il Volo as “old men” doing the dance at the end. Igna was evident, but could only pick out Piero by the glasses, so that left Gianluca!
You certainly outdid yourself on this one. Though some of the videos weren’t too great (could have been my computer), I enjoyed all of them. Hugs, Dol.
Danke Susan,
ich stimme jedem einzelnen Satz vom Anfang zu. Auch ich hatte diesen besonderen Moment, als ich sie das erste Mal sah, das war vor 10 Wochen. Seitdem lassen mich die Gedanken an die Jungens nicht los.
Ich kenne kaum italienische Lieder, wusste also nicht, welche von Il Volo gecovert sind. Z.B. A qui mi dice. Ich habe es mir Dutzende Male angehört (am meisten hat mich aber Ignazio beeindruckt, mir lief ein Schauer über den Rücken). Dann sah ich, dass das Lied ursprünglich von jemand anderem gesungen wurde. Es war auch sehr schön, aber nicht vergleichbar mit Il Volo. Wie du schreibst, es sind nicht die Lieder, sondern die Stimmen und diese wahnsinnigen Emotionen, die Mimik. Genauso könnte ich mir pausenlos “Sign of the times” von Gianluca anhören. Jeder einzelne Ton ist ein Genuss. Wie stark man seine Gefühle erkennt.
Ich frage mich immerzu, ob noch jemand anderes diese Empfindungen hat, aber du beschreibst es so und ich habe Derartiges schon in vielen Kommentaren gelesen.
Ich habe angefangen, wieder Italienisch zu lernen, um die Jungens besser zu verstehen. Bei Ignazio wird es schwierig. Sprechen eigentlich alle drei das gleiche Italienisch oder haben sie einen Dialekt.
Vielen herzlichen Dank für deine Mühe. Es macht mir immer große Freude, deine Beiträge zu lesen.
Alles Liebe
Ursula (Uschi)
I have heard all of their music you talked about at least 500 times. Maybe more, and I have a lot that was not mentioned. Their music is spectacular. One cannot say more. They are so very talented, and I wish them the best through the coming years. I never miss an opportunity to compliment them. They are simply. . .fabulous.
Thank you Susan for the great stories and videos. I especially loved the videos. I was one of those daft people who adored Lee Van Cleef and Eli Wallach, but couldn’t abide Clint Eastwood.
Just in case anyone is wondering why Piero’s time was considerably shorter than the NY marathon, it is because the one he ran in Bologna was just shy of 22km, whereas the NY marathon was a fraction over 42km. Apparently, there were four different runs in Bologna, one was 30km, can’t remember off the top of my head what the other one was.
Susan – thanks a million for this interesting take on the visual effects of the guys’ hit songs and for bringing us down memory lane. And – of course – you are right, that each of these videos tells a story within the frames of the song clearly underlining the text of same. Whether they (the videos) are necessary is, however, another question – as it limits our own free fantasy to evolve. But it is the modern way to present a song and in most cases they are likewise a delight or fun to watch. This goes for the good old ones here – but I shall have to admit that personally I am not too fond of the official video to “Capolavoro”. It differs considerably to the previous ones being a long row of fast somewhat confusing clips in a rather “cosmic” setting not making much sense to me. Somewhat “high flying” and very artistic. Sorry, but I do prefer the guys without heavy make-up and avant-garde houte couture fashion. But I guess this is yet an attempt to attract a younger crowd.
But I do fully agree with you that listening to IL VOLO is not “just” about the melody or text – in their case it is all about their voices and the way they express themselves – i.e. the facials and body moves – and hence the emotions they awake in each of us listening and watching same. They deliver a “full package” – and it is the total sum that arouses and captivates us. These guys reach out way beyond the edge of the stage and right into our hearts. This fact became truly clear to me when last summer I was enjoying one of the Milan concerts. Unfortunately, being seated at one of the balconies far from the stage, they were like little ants and I could hardly figure out visually who was who. Well, the sound was perfect – but I felt I missed out of a lot not being able to study their facial expressions and loving antics. I could simply not “feel” them the way I have been able to before. Hence it hit me how valuable the big screens in i.e. Arena di Verona are in this connection. I listen very often to their CD/DVDs in our house – and I have likewise discovered that listening to their CDs is great – but watching them in a live concert on one of their DVDs adds so much to the experience! So yes, IL VOLO is all about the voices but indeed also of their visual presentation of the songs in which they magically transfer their own emotions to the audience.
As to the message of “Capolavoro” I have read your interpretation of same with great interest. I am a very reflecting person myself and hence I have made my own thoughts too. I can follow you a long way – but I lack to find earth, wind, fire and re-birth. My first take was, however, also that it was about themselves. The birth of IL VOLO i.e. “the American dream” referring to their overnight move to the USA to start up a new and unexpected life based on a sudden incident “flying from the sky” aka when by co-incident they were put together singing “O-Solo-Mio” in the song contest. But then you lose me – as I recall having heard the guys express numerous times that each of them have a different perception of the song hence making it a much broader and more “airy” interpretation. So I have come to the conclusion that it refers to i.e. a certain emotion felt; the impact of a person; an incident occurring, a vision/wisdom acknowledged etc. etc. – something that in a split second suddenly changes your life forever. That makes sense to me. But, of course, it could also “just” be something like “love” – the simple perception that the choreographer of the ballet in the recent morning TV—show apparently had. Love is, however, many things… It could likewise be the love that evolved among the guys as they got to know each other better; or their love to music as they realized the impact it had on each of them etc. It is profound but interesting to reflect on. Thanks for bringing it up.
I LOVE who they are, and how they relate to each other during a concert as well as their voices. They are so loaded in all of those ways and their lives just serve to make they more as they go on. Yes, their voices are like none other! They are so rich and full. I love the stories about how each was discovered by their families and peers. How Ignazio went outside at school and sang and you could hear him all over the place!!! Just everything!! Look! We have a voice like you’ve never heard before!! But what they bring to that stage is who they are. They are so generous and kind to the audience and to each other! Where in the world do you find that? Thank you Il Volo. We really do love you dearly and your lives matter to us.
Another great post! Thanks Susan! ❤️
Thanks for all the great videos, to watch time and again, Susan. Didn’t know who Fabio was, so couldn’t look for him/her in the video. Loved the one about the babies and who they grew up to be. Also our Il Volo as “old men” doing the dance at the end. Igna was evident, but could only pick out Piero by the glasses, so that left Gianluca!
You certainly outdid yourself on this one. Though some of the videos weren’t too great (could have been my computer), I enjoyed all of them. Hugs, Dol.
Danke Susan,
ich stimme jedem einzelnen Satz vom Anfang zu. Auch ich hatte diesen besonderen Moment, als ich sie das erste Mal sah, das war vor 10 Wochen. Seitdem lassen mich die Gedanken an die Jungens nicht los.
Ich kenne kaum italienische Lieder, wusste also nicht, welche von Il Volo gecovert sind. Z.B. A qui mi dice. Ich habe es mir Dutzende Male angehört (am meisten hat mich aber Ignazio beeindruckt, mir lief ein Schauer über den Rücken). Dann sah ich, dass das Lied ursprünglich von jemand anderem gesungen wurde. Es war auch sehr schön, aber nicht vergleichbar mit Il Volo. Wie du schreibst, es sind nicht die Lieder, sondern die Stimmen und diese wahnsinnigen Emotionen, die Mimik. Genauso könnte ich mir pausenlos “Sign of the times” von Gianluca anhören. Jeder einzelne Ton ist ein Genuss. Wie stark man seine Gefühle erkennt.
Ich frage mich immerzu, ob noch jemand anderes diese Empfindungen hat, aber du beschreibst es so und ich habe Derartiges schon in vielen Kommentaren gelesen.
Ich habe angefangen, wieder Italienisch zu lernen, um die Jungens besser zu verstehen. Bei Ignazio wird es schwierig. Sprechen eigentlich alle drei das gleiche Italienisch oder haben sie einen Dialekt.
Vielen herzlichen Dank für deine Mühe. Es macht mir immer große Freude, deine Beiträge zu lesen.
Alles Liebe
Ursula (Uschi)
Thank you again for that lovely story ,the videos were great ,their voices are amazing ,regards
I have heard all of their music you talked about at least 500 times. Maybe more, and I have a lot that was not mentioned. Their music is spectacular. One cannot say more. They are so very talented, and I wish them the best through the coming years. I never miss an opportunity to compliment them. They are simply. . .fabulous.
Thank you Susan for the great stories and videos. I especially loved the videos. I was one of those daft people who adored Lee Van Cleef and Eli Wallach, but couldn’t abide Clint Eastwood.
Just in case anyone is wondering why Piero’s time was considerably shorter than the NY marathon, it is because the one he ran in Bologna was just shy of 22km, whereas the NY marathon was a fraction over 42km. Apparently, there were four different runs in Bologna, one was 30km, can’t remember off the top of my head what the other one was.
Roz
Thank you Susan what a wonderful post
Will be back tomorrow
Diane
Susan – thanks a million for this interesting take on the visual effects of the guys’ hit songs and for bringing us down memory lane. And – of course – you are right, that each of these videos tells a story within the frames of the song clearly underlining the text of same. Whether they (the videos) are necessary is, however, another question – as it limits our own free fantasy to evolve. But it is the modern way to present a song and in most cases they are likewise a delight or fun to watch. This goes for the good old ones here – but I shall have to admit that personally I am not too fond of the official video to “Capolavoro”. It differs considerably to the previous ones being a long row of fast somewhat confusing clips in a rather “cosmic” setting not making much sense to me. Somewhat “high flying” and very artistic. Sorry, but I do prefer the guys without heavy make-up and avant-garde houte couture fashion. But I guess this is yet an attempt to attract a younger crowd.
But I do fully agree with you that listening to IL VOLO is not “just” about the melody or text – in their case it is all about their voices and the way they express themselves – i.e. the facials and body moves – and hence the emotions they awake in each of us listening and watching same. They deliver a “full package” – and it is the total sum that arouses and captivates us. These guys reach out way beyond the edge of the stage and right into our hearts. This fact became truly clear to me when last summer I was enjoying one of the Milan concerts. Unfortunately, being seated at one of the balconies far from the stage, they were like little ants and I could hardly figure out visually who was who. Well, the sound was perfect – but I felt I missed out of a lot not being able to study their facial expressions and loving antics. I could simply not “feel” them the way I have been able to before. Hence it hit me how valuable the big screens in i.e. Arena di Verona are in this connection. I listen very often to their CD/DVDs in our house – and I have likewise discovered that listening to their CDs is great – but watching them in a live concert on one of their DVDs adds so much to the experience! So yes, IL VOLO is all about the voices but indeed also of their visual presentation of the songs in which they magically transfer their own emotions to the audience.
As to the message of “Capolavoro” I have read your interpretation of same with great interest. I am a very reflecting person myself and hence I have made my own thoughts too. I can follow you a long way – but I lack to find earth, wind, fire and re-birth. My first take was, however, also that it was about themselves. The birth of IL VOLO i.e. “the American dream” referring to their overnight move to the USA to start up a new and unexpected life based on a sudden incident “flying from the sky” aka when by co-incident they were put together singing “O-Solo-Mio” in the song contest. But then you lose me – as I recall having heard the guys express numerous times that each of them have a different perception of the song hence making it a much broader and more “airy” interpretation. So I have come to the conclusion that it refers to i.e. a certain emotion felt; the impact of a person; an incident occurring, a vision/wisdom acknowledged etc. etc. – something that in a split second suddenly changes your life forever. That makes sense to me. But, of course, it could also “just” be something like “love” – the simple perception that the choreographer of the ballet in the recent morning TV—show apparently had. Love is, however, many things… It could likewise be the love that evolved among the guys as they got to know each other better; or their love to music as they realized the impact it had on each of them etc. It is profound but interesting to reflect on. Thanks for bringing it up.
Warmest regards – Kirsten, Denmark