Sunday 26 December, Santo Stefano (with us 25 and 26 December are always holidays), on RAI 1, during the program DOMENICA IN, conducted in the studio by Mara Venier, Il Volo was a guest.

A pleasant hour, where Piero, Ignazio and Gianluca sang and talked, a really nice  interview, which had already been previously recorded, to make sure that that day, everyone was with their own family.

Here is the video and its translation.

Click on the photo below to view the video.

MARA = I would start immediately with them, I thank them very much, they are indeed ambassadors of Italian culture and music in the world and thanks to Rai Italia, we are seen all over the world and I want to greet all the Italians living abroad and me I would start immediately with Il Volo.

(Applause. A video begins with the most important stages of Il Volo’s career)

But how wonderful this video is, how many very famous people they met.

Well we will be here, we will present the latest wonderful project of Il Volo, which is entirely dedicated to the great Ennio Morricone, but let’s start immediately like this: IL VOLO.

(Enter Gianluca, Ignazio and Piero, applause, kisses and hugs)

Guys, start right away with the first performance, then let’s talk about everything, everything.

GIAN = Come on, we are ready, here we are.
(the song SE begins, from Cinema Paradiso)

MARA = Well done, well done.

PIERO = How beautiful.

IGNAZIO + GIAN = Thank you

MARA = I’m excited, maybe it’s Holy Christmas …. she turns to Gian: “Everything’s fine, dear”.

GIAN = Very well.

MARA = Very good, very good.

PIERO = This is too much. (He refers to the constant applause of the audience.) 

MARA = No, it’s never too much. But have you seen the video we sent?

IGNAZIO = Absolutely yes, and it’s always exciting to see it.

PIERO = There were the images of the film Nuovo Cinema Paradiso.

MARA = These are taken from the film Nuovo Cinema Paradiso, which together with Il Ferroviere (another Italian film) are the films of my life (he means that they are his favorite films).
I know the lines of the film by heart.

PIERO = It is also my favorite movie.

MARA = Mine too.

PIERO = I watched it during the lockdown, I dedicated a Sunday afternoon to this film, I don’t deny you that I cried.

MARA = When he looks at all the kissing film clippings …..?

PIERO = For me, the most exciting moment, as a Sicilian, when he says to him: “Don’t get nostalgic, never come back” …. there an emotion came to me ….

GIAN = It’s normal, it’s a bit like what we experienced, leaving what was ours ….

MARA = Sure, maybe because of this. Do you recognize yourself a little …

PIERO = So much ….

MARA = However it is a wonderful film, great Peppuccio Tornatore, great director, great friend, a kiss. (applause)

So guys, I saw in the first video, during your presentation, and I must tell you that I was quite excited, because the path you have made, who has it happened to?

Maybe in Modugno, I don’t know, I really think about the greats, the myths.

What happened to you in a few years is simply wonderful (applause) because you bring Italy to the world. And Italy is not just pizza, spaghetti and mandolin (stereotype of Italy), it is also something else and you are bringing something else, your talent, your voice, I wanted to tell you.

IGNAZIO = This has always been our goal, to make our culture known, however in this album, we give prestige to what was the maestro Ennio Morricone, and as you can see from the cover, we also remember Sergio Leone’s films (western director and friend of Morricone).

MARA = Beautiful.

GIAN = Remember the movie The Good, The Bad and the Ugly ….

MARA = Beautiful also the photo inside, though. Look at these three children.

PIERO = Can we have a marker to autograph this album to Mara?

MARA = Really? Immediately, live? Come on, yes!

IGNAZIO = I’ll go.

MARA = Look, by magic, there is also the marker, “Aunt Mara” and this too (she also gives the CD and asks that they be dedicated to aunt Mara, as Mara often calls herself by young people).

IGNAZIO = The dedications are made by Gianluca.

GIANLUCA = Since I have the most beautiful writing, I write.

PIERO = I write like doctors, doctors’ recipes (prescriptions) ….

MARA = … that it is not clear what you write.

IGNAZIO = While Gianluca is writing, let’s go back to the previous discussion ..

MARA = Among all these important characters, myths, true myths, is there anyone who has moved you more? Saw Barbra Streisand ….

PIERO = The editing you did is really beautiful, but each of us has his own indelible memory, personally, singing in front of Pope Francis in Panama, during the youth day, I think it was one of the most important and profound moments.

MARA = Of course, I believe it. Then he has a great charisma, I spent two afternoons with him, one afternoon for 4 hours always with him, and the incredible thing is that it’s like talking ….. (the photo of the boys with the Pope appears in the background) There they are !! …. because he is a simple man, it is like being really, with a grandfather.

IGNAZIO = I think that a figure like Pope Francis, we needed it, also to approach the youngest, I speak as a boy who does not practice, but, thanks to Pope Francis, I have re-evaluated the religious world.

MARA = Of course, when there are men like that, then he is a real revolutionary, guys.

GIAN = Maybe he’s looking at us, let’s say hello.

MARA = We greet Pope Francis:
“Happy St. Stephen Holiness!” ….. but he only wants to be called Pope Francis.

So guys, I start where we started, because it’s beautiful, then do your whole wonderful journey.

(Begins a 2011 video of the LA VITA IN DIRETTA program , conducted by Mara Venier, with guests of the very young Piero, Ignazio and Gianluca. In the video Mara says that three of them are 48 years old and then asks who wanted the name Il Volo and Piero replies that it is a metaphorical name and that they decided it together.)

Have you understood? In the end I wished you to fly high, but you took me at my word !!!

GIAN = I still remember the first moments. It was one of our first interviews. I still remember the excitement of doing the interviews, we didn’t know what to say, sometimes we got tangled up, we didn’t really know how to behave with the cameras. It’s amazing how, over time, things can change, in 10 years our life has changed in an incredible way.

MARA = Incredible. Have you ever thought about all this guys?
(she drops the felt-tip pen)

IGNAZIO = I’ll take care of it.

MARA = Come on, I can do it.

IGNAZIO = I wanted to be a gentleman.

MARA = What love !! I wanted to take this (the vinyl) and show it because it’s beautiful.

PIERO = Actually while we were singing she was afraid that it would be stolen.

MARA = In fact, look, I’m holding it tight.
By the way, Monica Bellucci called me (Il Volo was a guest on the previous Sunday for a tribute to the actress Monica Bellucci in connection from Paris).

IGNAZIO = Did she like it?

MARA = She thanked me, it was a surprise, she wasn’t expecting it at all.

GIAN = It was good for us too.

MARA = Really?

GIAN = Sure

MARA = Did you have any feedback?

GIAN = Apart from that, during the interview, Monica Bellucci is Monica Bellucci (as if to say that Bellucci is famously beautiful) .… but Mara Venier ….

PIERO = But Mara Venier is Mara Venier (as if to say that Mara is beautiful too)

MARA = Oh yes, at my age …. guys but I invite you every Sunday ….

IGNAZIO = You have to thank that I am already busy, otherwise I would make you a ruthless court (what a seducer).

MARA = Where is your girlfriend?

IGNAZIO = She is far away.

MARA = Very far?

PIERO = No, she’s near here, around the corner.

GIAN = Exactly!

PIERO = In Brazil.

MARA = But you really had to find her in Brazil?

IGNAZIO = Love does not know distances, it does not know religions, races.

MARA = Is she Brazilian?

IGNAZIO = Yes. Traveling, you meet different cultures, and this has given us the opportunity to get to know the whole world and also arrive in Brazil, where I later met what my love is, however ….

MARA = But why Ignazio, didn’t you join her now for Christmas?

IGNAZIO = Work calls and we are very professional.

MARA = Like me.

IGNAZIO = Exactly. Unfortunately or fortunately, in life you have to work and there are priorities.

MARA = I am very happy.

IGNAZIO = And we are young ….

MARA = You have time, now, as soon as the broadcast is over, you can join it.

IGNAZIO = Yes, I’m going down (He means Brazil. Actually the program is recorded in this way Ignazio at Christmas reached his love in Brazil.)

MARA = So guys, let’s talk again ….. why are you looking at me like this Piero, you look at me and you make me laugh.

PIERO = I respect you, you are fantastic. See you go to the programs, that feeling with the presenter, it is fundamental, it is crucial to make sure that the best part of us comes out.

MARA = Sure.

PIERO = Because you know, behind the artist, behind the singer, many at home cannot perceive the personality, because there is always the fear of making a mistake, or how much to talk, with you it is unfiltered.

IGNAZIO = Also because you always talk, so we are fine.

MARA = That’s not true !! I always make you talk and above all I listen, what a bad Ignazio. (Ignazio laughs) I’m not sending you to your girlfriend, I make you stay here, even for New Year’s, I don’t let you leave. (applause and laughter)

Ennio Morricone, why? You are very young, boys and here are some pieces that will truly remain in history.

GIAN = Let’s say that we have had an artistic evolution over the years, it all started with O SOLE MIO, then slowly, even with Grande Amore, we tried to have our own repertoire, then in 2016 a Tribute to the Three Tenors with Plácido Domingo, and this time we decided to pay a tribute, however, on the soundtracks of the films, which are a little detached from what is the real tradition of Italian music, because in any case Morricone is a genre in itself, an international genre, which has made history …

MARA = Oscar winner!

GIAN = Exactly, and therefore he wrote a music that has made generations dream, and it is also a way to make him known to the youngest, who may not be able to connect the music with the composer at first glance. So for us it is really an honor, we also thank the family, the teacher Andrea Morricone ….

MARA = The son.

GIAN = …. who immediately supported the project, and also his wife Maria Travia, who also gave the possibility to have her son (Andrea) write a text on the first sung version of the Ecstasy of Gold by Il Buono, the bad, the ugly.

MARA = Beautiful !!
Now I’ll show you June of this year, the Verona Arena, I remember that we made a connection, just to launch your concert, let’s see this clip together.

(A video starts with Your Love from the Verona concert. In the video, Andrea Morricone says: “It is really exciting to hear my father’s music playing in this splendid Arena, it is really fantastic.” Ignazio says:
“Maestro Morricone means a lot to us, he is a symbol of Italy in the world, on this stage with the great maestro Andrea Morricone,  is an honor.”)

How wonderful! (applause)

PIERO = Mara, those images are really strong for us, because the first images we saw are taken from the concert on June 5th and it was the first concert, right after the lockdown ….

MARA = Sure.

PIERO = ….. with 50% of the capacity of the Verona Arena.

IGNAZIO = 6 thousand.

PIERO = Yes, 6 thousand people, so we got on stage after almost two years of pause and silence, so there we really understood that for an artist, for a singer, the audience is oxygen.

MARA = Sure, absolutely. How have you lived through these two years of pandemic and I keep saying that we must still be very careful. Yes, we must not give up.

IGNAZIO = Never.

MARA = You who are used to traveling the world, never stand still.

GIAN = We tried to live it definitely not in a passive way. It is not easy, because many families have certainly suffered, and there have been people who have not been able to manage, especially young people, adolescents, who perhaps miss the most delicate period of their life and therefore, in some way, be still, not having a place in society, being able to understand what to do in the future and instead stopping, was certainly difficult for young people. And we also try to be an example for the young people who follow us.

MARA = Absolutely.

GIAN = We certainly haven’t stopped, you need to have a spirit of adaptation, when life puts you to the test anyway.

MARA = Look Gianluca, when I invite my guests, especially artists, musicians, even important ones, I always asked them, during the pandemic, during the lockdown, what they did, and the majority always told me that they continued to write, and moreover, they have also had the concentration, in these months, even so difficult, also of pain, of insecurity, of fear, in the end, but many have told me that they have been creative.

GIAN = They gave vent to creativity.

MARA = Exactly, they gave vent to creativity, exactly.

PIERO = We, too, created this album during the pandemic.

MARA = The album was born right there.

PIERO = Yes, because for us, the worst enemy has always been time, we have never had the time to concentrate or dedicate ourselves to taking care of all aspects of a project.

For this album, we worked a year and a half, the initial part via ZOOM (internet) with video calls. Then we went to the recording studio, zoomed in with the linked producers from Stockholm.
We wanted it at all costs.

GIAN = Then it is clear that we always try to see the positive side, because from 2009 to today, we have always been 7-8 months a year out (abroad), on tour or promotion of the record, in short, it is our life. But in these two years, the positive thing is that we have been more with our families, we have cultivated relationships, met love, maybe we have been more with our friends. So we rediscovered what was our “old life”.

MARA = Exactly.

GIAN = Because anyway it’s like jumping on two different tracks every now and then, Il Volo and then ….

MARA = And then I imagine that when you are away for months and months, abroad, traveling the world with the tour, in short, your family, but also your country, in the end you miss them.

IGNAZIO = We always say that these years have been the result of positive and negative things.

Personally I am a person who has a hard time falling asleep at night, because my head is constantly thinking, about everything there is to do, I store a lot of information. But I realized that sometimes stopping, even if difficult, stopping is good, also to understand what you want from life, what you are doing.

MARA = Reflect, a moment of calm.

PIERO = You live everything with frenzy.

MARA = Especially you.

PIERO = We never stop, only at Christmas. For us, Christmas, on the 24th evening, we have to go home, and it is as if time stopped.

MARA = And this is beautiful, can I tell you? Coming home on the 24th is beautiful.

IGNAZIO = then on the 26th we come to Rome! (Domenica In is recorded in Rome).

MARA = Let’s go on guys, now there is a beautiful piece always taken from Morricone, “Once Upon a Time in the West”.

PIERO = It is the song we sang in Sanremo, this year we were guests in Sanremo.

MARA = So now you will let the guests of “Zia Mara” hear it.

IGNAZIO = Sure.

(Il Volo sings “Once Upon a Time in the West”)

(TO BE CONTINUED)

Credit to owners of all photos and video.