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Myron’s Music Notes ~ Pompeii

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il volo pompeii

Il Volo – Live from Pompeii

Filmed on June 10, 2015 from Pompeii, Italy

This review is based upon August 7, Vegas-PBS presentation.

Looking back a few months ago I originally thought I would pass on writing a review of the Taormina concert. Then I changed my mind after watching it again and again. So I wrote the review posted here earlier this year. I do remember thinking that concert should have been the planned PBS special. I knew they were planning one last fall and aiming for Rome but the San Remo / Eurovision competition changed that schedule. They had always planned to do Pompeii but at that point it was raised to a greater level of importance. Tonight I am very glad they did the PBS Special in Pompeii. Taormina may be just a touch more romantic location but Pompeii more than makes up for that by its iconic historical position and representation of all of Italy. If you are going to take an Italian trio and put on a concert in Italy present to American audiences then Pompeii is the place.

I would like to make some comments along the way and then a summary at the end.

Grande Amore

First note is that I like the guys being staged in the middle of the orchestra several times in the beginning of the program and later. Grande Amore has always been a great song for them – works well for their voices and was arranged well just for them. Probably their new signature song. Very nice staging and great lighting. Much better planned than two years ago or the road tour concerts. This is an “Il Volo Song” for sure.

Io che non Vivo (You Don’t have to say you love me)

I prefer the version where first singer starts without orchestra – a capella (as they did in Taormina) and then orchestra comes in the fourth bar. Otherwise this is a great song for them. Orch./piano is a bit too strong on this. I love the new approach to the spoken “patter” that they use between songs. It is much more mature and at ease. It has a more natural feel or should I say they are more at home with it. Feels good and is enjoyable.

Beautiful That Way (La Vita e bella)

The beginning of this was a bit off in rhythm orchestra was not with Ginaluca. Small item which was corrected quickly. This was a lovely song and they enjoyed it as they got going. I wish they would not stage one person on the floor – Piero- while others are standing (reminds me of Christmas special – bad staging). Once again, I like the guys in the middle of the orchestra for a change of pace staging. Nice. This song grows on you. Watch how Ignazio does the transition to the next song off of this song.

New tonight for these concerts and shows: the guys introduce themselves for their solos and it is so much more relaxed and personal this way. I love this : Piero talks about this dream to sing grand opera and how he worked hard for this and how he hopes “he won’t disappoint us” – You gotta love this kid and his humble nature. That phrase really got me.

Piero – E Lucevan le Stelle – (from the opera “Tosca” by Puccini )

In the past we have watched as at first, they stayed away from opera, then two years later Piero and Gianluca did two songs from short operas and now Piero takes on a true aria from a full-scale opera and not just any opera – a great masterpiece by the great Puccini – the magnificent Tosca. We know Piero has wanted to do this for some time. And WOW ! ! did he do it ! Piero’s vowels and, therefore, sound is more wide open and larger now. This guy has really been working and how. As a voice teacher/coach I was absolutely thrilled over this performance. Bravo! to Piero !!!

Delilah

Very nice smooth transition on the staging for this. The guys have a ball singing and “acting “ this song out. The “fight” breaks out and we love it. Who gets the girl ? Ha!

Gianluca lets loose with some wild, powerful singing and he does it well (of course !). Watch that hair fly around. Ignazio and his “Tom Jones” styling. Piero singing his heart out. Funny song and fun to watch.

Caruso

This has always been one of my favorite songs of theirs. This time around the arrangement is different and the orchestration is very different. Sometimes the featured guitars are too loud and later the whole orchestra is too heavy but it still comes off very dramatic. Gianluca really digs into the soul of this wonderful piece. He is so focused in his energy delivery. All, in all, the guys are more focused in this whole concert than in the past. They are serious about the craft that it takes to make the art of singing. Wonderful and passion-filled song.

Quando l’amore diventa poesia

Also a nice song for delivering passion through music.

Gianluca – Anema e core (Heart and Soul)

Once again, I like that Gianluca introduces himself and his song and how he found it. So much more personal. I loved this song the first time I heard him sing it in Taormina with an accordian doing the solo work. This time they are using a soprano sax and he is very good at it. But I still feel the style of the song needs the accordian. Also, drums are too strong on this as is the sax during the verse. Gianluca sings it very beautifully. He can be so romantic when he is alone on an equally romantic song.

Volare

Well you can sure tell that the audience was ready for this song. The boys jumped into the deep end with both feet and had a wonderful, fun time singing this with audience involvement. This is great audience participation. Good old work horse of a song and it still is fun after all these years.

L’immensita

This was my one disappointment of the night. This was the weakest of the last seven song – album and here the performance was a little sloppy on the rhythm. Solo guitars and rhythm section were too loud under the singing. Ignazio does enjoy this song and does it so well. I wish they would have done “Ancore” or “Romantica” .

Ignazio – Unchained Melody

Once again, Ignazio introduces himself and his song. Love it. It is personal when he talks about his mother’s gift to his papa for the anniversary – this song. Ignazio sang his heart out on this one. This is such a good type of song for his voice. He was absolutely wonderful.

Piove (Ciao, ciao bambina)

Earlier we had fun with the audience and now we have fun out in the audience. A very catchy song from the recent album that is perfect for turning up the fun level with the audience.

Eternally

In the past we have had the song “Smile” written by the great film director and star, Charlie Chaplin and now from his movie “Limelight” we have the great song: Eternally. A great song for the end of the program. Beautiful melody and the guys have some wonderful solos and great harmony. The opening has a wonderful close-up of Gianluca singing the first verse. The camera is right in his face and he sings right to your soul. He has so much inside him to move your soul. This song provided each guy with a moment to shine but also provided some great harmony sections. This may well be one of the best of the night.

La Vita

This song is a nice up-tempo number and works well to finish the concert. I think that they have had some other songs that work better for ending a concert. They could have used their theme song again: “O Sole Mio”. I have nothing against this song but it just does not come off strong for a finale number.

But that is very trivial.

Over all my thoughts are that this is a very fine concert – maybe their best of the PBS concerts – with great choices of repertoire that fits the style and the voices of these three individual souls and talent. I do wish they would have included more from the recent album. My favorite songs of the new batch: Grande Amore and Eternally.

Now let me get personal. As someone who has known these guys since they were 16, 17 and 18 and I have also met them at five different times sometimes for just a few minutes and sometimes for a nice length of time. I have gotten to know them and I have always come away thinking what wonderful and sweet and charming young guys ( boys ) they are. What nice families they come from. Well, here it comes:

NEWS FLASH !!! THE BOYS HAVE GROWN UP !!! These are young men !

We all knew that already but this show brought it home in strong fashion. Based upon the evidence of this concert, this was a show presented by grown-ups.They were smooth and very professional in their presentation and in control of their show. They sang their hearts out for us. The technical side of the singing was flawless as usual and it is getting better and better. I am so pleased to find out that they still take their voice lessons and work with a voice coach and the proof is that they always get better.

Lord ! I do love these three. And now – – the USA/Canada Tour.

This time Las Vegas is on the list.

~Myron

Myron's Music Notes

Myron’s Music Notes

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for Myrons article 3

What would a music event be without Myron’s take on it?  So here’s…

Myron’s look at Eurovision 2015

I come at this from the background of vocal-choral teacher / conductor and voice coach. I say this so that you know what I use as the foundation of any judging I do on music / singing performances. When I am hired to judge a music contest, these are some of the questions I ask while I am writing comments:


Repertoire – most important is melody. Is it soaring or is it trite. Second by harmony and the way it is orchestrated. Then comes text – is there strong poetry at the heart of the song. Does it inspire passion.


Is this pure singing?  – good vowels that result in beautiful singing tone supported by good breath support. Also, is some fake, artificial effect being used such as excessive reverb, artificial pitch adjustments via computer, voice distortion, etc. In good contests Auto-tune is illegal.


Does the singing convey passion and heart-felt emotion direct to the audience?


Singers formal training. Were private voice lessons involved in preparation? Is a professional voice coach in use? You don’t have brain surgery done by person who did not even go to medical school. Also, if you are serious about your art and craft, you don’t enter a quality music contest as a singer unless you have been trained by a degreed voice teacher and do use a professional voice coach.


Staging – that is simple, direct and to the point minus the useless gimmicks and distractions. Usually these distractions are used as a cover-up for bad singing practices.

Presentation – do the singers draw us (the audience) in by their own means or do they depend on other kinds of help? Do they even look like they want to be there?

However, here’s the big question: is this the way the contest is being judged? For Eurovision 2015 the answer is mixed. Some of the actual judges have that background and used it in their evaluations. Others did not. Plus we must remember that fans from the various countries could vote as well so that blows the scheme out of the water completely. Do they each know quality singing when they hear and see it? Having been in this business for a number of years I know (and you do to) that sometimes the wild staging, or background animation or the costumes or the way the hair is done or other aspects can sway the thinking. In which case they are likely to miss the true quality (or lack there of) in the performance.

I was struck by the fact that over forty countries were there and each has its own language. However, most of them chose to sing in English – not their native language. Only a few countries sang in their own language. Gee, I wonder who one of those acts might be? Hmm ? Oh, that’s right Italy’s Il Volo that sang in their native language.. Don’t get me wrong I see no problem with acts singing in English. It is the international language, but I do think it is kind of nice when the act is proud of its own heritage. Besides, we all know that Il Volo can sing in English anytime they want !

After all is said and done there really was no logical way to predict this contest. There were a lot of different types of music presented. A lot of songs sounded as if they came from Texas and added a certain amount of rock to the pattern. The winner from Sweden, Måns Zelmerlöw, sang a song that could have been derived from the USA and had a certain “country” flair to it as did his English pronunciation. Is that a bad thing? No. Just a notation. Polina Gagarina from Russia was second place and she sings with a more folk-song like style and voice. Her English shows just a little bit of Russian accent to it. Again, just a notation.

Comparing all the styles of these 40 countries is not like apples and oranges but more like apples and roast beef – in other words quite a stretch. The above mentioned “country- style” vrs our Il Volo ‘s Bel Canto . It is very difficult to compare that.

So to conclude, I will go back and use my usual format for singing contests. The same questions like which acts have the formal singing lessons background; uses a voice coach in their work; has wonderful, well-written repertoire that showed off amazing and passionate poetry; made a beautiful presentation that did not depend on staging “gimmicks” but rather connected their gorgeous voices direct to our heart and soul. Some of the acts had some of those qualifications but which acts had all of those qualifications? I am guessing that all of you on the Flight Crew site have reached the answer already before I did. Hmm — now let me think about it – – I need time – – which acts ? Oh, this is a hard one. Hmm – – Oh, I think I finally got it. Surprise ! You will never guess ! It’s IL VOLO !

Am I saying that Eurovision got it wrong? It really depends upon the approach you use to judge.

Congrats ! To Sweden and Russia but special congrats to Il Volo for sticking to their guns and presenting pure quality singing. Our guys took the high road. Bravo !

~~Myron

Myron's Music Notes

“Sanremo Grande Amore” ~ Music Notes ~ Myron

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Il Volo – February 2015

Sanremo Grande Amore – An album of winners !!!

I mean that literally and figuratively. These songs are great songs and thus “winners” in that sense. In addition, most of these songs have won the Sanremo Music Festival in some previous year. The songs are winners and now, so are our guys !!!
This album includes:

Grande Amore by Francesco Boccia and Ciro Esposito
Ancora by Eduardo de Crescenzo
Vacanze Romane by Matia Bazar
Canzone per te by Sergio Endrigo
Piove by Domenico Modugno
Romantica by Renato Rascel
L’immensitá by Don Backy

Grande Amore, of course, is the prize winner of Sanremo 2015 that each of us Il Volo fans can practically sing from memory. A rather challenging song with a melody that is not, at first, easy to take in. But in the long run, that makes it very memorable. If I were going to choose a competition piece I could not have thought of a better one. All of the technical aspects which are on my usual list: tone quality, intonation (singing in tune), projection, breath control, vowel shaping and tone colour, etc. are here in spades. Beautiful performance.

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Ancora is a more easily accessible song with a refrain melody that teaches itself it is so beautiful. Ignazio had a field day with the final refrain and add in a wonderful sax solo – really a duet – very dynamic. Even a vocal purist has to admit that adding in a little “raspy tone” to that sound at times gives an earthy feel to the sound that expands the color. It is hard on the voice so you don’t want to do it too often. This song was originally sung by the composer and won the 1981 Sanremo Music Festival.

Vacanze Romane In so many ways is a poem to the city of Rome and the pain that love can bring when you sense that the relationship is on troubled footing. The melody is lyric and somewhat bitter at the same time.

Canzone per te a beautiful song for the guys and a definite indication of maturity. This song was originally performed by the composer when it won the 1968 Sanremo Festival !

Piove was the 1959 winner of the Sanremo Music Festival where it was sung by the composer. Sometimes the song is known as “Ciao, Ciao Bambina” In spite of its interesting marcato rhythms indicating something else, it is really a dramatic ballad of a man whose love is about to leave him. He asks her to not look back when she does because he still loves her.

Romantica was performed by the composer and won the 1960 Sanremo Music Festival. The song has been recorded by a number of famous European singers as well as a few American singers. The text deals with the inspiration that the man feels from his girl, his muse, is “romantic spirit”

L’immensitá this song took 9th place at the 1967 Sanremo Music Festival where it was performed by Johnny Dorelli,

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Quality of singing on the recording:

Overall, this is an exciting album for Il Volo fans because it gives us a sense of a new maturity of sound and feeling from our guys. As mentioned under the song Grande Amore, the technical aspects of the their singing is, as usual, of the highest quality.

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As with any album there are a few issues but they are so minor. If I were to be really picky I would ask why Gianluca uses a darker, covered sound in a couple of the songs. As he starts out on those songs it is rather hard to know it is him singing. I was also concerned because in two other songs it sounds to me as though he is singing with a cold – that is with head congestion. It does not hurt his performance like a bad throat would. In fact, he sounds wonderful but with the extra resonance that head congestion creates. Having listened to him almost everyday for the past four years you get to know his sound and I have heard him with a cold in the past. His range and his tonal richness is getting deeper and deeper as he ages ( I still refuse to believe that he is 20 ! My age-ridden vanity tells me he is only 17 yrs but my ears say he is 28yrs,) This summer and fall we saw this young man get so deep into a song that he had tears in his eyes. Look at the incredible song “Caruso” and watch how all three always take this song very seriously – especially Gianluca to the point of tears. Also, I think of the first performance of Grande Amore at the San Remo Festival. He could not contain himself- passion of the song plus overwhelming audience response plus his birthday = too much and then tears. I love it.  We all need that kind of passion.

 

Piero - Sanremo
Piero – Sanremo

For Piero there are a couple of places where the breath control gets a little on the thin side but he more than makes up for that minor item with a new and broader tone placement that hints to me that he has been doing more and more work with his opera voice teacher. What a sound. I wonder how many of you hear that broader sound ? After all he is going to be 22yrs old soon. He is letting a little more that Ginoble perfectionism rub off on him. I don’t want to have him leave Il Volo but I do hope he gets time to do opera as he wants.

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Ignazio still makes those high notes soar into the heavens with great beauty. However, there are a few places on this album where he pushes a bigger sound almost to the point of over-singing. I listened to these songs 3 or 4 times. He is careful and does not get there, of course, because in the recording studio you can stop and do it again. But as they go out on tour I would caution him to be careful to not over sing on some of those dramatic phrases. This guy gets so involved in his concert singing (live audience) that sometimes he can’t contain himself. It is fun to watch him in the Taormina concerts. He almost looks like he needs to be “nailed” to the floor, he shows so much passion. What a great guy.

My worry as a voice coach and friend is the same for all three of these guys: with a season of over 60 concerts coming your way take care and not over do so that you protect that precious voice that is, after all, your life and career and, for us fans, a valued treasure.

The album production:
I had this complaint for the Sanremo Festival performances and now the album: The man that controls the sound board – the producer and sound tech – is leaning too heavy on bass guitar balance and bass drum vis-a-vis the rest of the orchestra. On certain songs that factor is so dominant that the voices get covered too much and even other orchestra instruments are sidelined. It does not happen all the time but sometimes it covers a complete phrase. If you go back to the “We are Love” album you find that album is nearly perfect in blend and balance. I think maybe with a new company – Sony Latin and new album producer that is pushing for his idea of a different sound. Strange thing is that the video of the Grande Amore is just fine (I listened to this comparison three times to be sure).

Looking ahead:
I was informed around Christmas that Il Volo spent last summer and fall recording 16 songs. Where are they? I do not like this scheme of releasing “partial albums” and then later releasing the whole thing. I wish they would just release the whole thing at the same time.

This album features Italian but I had heard that they also did record some English songs and another French song. I hope that is true. While I love Italian songs (believe me, I do) I feel they should try to stay with the international concepts and standards that they have used since the beginning. They are famous for being international – English, Spanish, French, German, and Italian and this year maybe another language ?

Ok now what ? I do hope (as I have said many times before) that they will get to the USA and keep developing this audience by doing concerts, TV shows such as all the talk shows and entertainment shows ( Talk, Tonight, Letterman, Kimmel, Ellen, Today, GMA Kelly and Michael Live, etc. etc, ) and add more cities to the mix. I know they are doing a PBS special from the ruins of the ancient Caracalla Baths in Rome for broadcast in the USA later this year and that will be great. Exciting place now used as a summer concert venue and summer home of the Rome Opera. In 1990, the first three tenors opened the place for concerts.

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Well, once again, I found next to nothing to fuss over in the work of these guys. They are, I feel, the best music act going. They are the best trained. They choose the best repertoire. They have the most glorious talent. Most of my issues have to do with the technical aspects of orchestra balance and the format of this CD vrs. the next one. I am ready for the full album to be released. But all that aside, when you see them live you partake in an experience of love, romance, music and the presence of the three most charming gentlemen in the business.

~Myron

General news, Gianluca, Ignazio, Il Volo, Myron's Music Notes, Piero

Music Notes ~~ Myron Heaton

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Hey Folks!  I’m leaving this up another day.  Please re-read the comment section.  Myron has given us great music lessons throughout. Thank you, Myron.
~Marie

Il Volo – January 2015

A three-way look: the last year, the Senate concert and what’s coming ahead.

A brief look at last year

Compared to previous seasons. 2014 was a different kind of year for Il Volo. The
format set in 2011, 2012, and 2013 was dropped in favor of minimal touring and more scattered concerts. It also meant a major change in the usual recording schedule (much later than previous years). A new album release date (from fall to early spring -maybe). Promotional work on network TV in the USA/Canada (none in 2014). Perhaps the best thing for their benefit was that they finally gave their home country of Italy a bigger spotlight. We fans in the USA/Canada wished they would have done more concerts than they did in the USA and spread them out a bit more but the chance to do several full-length concerts in Italy was very important for them.

One of the items that I, as a voice coach and music director, paid attention to was the vocal-health condition of the guys’ voices. Christmas of 2013 following a very long, hard and condensed tour found the voices raspy and very tired. To be honest, they probably should not have sung the Christmas program at Assisi on December 14, 2013. If you listen carefully each guy was still harboring a little bit of a tired/raspy
voice – especially Piero. Aside from that they performed beautifully and the concert
was very well produced and professionally done. In contrast, later last spring they
went to Russia to sing with Toto Cutugno. That concert was poorly presented by the
local producers and it was very sloppy in staging BUT, by this time, our boys’ voices
were back in shape again and they sang beautifully. They were back to normal (thank God) .

It is interesting that, for a second time, Il Volo comes to sing on behalf of an older,
well-established singer who has ruined his voice long-term. Two years ago they came to Miami to sing El Triste on behalf of Josè Josè (66 yrs.) who can barely talk now and this last April they went to Russia to sing the beautiful song “ L’amore e’ . . amare l’amore” (I would like to see this song on one of their albums) with Toto Cutugno (71 yrs.). Both men have a history of bad vocal usage habits and/or alcohol, drugs and smoking.

By the time they did their spring programs and the USA June tour they were solidly
back to full power and elegance. I have already written two reviews of superb
concerts one was live: L.A. June 7 at the Greek Theater and the second from a video
of the wonderful Taormina pair of concerts. This time in an actual Greek theater.
They were superb. Some of Il Volo’s best work ever. By the end of the fall I had
adjusted my list of the three best Il Volo concerts up to this date: The incredible Oslo
Nobel Peace Prize concert in December of 2012 (this orchestra was the best Il Volo
orchestra even up to now and the boys were in perfect vocal condition); The Radio
City Music Hall concert of fall of 2013 where the boys were obviously very “jazzed”
to sing in an iconic venue that they had dreamed about since they were little kids; the Taormina pair of concerts from June 20 and 21 of 2014. Right now those are my three best.

How are they doing now – end of year 2014/beginning of 2015

Let’s look at the Concerto di Natale Senato della Repubblica from December 21
Italian Anthem – Mattinata – Surrender
Silent Night (It.) – No Puede Ser – Ave Maria
White Christmas (It.) – Memory – O Holy Night
Caruso – Anema e Core – O Sole Mio –
Santa Claus is Coming to Town

Presentation

The Senate chamber is a very elegant place for our guys’ concert – no doubt, but I
wonder if that made the audience so timid in their response. Any other audience
would have been on their feet and cheering the quality of this concert. Some small
staging items include: The guys were facing few people directly in front of them. The
audience was off to either side because of the main door hallway directly in front of
them. It made for little audience relating. I wish the teleprompter were located at a
higher location so the guys were not locked into looking down. Thank goodness they
broke loose from that as the program went on.

Performance
The orchestra was really quite good even as they had to deal with cramped location.
The program had a nice variety of music although I would have changed the order of
about three songs for better program flow. Silent Night even in Italian is not a good number to use as an opener (I don’t count the Italian anthem) because it does not push the singer to use the larger vowel shapes.

The singing – THE most important part of this article

After the opening anthem and Silent Night, White Christmas really got our guys to
use better vowels and breath support. It was interesting to see that Piero and
Gianluca gave up the earphones in favor of the monitors at their feet for a more “live” singing reaction. Ignazio had the earphones but did not rely on them all the time and even pulled them out sometimes. With live orchestra, I think the monitor speaker system is a better way to go because it does not leave the singer feeling isolated so much.

Caruso, once again, inspired the boys to their best singing (and some other songs) of the night. Great technique – breath control, large vowels, great head tone, wonderful projection, and great musical phrasing. That technique was topped off by such passion and heart that I had tears – – again on this song. Piero grows more and more mature each time he sings No Puede Ser this was wonderful. (once again, what a timid audience !). Ignazio poured his soul into Memories even more than usual. Gianluca’s Anema e Core was beautifully sung and he is ever more the crooner but with an even better voice. With each of the guys I wish they could have had more connection with the audience. I would have brought the accordion player in for this – not the soprano sax.

The other songs went well but O Holy Night was (after Caruso) the vocal summit of the night ! For all three; What projection! What glorious vowels! What passion!
Everything was just right on. Better than the PBS Christmas show

What may be coming ahead ?

We have been told very little – at least that can be made public- about this year
except there is a new album ahead followed by a long tour. That all sounds good. I
would like to have seen the new album earlier (you know, the “out of sight, out of
mind” business), I hope they do another PBS special or some major television. I hope they do the rounds of American TV shows – Tonight, Today, Ellen, The Talk (where they started), Good Morning America, Kelly and Michael Live, and other nationwide network shows ( I know they did “Un Nuevos Dias” on Telemundo last spring but that is a little different market). Naturally, I hope that they do more touring in the USA Canada this year. There are still some major cities in the USA they have yet to visit or have only been to once.

The major changes that happened to their company. Moving from Live Nation to
CAA for tour promotions and going to Sony Latin for recordings have had some
benefits. I hope this new year brings about improvements in marketing and
promotion.

For four years I have had a special place in my heart for these gentlemen. They have talent that is superior to most any singer on the market today. They work very hard, present a great concert, are absolutely charming in person and especially one-on-one, and they deserve the best that their management can get to support them. They also deserve the full support of you and me – the fans – to make sure they get the kind of success they deserve through their album sales, concert ticket sales, TV shows and insisting that management do their best.

Sharon Osbourne on the tv show The Talk once discussed the difference in music
quality from Bieber, One Direction, Miley, etc. etc. and Il Volo. The former presents
trite, silly and forgettable songs or what she called “ disposable music” (what a great
term ! ). Il Volo presents well-written, beautifully melodic and very meaningful songs that last for decade after decade. It is my hope and prayer that this progress continues upward in 2015 . The boys have gotten a number of awards recently but when they were younger they said they dreamed of winning the American Grammy Award . Maybe this year !

~~Myron

Myron's Music Notes

Music Notes ~ Il Volo – Taormina July 20, 2014 ~ Myron Heaton

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 Note:  8/31/14 ~ New addition. See concert order list on bottom of post!

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I had not planned to write a review of this concert originally because it was to be mostly a repeat of the tour concert that they did in the USA. However, after watching this concert on DVD several times now, I feel I need to point out some reasons why this is a very, very special concert. In the past two years Il Volo may have done more singing in the Americas than their home country, but 2014 is providing more quality time for the boys to share their music with their home land. Of all the 2014 concerts so far (in Europe or the USA/Canada) the most exciting has turned out to be this concert in Taormina in Sicily. This ancient and historic site has been used for concerts many times down through the years but I don’t think any has been more elegant and done with more class. Once again, I did not see the concert live which means I am left to using a DVD of the concert for this review. The problem with this is that sometimes I am reacting to situations due to the camera work and not the live concert.

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Click Here → http://youtu.be/dkRXNM9106A

STAGING AND TECHNICAL

Since Il Volo is using a larger than usual orchestra (hooray ! ! ) the boys have to work in a different way with the stage space they have. Most of the time it works; but once in while they have a traffic jam on stage including Ignazio being occupied doing drums while Piero and Gianluca start “Beautiful Day” by themselves. But the guys have become such good showmen that they are able to gracefully move through those short jams. Based upon the video, Gianluca and Piero covered it just fine. These guys have so much natural charm that they don’t have to pretend. A little jam on stage comes off as cute and funny.

The lighting seemed to be very effective and the follow-spots were on target 95% of the time (better than L.A. on June 7th). My pet peeve: my favorite guys should not be singing in the dark! Judging from this video the sound system seemed to be balanced pretty well except a couple of times when the percussion sound was diminished too much.

As part of the staging of this particular concert the natural setting is the most important part and rather than try to describe it, I invite you to just look at pictures presented earlier on this site or just google it. It is an OUTSTANDING location and it just seems perfect for three great-looking young men in tuxes. A classy place with classy men.

THE MUSIC

The repertoire was mostly the music from the June tour in the USA/Canada which they, themselves described as “an evening of Il Volo favorites” from over the past three years. For this program a few of those songs were dropped and some new ones added.

I am selecting “Caruso” from this (July 20 ) performance as the most passionate and emotional singing of the whole concert. Watch this if you have not seen it. Ignazio and Gianluca weep their hearts out for this song and Piero holds it together. You must see this with a box of tissue.

“Anema e Core” – sung by Gianluca

composer Salvatore d’Esposito and Italian lyrics by Tito Manlio from the early 1950s Perry Como had a big hit with this song in 1966 with the English text “My heart and soul “. Friends: I went back and listened to Dean Martin’s version, Perry Como’s version, Andrea Bocelli’s version, Michael Buble’s version and none of them is as good as this. This was, for me, one of the highlights of the concert. Gianluca, as usual you give me tears and I must borrow a phrase I used in the June review: This was “Painfully Beautiful”. Good Lord ! What a performance.

 “Io Che non Vivo piu di un ‘ora” – ( sung by all three)

composed by Pino Donaggio & Vito Pallavicini, an Italian song in the early 1960s; then recorded by Dusty Springfield in English in the UK and later by Elvis known as “You Don’t have to say you love me” – This ended up being an audience sing-along and very fine indeed ! It was a lot of fun. Even as they sang it in Italian we found ourselves singing it in English.

I was delighted to see that they brought some local musicians to the show. A guest guitar player; (used beautifully with Ignazio’s version of “Memories”) a guest accordion player; (used wonderfully to duet with Gianluca in “Anema e Core” and a Sicilian folkloric group. This was a way to show off the Sicilian heritage and cultural influence of the area by using authentic instruments and a certain unique vocal style that is part of their history. Since Piero and Ignazio live in Sicily it was wonderful to have them join in.

I hinted earlier about a negative comment: The orchestra was rather good but sometimes it was evident that they had not tuned carefully. This was a problem for the strings and mid-range brass primarily and it really only showed up in a few exposed places. Given that small item, I was really happy to see an orchestra almost twice a large as usual used here.

VOCAL WORK

The video I was watching was taken rather close up and it gave great chances to watch these wonderful singers doing their work. This close you can see that each of them was a little nervous to do the best work and that is a good thing. When you see just a little nervous look then you can tell it is going to be a careful program. For each of the boys vocal tone has gotten better and better as each matures and it was on beautiful display here. Pitch is right on the money (I wish the orchestra strings had the true sense of pitch that our guys have) . If I had to pick on a small thing it would be that with a couple of the easier songs the vowels got just a little tired or lazy but for 99% of the time the vowels were fantastic. These guys (especially Gianluca) are setting the highest standards for gorgeous vowel sounds. Vocal tone projection was very strong without the “blasting” of so many modern singers. The softer sections were done with great care. Soft singing has always been one of the strong points of Gianluca, Ignazio and Piero – they do it so well you get chills up and down your back from the artistry. I only wish that the audience would stop the rude noise (talking, singing along out of tune or starting applause too soon ! ! ) and let us hear those beautiful soft sounds. Beautiful, rich and dark head tone – this only happens after years of private voice work and a great vocal coach. If only other modern-day singers could open their minds up and understand that.

A cultural look at this from an American perspective

I wish that Il Volo would release the DVD of this program for America. True fans would love it and find it especially interesting if you remember a few things. We have watched and I have reviewed on this site concerts that Il Volo has done here in the USA/Canada. Even though there were different languages involved in the music of those concerts, the boys still nurtured and shaped the show toward an American audience in the way they drew on common American concepts and cultural ideas. But here, even though there were a number of Americans and Canadians in the audience, the whole thrust of the mood was Italian culture and drew on that huge influence. The same songs as our tour in June took on a different color. You don’t need to speak Italian in order to follow some of the banter the boys did between songs. Most of the time you could get it and it was delightful and warm-hearted and funny.

For me this was a curious circle: I saw them in June in Los Angeles at the “Greek” Theater which is a modern pretend version of the ancient Greek theaters of Italy and Greece. Now it was exciting to see the boys at a true Greek Theater. I only wish I could have been there in person.

One last thing for this program: We have been used to our boys working their heads off to please the American/Canadian audience. This time it was soooo good to see them really excited about performing for their homeland. Yes, they have given other concerts in Italy this year and there are more to come but this was very special. The excitement was visable. Even though they have sung “Mama” many times watching them do it this time – with Gianluca running out to the 12th row where his mother was sitting and hugging her non-stop while singing – was very, very much more meaningful. By the way, the other mamas were there too but this one really struck me. Later, he ran out to his Grandpa and gave him a big hug. Love abounds all over the place. This concert was very important for the boys of Il Volo vis-a-vis the Italian people and so as their fans, it should be special for us as well.

~~Myron

 Taormina – Sicily, Italy – Concert on July 20, 2014.

concert order:

  1. Un Amore Cosi Grande (2:00)

  2. Granada (5:30)

  3. Tous Les Visages de l’Amour (10:10)

  4. We are Love (13:38)

  5. No Puede Ser – Piero’s solo (18:37)

  6. Caruso (23:33) – (all three ) (magnificent ! )

  7. Quando l’Amore Diventa Poesia (29:14) – Ignazio’s solo

  8. Io Che Non Vivo Senza Te / You don’t have to say you love me (33:43) – in Italian ( and an old Elvis song)

  9. Can’t Help Falling in Love with You (36:34) – Gianluca’s solo

  10. E Piu Ti Penso (41:19)

  11. E La Mia Vita (46:34)

  12. Mattinata (51:00)

  13. Memory (53:53) – Ignazio’s solo with special guitar solo

  14. >>> special guest group – “Sicilia in Folk” (59:50) (Piero and Ignazio)

  15. >>>Special guest Sicilian Folklorico group- “Sicilia in Folk” (1:04:31)

  16. Il Canto (1:06:12)

  17. Smile (1:11:34)

  18. Mamma (1:16:34)

  19. Anema e Core (1:20:33) – Gianluca’s solo with accordion solo

  20. Maria (1:26:00)

  21. > > > Intro’s including Gianluca’s Grandpa (1:30:27)

  22. Non Ti Scordar Di Me (1:35:39) – Piero’s solo

  23. Beautiful Day (1:39:33)

  24. Surrender (1:43:03) ( usually the official end of concert )

( encores )

    1. Il Mondo (1:47:53)

    2. O Sole Mio (1:52:18)

    (Addition thanks to Myron and Jeanine)