This article previously published on Patrizia Ciava’s Blog and translated by Susan Ambrosini.

Gianluca, Ignazio and Piero are three normal guys in their early twenties, friendly, cheerful, funny, playful.

But when they go up on stage they become huge. They become ageless. Almost intimidating. They make you feel that kind of awe that is aroused by true talent. A talent that is made up, not only of their powerful voices, but also of their extraordinary capacity to immerse themselves in music and convey intense emotions to those who listen to them.

Usually, those who have important voices set their performances on their vocal skills and focus on virtuosity, while these three young artists use their beautiful voices as a tool to arouse empathy and emotion, as a painter uses colors, a poet words and a composer notes. This obviously entails a special sensitivity by both the performer and the listener, and you can’t try to explain rationally to those who don’t possess it what you are experiencing. Harmony and beauty in its many forms, touches deep chords of the human soul and is not always explainable in words.

Artistic talent is a divine and mysterious gift. As John Paul II wrote, in a letter to the artists: “No one better than you artists, ingenious creators of beauty, can imagine something of the pathos with which God, at the dawn of creation, looked at the work of his hands. A glimmer of that feeling has shone so often in your eyes when you, like the artists of all times, captivated by the hidden power of sounds and words, colors and shapes, have almost felt the echo of the mystery of creation with which God has wished in some ways to associate you with. “

Unfortunately, recognizing true talent does not stir the same reactions in everyone; in some it elicits admiration, in others envy, because it makes them realize how insignificant they are.

Real talent can be daunting.

And it can be annoying. Above all, it is annoying to a certain kind of press that would like to be the only mediator between artists and the public. They would like to exercise unlimited power, become supreme judges to determine the success or failure of an artist, if he does not fall into their limited circle of friendships and interests.

Mass orientation techniques fail when the public recognizes true talent, hence the angry and scornful rage of certain journalists. The conformism that they try to impose crumbles in the face of true talent, which is free from genres, time or fashion.

So, dear boys, be prepared to endure many insults and humiliations. Those who cannot fly as high as you will do anything to clip your wings. But that’s exactly what will give you the magnitude of your worth and of your success.

Credit to all owners of photos.