Music, voice and energy: “Il Volo” conquers the Pompeii Amphitheatre
POMPEII. In the evocative setting of the Pompeii Amphitheatre, the famous Italian trio “Il Volo” offered an unforgettable evening to all the spectators present. The Pompeian stage of the “Tutti per uno – Capolavoro” tour saw the enthusiastic participation of an audience of all ages, who packed the arena in an atmosphere that perfectly combined music and antiquity.
For “Il Volo” it is a welcome return to the excavations of Pompeii, after the event that saw them perform in the Teatro Grande in 2015. What better occasion, therefore, to “celebrate” the milestone of the first 15 years of activity together even in the shadow of Vesuvius?
The trio, composed of the tenors Piero Barone and Ignazio Boschetto and the baritone Gianluca Ginoble, brought to the stage a varied repertoire, ranging 360 degrees across the musical panorama: from cinema soundtracks to famous arias from the Italian opera tradition, from homages to the great of pop music, up to the international successes of pop music.
Accompanied on stage by the orchestra directed by Edmondo Savio, their performance once again demonstrated the unique ability of “Il Volo” to combine impeccable vocal technique with overwhelming passion.
The opening of the concert was marked by the song “Nelle tue mani”, theme of “Il Gladiatore”, which immediately captured the attention of the spectators, transporting them into an epic and solemn atmosphere, perfectly suited to the place. The audience responded with warm applause, creating an immediate bond between artists and spectators.
After A love so great and “ Nessun Dorma”, the long-awaited greeting from the trio: «Good evening Pompeii!» which unleashes the first interminable applause from the audience, including, exceptionally, the Minister of Culture, Gennaro Sangiuliano.
The “Tutti per uno – Capolavoro” tour also highlights the individualities of the three artists who have been sharing a unique musical path for five decades, on the common thread of a pop-lyrical original. Ignazio thus decides to pay homage to Pino Daniele and touches us deeply with his interpretations of “Resta cu’ mme” and “Quanno chiove”.
Gianluca remembers the beginning of Elvis Presley’s career, an episode of one day from 70 years ago, and then sings “Can’t Help Falling in Love”. Finally, it is Piero’s turn to give a (further) test of his qualities as a tenor with “E lucean le stelle.”
The trio comes together to offer four highly applauded songs that unleash the desire of the fans to sing: “Se Telephone”, “Capolavoro” (the song that “Il Volo” brought to Sanremo 2024), “Frammenti di Universo” and “Miserere “. Then again solo parentheses that enhance the individuality and sensitivity of the three artists. Ignazio moves with “At least you in the universe”, Gianluca excites with “La Cura” while Piero excites everyone with “Maravilla”.
We return together for Nuovo cinema cielo, for “My way” by Frank Sinatra and for “Hallelujah” which in the intentions of “Il Volo” becomes a sort of “prayer” «for the victims of these difficult years which have seen the pandemic, natural disasters and wars , which we now thought we could only read in history books.”
For the next piece, “Here’s to you”, Piero, Ignazio and Gianluca give the audience a welcome surprise by getting off the stage and walking in the audience, while their fans are almost in disbelief. Then we return to the stage for the final rush, which sees L’estasi dell’oro follow one another, before “ Il mondo all’ incontrario” and “Ad Astra” which belong to their latest album Per aspera ad astra. And they still cannot be missed: “Caruso” (among the most emotional moments of the show), “Who wants to live forever” and “Il mondo.”
But isn’t there still a piece missing from the set list? Obvious, and it is the one loudly requested by the fans throughout the evening: it is “Grande Amore” with which the Trio triumphed in Sanremo in 2015. The powerful and harmonious voices of the trio echoed in the amphitheatre, giving the public a moment of pure ecstasy. The evening ended with thunderous applause and ovations, with Il Volo thanking the public and Pompeii for the warm welcome.
Of this second video, I’ll translate the conversations between the guys so you can laugh a little. 😂
Gianluca tells his companions that the people welcomed them with festive shouts and Ignazio replies that he would have preferred them to greet them with kebabs in their hands (an Abruzzo specialty, roasted meat strung on sticks).
Then Gianluca reads some signs held by people and it says “THE CAPOLAVORO IS YOU” and Ignazio says: “Be careful not to mix up the lines, otherwise it reads: YOU CAPOLAVORO ARE THE” 😂😂😂😂
Then Gianluca says that he is happy to be there to celebrate 15 years of career and Piero he says that in all the concerts Gianluca always asks if there are any people from Abruzzo and he can’t find any so Ignazio confirms that tonight they are all from Abruzzo and therefore Gianluca is happy and says: “Finally at my house.”
Then Piero asks if there are any Sicilians and someone answers and then Piero says: “You see, they are always there, whereas you from Abruzzo are always here, you never move.”
MISERERE
How beautiful is this video below shot by Ercole Ginoble, what emotion and what pride.
How nice to see such intense participation of the people and…..have you noticed how many young people???
SE TELEFONANDO
During CAPOLAVORO it happens that Gianluca takes little Ambra from the audience, how sweet these images are. 🥰
Gianluca’s words are beautiful in this video below, and I will translate them for you:
“While I’m here, I want to say hello to all my family who are all here, you’re all here, but above all my grandfather Ernesto who is right there, grandfather get up! Great grandfather! And grandmother Teresa too, here they are. I love you, I love you, thank you, I am very happy, moved, excited. Thank you! 😍
And how beautiful, touching, sweet is this special hug to Grandpa Ernesto? Incredible and so sweet!! ❤️
I won’t add anything else, but it’s clear that Abruzzo welcomed Il Volo with great warmth. 🤩
So far the Italian tour is going very well, even the comments made by the press and people are nice and the local radio stations are highlighting the concert.
It’s a shame that Barbara isn’t there to see these successes! 😥
A nice roundup of photos of Lanciano.
In the next photo a restaurateur delivers to Gianluca (I think during the rehearsals) the famous meat kebabs, specialties from Abruzzo. 🤩
But how beautiful are these latest photos of Lanciano? In one shot so much emotion and complicity.
These photos really make us understand that Il Volo is a large extended family. 🤩
Gianluca and Torpedine ❤️❤️
Gianluca with his father, Ercole ❤️❤️
Ignazio, Gianluca, Ercole and Ernesto ❤️❤️❤️❤️
Ercole and Piero ❤️❤️
22 July – FLORENCE
The concert is held in Pratolino, near Florence, in the Medici Park of the beautiful Villa Demidoff, within the framework of the MUSART.
FRAMMENTI DI UNIVERSO
UN MONDO ALL’INCONTRARIO
AD ASTRA
SE
This video below is shot by IL VOLO FINLAND and published with these words in Florence on 22.7.24.
Il Volo‘s performance was touching and elegant, even devout in places.
Unbelievable experience in Pratolino Medici park.
⭐⭐⭐
WHO WANTS TO LIVE FOREVER
This is the dedication of those who filmed:
“One of the best concerts I have ever seen. Il Volo, Italian pride. Prodigies!!!”
These three videos that follow were published with this beautiful dedication:
One of the most magical evenings of my life… ✨🌌
Thank you from the bottom of my heart… ❤️
An invincible group that proves that true friendship between professionalism and fame can still be possible… 💪🏼🙌🏼 You are truly the best!🔝🎶🇮🇹
“Musart Festival Florence 2024” – Il Volo concert in Pratolino
Il Volo, the most famous Italian trio in the world, performed last night in concert at the Musart Festival Florence in the evocative setting of the Medici Park of Pratolino, a handful of kilometers from the city centre.
Il Volo is the trio formed by the talented Piero Barone, Ignazio Boschetto and Gianluca Ginoble and with the summer tour “Tutti Per Uno – Capolavoro” they decided to celebrate 15 years of career and long friendship with the Italian public, bringing the new songs from the first album of unreleased songs “Ad Astra” released last March. Among the songs performed, also the single “Capolavoro”, presented at the last Sanremo Festival.
In addition to the unreleased songs, Gianluca, Ignazio and Piero thrilled the audience with a setlist full of emotions, attempting the greatest hits of the Italian and international musical tradition, showing the many facets of the artistic evolution of its individual members. In fact, there were many moments in which each of them performed singing individually, thus also giving space to the telling of anecdotes and memories linked to the personal history of each of them.
There were also some real moments of entertainment with which the members of the trio demonstrated, once again, that they know how to entertain the public not only thanks to their undeniable singing skills.
Another magical evening in front of the Giant of the Medici Park of Pratolino.
And to end on a high note, I propose this beautiful article by OK MUGELLO, I was really happy to read the beautiful and sincere words of the author Massimiliano Miniati.👏👏👏👏👏🤩🤩🤩
Il Volo in concert – All the emotion between opera and pop
On the stage of the Musart Festival “Tutti Per Uno – Capolavoro” the tour of the 15 years of activity of “Il Volo”, the most famous Italian trio in the world…
I make amends, when they came out of Clerici’s talent show, three kids singing and posing as grown-ups left me a bit annoyed, then they grew up and last night in the Pratolino park, I discovered that they have become “Great” not only of age and, what I had decided to go and see more for “news purposes” than for pleasure, turned into a truly extraordinary event.
On the stage of the Musart Festival “Tutti Per Uno – Capolavoro” the tour of the 15 years of activity of “Il Volo” the most famous Italian trio in the world which was welcomed by the applause of an oceanic crowd who had reached the park of Villa Demidoff with every means made available by the organizers.
They open as a trio, then a piece each as soloists: Ignazio Boschetto sings and makes everyone’s skin crawl with “Almeno tu nell’Universo”, Gianluca Ginoble “Can’t Help Falling in Love” and Piero Barone “E lucean le stelle “ and from that moment it is a succession of emotions and applause with a deliberately pandering set list which, sooner or later, manages to drag you into the vortex of notes, whether you are a lover of opera or pop music.
They sing “Se Telephone” “Capolavoro” (the song presented at the last Sanremo) “Miserere” “The sea, impetuous at sunset…” Then one of the songs from the new album, the beautiful “Succede” and again a tribute to Morricone with the soundtrack of “Nuovo cinema cielo” which they transformed into “Se” and from the new album “Il mondo all’incontrario”.
They ask to turn on their cell phone flashlights and sing “Hallelujah” as the park transforms into a beautiful carpet of white lights. Then again Morricone with “Here’s to you” which Gianluca Ginoble comes down to sing in the audience, the inevitable “Caruso” and a thrilling interpretation by Piero Barone of “Who Wants to Live Forever” and in trio (and all the audience who sings) with “Il mondo”.
Inevitable ending with “Grande amore” of this beautiful concert, full of emotions, great music and three great voices that made everyone understand that those three kids have become great, indeed very great and to me that sometimes being a little prejudiced is wrong and that, it is not easy to change your mind, but fortunately, sometimes “It happens”! (Succede)
This beautiful video of Hallelujah was taken by the author of the article.
I thank our friends Yukio and Kumico for recording the entire video with Ignazio’s words which I translate……what a heart these guys have!! 🤩
So, I wasn’t supposed to play the guitar this evening, but I decided to play it because there’s something beautiful about it. Basically, this guitar was given to me by Mr. Paoletti who is Tuscan and has a huge company that is growing in Italy but is famous all over the world, he makes some crazy guitars.
I’m not here to advertise because he gave me the guitar, but because together with them, who are fantastic people, a very serious company, we came up with this idea at the end of the tour, to give this guitar away by auctioning it and donating all the proceeds from the children of S. Orsola in Bologna (Applause) All this together with Paoletti, then maybe on our social networks we will put “auction starting 0.2 cents, a bit like E-Bay, remember E-Bay, is it still there?
Here, so and the proceeds will be given there, and now I will try to make a bad impression with the guitar. (The song IL MARE IMPETUOSO AL TRAMONTO begins.)
This story tells the tale of three guys who between 2020 and 2024 changed not who they are but how they present themselves and their individuality. It’s part of maturity, of course, but not entirely! After being together constantly, in 2020 they suddenly find themselves communicating by phone. A very unique thing for them. They were never more than a hotel room away.
Sometimes people write to me and say, you know these guys so well! No, I don’t. Have I met them? Yes! Do I have a personal relationship with them? On many occasions I have communicated with one or another. But no, I’m just a fan like you! But the research I’ve done over the years has given me the tools to write my Il Volo stories. And this story required a lot of research because I needed to present the turning point in their lives, the New Horizons, the new beginning for our guys!
When exactly did that happen? To find that answer we have to go back to 2020….
I think of the day when the guys walked out the door and said I’ve had enough of this and started to live their lives again. On that day, it wasn’t about isolation, it was about what they contributed during the time of isolation. It was about working their way into a new life, a new beginning.
What the guys did during this time formed the framework for a new Il Volo!
Things changed; the world changed but above all we all changed in some way. As to the guys, they stayed home but they couldn’t stay without something to do.
And so, they began a new journey….
In May 2020, the guys joined other Italian singers and artists to make a statement about the people and their situation. They sang about all people all over Italy; perhaps all over the world. Ma il cielo e’ sempre blu (But the sky is always blue). No matter what happens, the sky is always blue! That’s true! It was a catchy tune and before you knew it, we were all singing it!
So out the door they went to start a whole new beginning, this time in Italy!
In July 2020 the guys performed at the Taormina Film Festival.
At the Festival, they sang a beautiful Sicilian song. E Vui Durmiti Ancora (And you sleep again!) When they sang it, they brought tears to our eyes and a beautiful sense of pride to the Sicilian people! An absolutely amazing performance! And each performance after this would be more and more amazing!
In September 2020 the guys went to the SMA Awards….
This is the statement the guys made at the beginning of this beautiful video. A new beginning.
Ignazio:2020 will be remembered as the year where the world would be constrained to be turned off.
Gianluca:For the music employees the verb “turn off” means the end of the show, when the curtains close and it is the waiting moment for the next show, but this time the waiting lasted more than expected, the silence was unavoidable.
Piero: Now, the world is getting ready to start again! Now the moment has arrived to raise the curtain! Now, we will turn on the music!
That evening, the guys chose to sing Nessun Dorma which sent a very strong message to the world and especially the entertainment industry. It says we may have to perform under these new world conditions, but we don’t have to change who we are or why we’re here. In this ancient Arena we look to the past while following the path to the future.
That night was a turning point for the guys. They set a precedence. Verona would now be the place where there would always be new beginnings. And every year thereafter, it was a new beginning. Every new and exciting event would be presented here!
Their identities, their individuality, who they truly are, would come to light in this magnificent Arena.
When they step on the stage, their presence is electrifying! From their first note the whole arena lights up. Their voices are clean and crisp. Their presence is illuminating. Their notes rise above the Arena into the night sky to let the world know they are there!
That night when they sang Nessun Dorma, in the final notes of their song they sent a message that would resonate throughout the industry, We have returned! Turn on the lights! And the whole industry came to life again.
What is so amazing about this is, over the months since they had left quarantine, they had almost single handedly brought back the music industry in Italy. The guys hit the restart button! They played a major role in the restart of the music industry In Italy!
An amazing feat by three guys who were barely recognized by Italy. But that too would change, and they would become the favorite child (children) of Italy! But I’m getting ahead of myself!
All the work they did after their quarantine moved things forward in Italy. This included a most important project, the concert in Tribute to Ennio Morricone and the recording of their album by the same name.
To mark this event, on June 5, 2021, they held the performance of a lifetime at the ancient Arena of Verona! Who will ever forget it!
This project which brought the music of four men together, Il Volo and Ennio Morricone, was absolutely extraordinary because they were extraordinary men. Having worked together when they were teenagers the guys were the perfect people to present the legacy of Ennio Morricone!
In 2020, the guys had an opportunity to do something very unusual, stay home! This project is the result of that rare opportunity! The idea of presenting an album of Morricone’s music is genius. Combine that with the genius of Il Volo and what do you get, an album of phenomenal songs!
That it truly was but what happened on that stage in Verona surpasses anything we can possibly imagine.
On June 5, 2021, it all came together in Verona, of course!
Let’s set the scene!
The first note and we immediately know it’s “The Ecstasy of Gold.” The whistle of the wind!
The setting is gold! Then white! Then gold! Look at the gold flecks that come in and out! The orchestra vibrates! Each note intensifies our senses. We’re drawn to the back of the stage. To a tunnel where we know our guys will appear! The focus is always rear center stage! The lights change to intense red and now we are looking at the stage from the back of the arena. We are coming forward. The shadow of Il Volo turns into a force that is coming towards us! The theme of the concert is set!
Listen to the intensity of their voices! What force! Watch their motions. Look at Gianluca! Watch his body react to the music! The fist that comes at you saying this is the punch, just the beginning. Listen to how Ignazio rides 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!
The scenery is in motion again. In the background, the movie comes into view and blends with the voices! Everything on the stage comes to life! We’re now inside the film. Even the guys are taken by the movement around them. They look around and they are feeling the moment! Conductor, Andrea Morricone, Ennio Morricone’s son, steps up the music and we step back and look, in amazement, at what is before us!
What exactly is before us? A work of art! A Titian painting. In Venice there is a very magnificent painting by Titian called the Assumption. It is a painting in motion! Believe me, when I tell you what you are looking at on that stage is a Titian painting. Titian was known for his movement in painting! Titian was 24 years old when he painted the Assumption. Our guys are in their mid-twenties, and they painted the scene before you. If you don’t know the renaissance artist Titian, google him! You’ll understand what is going on here!
Now let me explain what is before you. Movement. Lots of movement.
Take a look at the stage! You, the audience are the spectators! You’re being drawn to the stage. You watch the guys’ approach, and you are in awe of their presence. You feel the intensity of the music, you and the guys are pulled into the movie. The music is all around you! Their voices are a force in your head. You look up in amazement! You are a part of the scenery! You are a part of the orchestra! You are a part of the movie! You are a part of ~ Il Volo! You have arrived and you are ready to follow the guys no matter where this journey leads you! It’s only the beginning! Fasten your seat belts. Phenomenal!
And let’s not forget this was their first Live Concert on TV with Rai 1. Many more would follow!
This was a new adventure for them. It was out of their realm of reality. These songs gave them a new path. A new idea about the future of Il Volo.
Their movement into the future had begun. No going back. Before them was a road sign that said, “This is your path, follow it.” And so, they did.
My Favorite picture
So, what actually happened here? To answer that question, we have to move forward to 2023.
Individuality!!! You know that everyone loves Il Volo, but everyone loves his favorite guy, best! Though I don’t admit it too often, I love all the guys but, I too have a favorite! Think of how many times at a concert you said I wish (my guy) would sing more. You said that not because you don’t like the group but in fact you want to listen to each one individually. In 2023, their concerts presented this new idea. These concerts gave us the opportunity to look into the heart of our guys through their music. It allowed us to see them in a deeper and more personal way.
When the guys presented their songs, they were presenting in a new and different way. Each one told us what he always wanted to do in his solo and did it!
This is where they took another step forward and introduced us to themselves. They presented their individuality, and we met each one through the spirit of his soul!
With other groups this would have been a path divided but with them, it was a path united.
They had matured, they were vibrant, they had come into their own individuality. They knew what they wanted, and they went for it! Hence, the new idea of individuality was set into play.
They had matured in body and mind and their voices had gone to another level of magnificence!
Yes, we watched them grow but this is different. There’s a beautiful presence about them now. A certain elegance! After fourteen years they hadn’t wanned, they increased in strength and intensity! There was a certain power in their voices that grabbed you from the first note of the concert to the last.
Each guy had grown into his voice and had shown a maturity and style the likes of which men who are approaching the end of their careers can only have imagined! Fourteen years of a lifetime! A lifetime full of wonders and experience which most entertainers will never have the honor of knowing.
For Il Volo, 2023 was about another new beginning! At the Verona Arena, in May, Frederica Panicucci, who was the presenter of the Il Volo concert, had this to say about what would happen that evening. “During the evening Il Volo will show unpublished moments with solos and duets they never performed before. It will be their way of showing their different personalities.”
Yes, Federica was right, that night was different because we’ve heard these voices before but not in the way we heard them that night. The guys introduced us to their personal feelings about their music.
A great example of this is in Ignazio’s words before both concerts:
In the first concert Ignazio said, “I’ve always loved great female voices….”
And in the second concert he said, “I will try to take a trip to the most beautiful female songs in the world tonight.
So let’s start with one of Ignazio’s solos….
So, it seems Ignazio still enjoys singing these (female) songs. And why wouldn’t he? He is the only one of the three that can sing that kind of song because they are songs that require a strong voice that is very clear, crisp and very lyrical and a lot of passion must be put into each song! I think I just described Ignazio’s voice! Let me add and, “very soulful!”
On to Gianluca….
Here, we met the real Gianluca in his rock mode and he introduced us to his feelings for Elvis, Sinatra, Dylan and the Beatles.
And last but not least, Piero….
Piero brought us his perfect operatic voice. Whimsical and joyful. He has a great love and sincerity for this music. Opera is in his soul. He opens up that soul to us in these concerts with arias we have never heard him sing before.
So we have arrived at 2024 and the return to Sanremo….
They were so ready for it.
Yes all they had to do was step on the stage and they would come into their moment. And so they did.
They certainly had THE song. Capolavoro certainly was a Masterpiece. They had the charisma, the style, the unbelievable professionalism. Their performance surpassed any performance in the Festival. Did they win, no, because they had something else, they had the same old reporters who know nothing about music and are prejudiced against them.
What made a difference this time was they were there to honor their Fifteen Years of a Lifetime on the Ariston Stage where it all began for them fifteen years earlier! It was about their time together and no one was going to take that from them. And so, they celebrated! Interview after interview, one better than the other. It all turned into an amazing party! What a party it was!
What was amazing about it all was Italy really woke up. Yes, over the last few years they began to recognize them but this time they cherished them. They made them their own and this was their dream for fifteen years!
And here we are back at Verona. It is 2024 and they are ready to heighten your senses. This night was all about what they had succeeded in doing over the last few years. And they shared this evening with so many other wonderful entertainers.
You know what I like most about these guys, I like the way they present themselves to the people, especially the Italian people, in their concerts. For all the prejudice against them, they are so down to earth. They accept everything with a grain of salt. There is not a jealous bone in their bodies. They openly admire those who share their stage. They are fair, they are kind, and they are loving. They are by far the greatest entertainers in the world today.
Just before they released their album Ad Astra, Gianluca summed it all up in this way.
Ad Astra is the journey of all of us.
Not only the result of talent, tenacity and passion, but the courageous story of those who choose to descend into the depths of the soul.
Ad Astra wants to be the testimony of our history and that of all those who find in music a language to discover themselves and express the hidden part of themselves.
‘Can’t you see something we have in common? Show me all your cuts and weaknesses because I know that deep down they are the same, mine, yours, with the same fears, no one knows the way…’
I hope that Ad Astra today can mean for you what is a symbol and victory for us: a harmony that can guide you towards new horizons.
Thanks to you who made all this possible. I love you.
As I mentioned in my story Sitting on the Edge of the Universe,the songs on this album, Ad Astra, are the story of their lives. Young boys who left their families to join an adult world where they would have to grow up very quickly. No teenage years! No silly flirtations and a new girlfriend every other week! No! Just recording studios and world stages that would introduce them to a new kind of family! A family that would always be there waiting for them when they arrived in their city. Fans who would become family!
There were many lonely nights and many disappointments when they wanted so much more out of their lives, out of their relationships, but the concert always came first, and they would learn how to adjust their lives to fit the scenario!
Now they are finally finding a way to incorporate all things. They are looking for love and finding it and they are learning how to enjoy their family and home lives more! The new individuality is not just about music. It’s also about their lives. They are learning how to please everyone including themselves. The turning point in their lives brought them to this moment and on the path of New Horizons.
Join me next week as I go back Through the Fields of My Mind and open the door to a new adventure!
For your listening pleasure one of the concerts Verona 2024
Barbara Vitali’s funeral took place on 15 July and on the same evening an interview with Il Volo was scheduled to be broadcast on television on theSKYTG24channel during theSTORIES program.
This interview was recorded right after returning from the tour in Japan and has only just been aired.
It’s a really nice interview conducted by Omar Schillaci, with very particular questions to which Gianluca, Piero and Ignazio responded as always with the utmost serenity, without hiding anything. You must activate the subtitles and if you don’t understand something just ask me, enjoy your viewing.
Since the YouTube video with subtitles is not visible to everyone, and since it is a nice interview, I will translate it for those who cannot see it.
SCHILLACI= Welcome to Il Volo, welcome to SKYTG24, welcome to STORIES. Gianluca, Piero, Ignazio, thanks for being here.
G+P+I= Thanks to you, hello.
SCHILLACI= This is a MASTERPIECE that you also brought to Sanremo, it is a single that anticipates the album which is the first album of unreleased AD ASTRA songs. Since we have to divide (the interview) everything by three, because usually here there is only one person in front of me….
GIANLUCA= Is this the first one-on-three interview you’ve done?
SCHILLACI= One against three is the very first, I tried one against two…
GIANLUCA= How did it go?
SCHILLACI= No, quite good, like with I SOLITI IDIOTI (it’s a comedian duo), ok, but the one against three is new, so let’s do this, let’s start with Gianluca.
GIANLUCA= Yes.
SCHILLACI= Album description.
GIANLUCA= We decided to build a repertoire of unreleased songs for the first time, because our repertoire is based 80% on the history of Italian tradition and beyond and is therefore based on covers, but we also have a lot to say, we have content, well, we are not just interpreters. So for the first time we wanted to show our great artistic and personal growth with this album and with CAPOLAVORO this new journey, this new musical adventure began.
SCHILLACI= Piero, how long, let’s say, have you been harboring this growth for a while?
PIERO= Over the years from 2015 onwards, it comes alone, it is a natural way of expressing one’s idea.
In this album we somehow expressed our three thoughts which are completely different, we always sing together but we are three different identities and this album is a bit of a summary of what we are today.
SCHILLACI= These three different identities, Ignazio, how do you make them go, so to speak, in unison, because then they are three identities which then have to give birth to one…..
IGNAZIO= After 15 years we are still working on it, but I think it is also normal.
SCHILLACI= But as in all couples…..
IGNAZIO= But then it is also a strong point, we must not see it as a negative point to have three different ideas and three different personalities, on the contrary, we have made it one of our strong points on stage, from the serious moment to the more playful one, jokingly, to that moment of total fooling around. So for us it is our strong point.
SCHILLACI= You are actually very young, but in this format (Stories) we start from the very beginning, that is, from the house.
Casa Ginoble, where are we, who is there? How is the house?
GIANLUCA= I was born in Atri, but I live in Montepagano Roseto degli Abruzzi in the province of Teramo.
SCHILLACI= OK
IGNAZIO= But is the name all that long?….
GIANLUCA= Yes, it’s all so long. And so let’s say that I have strong Abruzzo roots and I am very proud to be from Abruzzo, being between two Sicilians is not easy.
I have always lived in an environment, if I may say so, of purity, a very affectionate family, so I was loved a lot, there was a strong presence from my parents, my grandfather, my brother, so we are a very close family.
SCHILLACI= What kind of child were you?
GIANLUCA= So, I have always been a curious child and I have asked a thousand questions and I always continue to ask myself questions and create answers, a very restless child, I felt I had such a great mystery that to unhinge this thing I have inside I always need to cultivate doubt, knowledge and curiosity, which I believe is the main thing.
SCHILLACI= Instead, what was little Piero like at the Barone house? Where are we even?
PIERO= I was born in Naro, in a town in the province of Agrigento.
IGNAZIO= From one extreme to the other, with a book-length name in Naro…..
PIERO= My childhood could easily be described as a Tornatore film accompanied by Morricone’s melodies, in Sicily, these arid landscapes. I lived a wonderful childhood where I never lacked love from my family, an older brother, a younger sister. I have experienced my grandparents so much that they are the greatest privilege one can receive in life, it is a great luxury to experience grandparents and I believe that childhood taught me that problems are born to be solved and one must never be demoralized but be optimistic in this. I will always try, for the rest of my life, to bring this Sicilian character which I believe is a great strength.
SCHILLACI= Casa Boschetto, what kind of child were you at home?
IGNAZIO= Ok, so I grew up like the usual families who leave their land to seek their fortune. My parents are Sicilian, my sister was born in Sicily and then they moved to the north and then I was born in Bologna. As a child I experienced my mother’s illness, cancer, she had a tumor, so I grew up a lot with my sister because my father went to work, my mother was facing the illness, so I spent a lot of time with my sister and we they both grew up quickly. She acted as a mother to me a bit and I couldn’t be a naughty little child, so from an early age I had to grow up quickly.
I was a mess because I did something every step of the way….
PIERO= Why do you only speak in the past tense?…..
IGNAZIO= As a child, I’m saying, then comes the aftermath….I wasn’t bad, I was a disaster because I was lively and got up to all sorts of things. As a child, I remember, we went down to Sicily and got together with the family, because you know it was an event that relatives from the north who come to Sicily in the summer and we organized a dinner at my grandparents’ house and I was there in front of 40 people listening me who entertained them by telling jokes and stories, but I was little.
PIERO= Do you know what you’re reminding me of? One evening it was Christmas time, at my grandmother and my grandmother’s house, the whole family gathered. I arrived last, I was so happy to knock hard on the door, there was that ancient door with glass and I was such an idiot that to knock I punched the glass and my arm remained inside the glass and it broke all.
IGNAZIO= But did they at least hear you knocking?
SCHILLACI = Let’s hope they’ve opened! Let’s see another clip. (begins O Sole Mio)
IGNAZIO= Years have passed.
SCHILLACI= Exactly because here you are three children.
IGNAZIO = 15 years old, 16 years old you. (to Piero)
PIERO= Do you know why we wore those headphones around our neck? We didn’t know what we were doing, we did everything they told us to do. Those are the “beats” created by Jimmy Iovine. Jimmy Iovine was the head of Interscope Records Universal Music, the record company. In 2010 we signed this contract with Universal and Dr. Dre with Jimmy Iovine produced these headphones and gave them to Lady Gaga, Black Eyed Peas and they also sent these headphones to us and we had to put them in the video.
SCHILLACI= Which isn’t bad at all!
IGNAZIO= No!
GIANLUCA= No, but in fact the creation of O Sole Mio, which then O Sole Mio was also sung by Elvis Presley in the English version in the 70s if I’m not mistaken: “It’s now or never”. So we were inspired by that arrangement, then we also made a version in English and Spanish and they went crazy, especially in the United States, because after Andrea Bocelli, there had never been any other artist who brought “bel canto” around the world. Let’s say that we try to follow in the footsteps of the great artists who brought our music to the world, especially from Japan to the United States and overcome the barriers of language.
SCHILLACI= I’ll keep you there at the beginning, you started with a talent show, in short with TI LASCIO UNA CANZONE, you had arrived as singles, I ask you exactly the moment in which they told you: “But why……”
PIERO= On Monday afternoon the lyrics of the song arrived with the folder of songs that you had to sing live on Saturday evening.
I remember that on Sunday evening we returned home, because the program lasted 9 weeks, it was a sunny day and there were relatives at home because every Monday afternoon we returned and they came to the house to compliment the previous episode. That Monday afternoon, a sunny day, I received this folder with the division of O Sole Mio between Ignazio, Gianluca and Piero, I didn’t understand why, then on Wednesday they told us for the first time “sing together”, without telling us why.
GIANLUCA= At the fourth episode, because the program was initially five episodes and therefore we didn’t sing together straight away. We were lucky enough to find ourselves in the same edition of this television program….
PIERO= It was the second.
GIANLUCA= ….and it was the second edition and we found ourselves in that moment and we were the only children who sang the same musical genre unconsciously.
IGNAZIO= I remember that we did Sanremo numbers (audience).
GIANLUCA= It was 41% share that year.
PIERO=Roberto Cenci, the director, arrived at the last episode with a black shirt with the writing 41% here. (on the chest).
GIANLUCA= And then Omar, (Schillaci)’s life changed radically, from school to Los Angeles, because Tony Renis and Michele Torpedine, manager who discovered Andrea Bocelli, Zucchero and many others, decided to contact the program and our families and the first meeting was in Rome and so we were there with the man who was Andrea Bocelli’s manager, one of the greatest artistic producers in history.
IGNAZIO= But I wasn’t there, weren’t you there either? (to Piero)
PIERO= No, I wasn’t there.
IGNAZIO= Our parents had the first meeting.
GIANLUCA= And so for us it was a sudden but anomalous change of life, we lived a childhood, an adolescence that was totally out of the ordinary.
SCHILLACI= But before we get to this incredible Boom, I like this passage from the school desks suddenly….
GIANLUCA= But it really was like that.
PIERO= But it was also years…..
IGNAZIO= Sorry, I think it’s important to have a detail that we haven’t talked about much in recent years, a bit as an example for all the parents who are watching us at the moment and also for all the kids. For us it was very important that our parents have this meeting with the lawyers and everything. I remember that my mother returned to Sicily and told me: “Listen to me, here is a nice proposal that could change your life or not, but it will most likely change it for you, but know that you have to give up playing with friends, going around on a scooter, going to play football, because your life will be very busy, so forget about adolescence. And I remember that my mother made me make the decision by putting everything in front of me. It was a very important moment.
PIERO= And in a few weeks, from school, we found ourselves at WE ARE THE WORLD for Haiti and in Los Angeles with Quincy Jones, Lionel Ritchie, all these great artists.
SCHILLACI= Now we’re getting there. Which students were you though?
PIERO= Very bad, very bad. So I was a good classmate, always sitting in the first desk because I liked to distract the teacher, so I always skipped first period because you know what I did? I always watched the news before going to school, I kept informed, the teacher, we had three of them, she was very curious, I love her with all my heart, so what did I do: “Professor, did you see what happened in America? Did you see what happened there?”
Then she would start talking and the first hour would already be over and then the second would begin.
SCHILLACI= What students were you?
IGNAZIO= I was the classic student who listened to his classmates’ questions and then repeated. I didn’t study much, I listened more but I memorized immediately. The problem was when they called me first, being Boschetto I was one of the first.
PIERO= I was the second. (Barone)
GIANLUCA= I was very lazy, very lazy, and therefore I didn’t study much. But I remember one thing that stuck in my mind, I had studied the life and works of Foscolo (Italian writer) for 10 days, for once I study, I go there and get a nine, instead the teacher gave me a six (just enough), so I never studied again from there.
SCHILLACI= Okay, so then came the tours.
GIANLUCA= Exactly, but then we are catching up now, because we didn’t go to high school, we didn’t go to university and therefore we dedicated 15 years of our lives to music and to the band and therefore perhaps we left behind….
PIERO= But we also went to high school privately in the United States, in Los Angeles, because we were forced to learn English immediately, because we couldn’t do television in America with simultaneous translation.
GIANLUCA= Of course not, but we missed a part, we experienced something else. This is our life, there is no normality, everyone lives their own life and let’s say normality does not exist…..
PIERO= I graduated.
GIANLUCA= …..everyone follows their own life path, but we certainly missed that part of attending school, university, being together with other peers, growing from that point of view, but we did another school of life.
IGNAZIO= You know when someone asks how you went to school and as a joke you reply that the only subject I did very well in was physical education?
I couldn’t even say it, because I was 120 kg. (264 lb.) I wasn’t doing well there either. (laugh)
SCHILLACI = Let’s see another clip. (the duet with Barbra Streisand begins)
This is SMILE with a little-known artist in the world (ironic), Barbra Streisand who you actually met at We Are the World for Haiti in 2010, so how does it work? He calls you on the phone, speaks to you: “Hi guys, I’m Barbra…..”
IGNAZIO= We received the proposal, our manager Michele Torpedine received the proposal that they wanted us to go on tour with her, not to open, we were an integral part of the show, so we sang with her and then she left the stage for us to sing two or three songs and at the end we returned with all the guests of the evening.
GIANLUCA= All this three years after the start of our career, we were 16-17 years old.
PIERO= Imagine that when our American co-manager arrived to get us to sign for the tour with Barbra Streisand we were in Atlantic City, he came to the room, Giordan knocked and said: “Piero has to sign” and since I was in a hurry to go to the gym I signed without looking at what it was, without anything. This makes you understand the recklessness that was in us.
SCHILLACI= If you hadn’t had this career, how?…
PIERO= What a good question…
SCHILLACI= …that is, sometimes you may have said to yourself, I imagine myself or I would have imagined myself doing…
IGNAZIO= I don’t know, maybe I would have continued the family business we had down in Sicily, so most likely I would be a pizza chef and I would sing out of pure passion and fun.
SCHILLACI= (To Piero) What would you have done?
PIERO= It was in my plans to finish high school and enroll in the conservatory, then live off music, be a tenor or be part of a choir in some theater, try to do some opera, but I wouldn’t be able to imagine my life without music.
SCHILLACI= Gianluca…
GIANLUCA= Today, if I think about it, I can only express myself when we talk about art from all points of view, from writing something, to singing to painting anything, I probably don’t see an alternative, there was nothing else other than music really, so we were also lucky, all the people around us, who helped us express ourselves in the best way.
PIERO= Also encouraged.
SCHILLACI= What fear are you?
IGNAZIO= What fear are we?
SCHILLACI= A fear.
IGNAZIO= I often talk about it with my partner and I say that sometimes what we are experiencing (Il Volo) and what I experience with my partner is so beautiful, that I am almost afraid of waking up from this life that seems almost magical.
SCHILLACI= Greatest fear (To Piero)
PIERO= More than fear is fear. In the end it’s the stimulus that keeps you going, but if I had to describe a fear, maybe it’s losing curiosity or maybe getting used to the surprises that life holds for us.
GIANLUCA= There are many fears. As a child I was afraid of death, I constantly dreamed when the light went out that I would see everything black, I had a great fear, then philosophy, you know, helped me, even surrounding myself with the right people. I fought this fear, also because life is about learning to die from this point of view.
SCHILLACI= Let’s see another clip. (Grande Amore begins)
This is Grande Amore, come to Sanremo and win Sanremo, easy!
IGNAZIO= Easy… oh god, actually it was easy because we didn’t expect it so we didn’t make a huge effort. This song arrived, I didn’t like it, the only one who liked it was Piero who went crazy…” we have to do it, we have to do it”…
PIERO= Because I liked that refrain, it stuck in my head.
IGNAZIO= The audition arrived sung by a tenor and a soprano and I said: “What should we do with this song?”
Then in the end with Celso Valli who produced it, we worked in the studio together with Michele our manager and what became Grande Amore came out.
But we arrived there without any presumption and we didn’t expect it, that is, we hoped to win, also because then we knew that it could change our lives in Italy, that in any case we were almost unknown in Italy, and therefore we hoped but we didn’t think, and then it was what happened and completely changed our history here in Italy.
SCHILLACI= (To Piero) You were right!
PIERO= But somehow we are a team and especially in this period we know that if we work as a team we win. Over the years we have also learned to listen to each of us, to listen to our ideas and above all to respect our own ideas.
IGNAZIO= You know what, in meetings before, when we proposed something, we said an idea and it was immediately nooooo.
PIERO= An immediate no. “Let’s try to do this song: NO”. We were like that, it’s part of growing up…
IGNAZIO= We were in the studio, we were listening to a song: “No, this is not good,” but 30 seconds had passed.
PIERO= But it was a stance, you couldn’t go on like this, then over the years you fortunately mature, you are no longer the same as before, then over the years you always think of the good of the group.
IGNAZIO= We need an earthquake, you know that then there are aftershocks, we have settled.
SCHILLACI= Was there an earthquake Gianluca at some point?
GIANLUCA= Think of three people, consider that we are three leaders, they put us together, we didn’t know each other, we didn’t choose each other. From the beginning there has always been that healthy competition, then we understood over time that unity is strength from all points of view, also because 15 years is a long time.
SCHILLACI= Let’s try to play a little game and see how well all three of you know each other.
I ask you : “Who is the most positive of the three of you?”
G+P= Ignazio,
GIANLUCA= NO, oh god…
IGNAZIO= Now much more…
GIANLUCA= Yes, much more now.
PIERO= Before he was pessimistic.
GIANLUCA= Cosmic pessimism.
IGNAZIO= Before he (Piero) was positive. Now I’m just…
SCHILLACI=… you are positive and good. The most pessimistic instead? (Piero and Ignazio point to Gianluca)
GIANLUCA= No, no, I’m a realist.
SCHILLACI= Realist.
PIERO= No, you are pessimistic!
IGNAZIO= Let’s say that until a few months ago it was me, now it’s Gianluca.
GIANLUCA= No, it’s not true.
IGNAZIO= Rightly to counterbalance.
SCHILLACI= Who is the one who loses patience first?
IGNAZIO= (At first he raises his hand but then thinks better of it) No, oh God, we’ll play it (and Gianluca scores)
SCHILLACI= But you raised your hand!
IGNAZIO= I’m more touchy, he…..(he means that Gianluca loses his temper more than him)
PIERO= It’s the fourth question you’re asking, have you understood who is the perfect one in the group?
SCHILLACI= So, who’s the one to apologize first?
PIERO= Maybe…..(he looks at Ignazio and at that moment Ignazio marks himself)....you??? But whenever.
IGNAZIO= Ok you. But no, not you.
PIERO= I like to apologize if I admit that I’m wrong.
IGNAZIO= Me too.
PIERO= Wait, let’s do something, who never says sorry? (Piero and Ignazio look at Gianluca)
GIANLUCA= See how they paint me…
PIERO= He is like cats, he always has to land on his feet.
SCHILLACI= So, who is most moved?
IGNAZIO= Gianluca, but lately I’ve been getting very close. Gianluca has always been the most sensitive one.
SCHILLACI= Who makes the most jokes of the three?
IGNAZIO= Do you even ask?
GIANLUCA= Oh God, Ignazio!
SCHILLACI= Let’s see another clip. (Nessun Dorma da Notte Magica begins)
This is Nessun Dorma, you are in Florence Piazza Santa Croce and there is a certain Placido Domingo conducting.
PIERO= Do you know what the best memory is, at least for me, the day before we sang at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid with Placido Domingo and immediately after the concert we got on a plane and on this flight Madrid-Florence Domingo told us all about period of the three tenors, how the idea of the three tenors was born, the most difficult moments, the most beautiful moments, strengths and weaknesses of each of the three. That journey was incredible and I will never forget those words again.
SCHILLACI= Gianluca, from Florence to Panama sing in front of Pope Francis during World Youth Day.
GIANLUCA= Yes, this is the great fortune we have, to sing this genre which allows us to travel the world, also because bel canto has become an intangible heritage of humanity since last November, and therefore, in short, it allows us to sing not only in Panama in front of the Pope, but also at the Kiyomizu-dera (Japanese temple) which is a UNESCO heritage site, this temple in the middle of Kioto, in the middle of a forest and this thing is incredible, it is a great fortune, we discovered the power of this music that overcomes the barriers of language.
SCHILLACI= Of the many meetings you have had, really many, I ask you to choose one, the one that perhaps in some way was not the most important, ok, but which touched you for some reason.
IGNAZIO= It’s difficult!! That is, I would tell you on my birthday with Barbra Streisand.
SCHILLACI= Oh well, that’s not too bad!! (Ironic)
IGNAZIO= No, but it’s really difficult, because then I really admired films and as a child I watched Cast Away which left a strong impression on me and seeing Tom Hanks, you understand, it was another beautiful moment to share with him, a moment very nice.
PIERO= I would definitely tell you Pope Francis, they are indescribable energies, believer or non-believer they are unique moments. Then after a few months you find yourself in Kyoto where maybe they make you….
(he turns to Gianluca): “What did the monk do before the concert?” He said a prayer just for us, where perhaps in the midst of those words you occasionally heard “IL Volo” and they are things you never forget, behold, they remain indelible.
GIANLUCA= I may have had an encounter, a recent one by the way.
I was little in the car with dad, dad was driving and he made me listen to the songs of De André di Battiato of the great Italian singer-songwriter and there was one in particular, I remember when I listened to the notes of LUCI A SAN SIRO I got excited and I cried, I had my father explain the meaning of the lyrics and I had the great honor of being able to share the stage with Vecchioni last May at the Verona Arena and I read him a letter where I wrote this thought in which I shared the importance that he had in my adolescence.
SCHILLACI= Let’s see another clip (Ecstasy Of Gold begins) Sand, lots of sand.
IGNAZIO= We were in Sardinia there.
SCHILLACI= Ah, were you in Sardinia?
IGNAZIO= Yes we filmed in Sardinia.
GIANLUCA= Scenarios a bit like Sergio Leone (famous Italian western director).
SCHILLACI= Beautiful, splendid scenery: This is naturally a great tribute to the master Morricone to whom you dedicated an album.
IGNAZIO= We dedicated an album, yes yes we did a Tribute to Ennio Morricone, that’s the name of the album, but why did we allow ourselves to do it, because in any case we had an experience with master Morricone, we were still young and he called us guests in Piazza del Popolo and we have this beautiful anecdote of Gianluca who misses the entrance and tells him:
“Ah, will you give me the attack?”
And there were the bleached orchestral musicians…
PIERO= The first violin was pale.
GIANLUCA= We were 15 years old, the first times with 100 orchestra members, maestro Morricone, we were in the rehearsal room, not even on a stage, so I get closer, the piece starts and I don’t, so silence and I tell him:
“Ah but will you give me the attack?” and he: “Don’t worry kid, I’ll take care of it.”
SCHILLACI= You have mentioned Kyoto several times and this incredible concert in Japan, but there was another particularly significant place because you had a Christmas in the Holy Land in Jerusalem.
PIERO= But Jerusalem was one of the strongest trips in these 15 years, perhaps that is one of the most ambitious projects…..
IGNAZIO= …..and courageous…
PIERO= …and courageous…
IGNAZIO= …if you remember the week before there was a bombing….
PIERO= ….in the morning, in the bus station. That project was really ambitious and then we succeeded because in the end with our team, people really only see the three of us on stage with the orchestra, but behind it there is an incredible team of great professionals who dedicate their lives to this project, to us, and singing inside the Tower of David doesn’t happen every day, we did this Christmas concert, we went to Bethlehem, inside the Grotto of the Nativity, singing down there was magical.
SCHILLACI= You can go back in time and erase a mistake you made, which one do you erase?
IGNAZIO= I don’t know, the first thought that comes to mind, if you tell me so, is….I lost my father in 2021, so maybe one of the biggest mistakes is having taken for granted that I would have seen him one hour later and I never saw him again, so I didn’t say that word that maybe I could have said thinking that I had time but instead I didn’t.
PIERO= Dedicate more time to grandparents, because in the end, over time, I would challenge anyone, we realize perhaps too late the luxury and privilege.
GIANLUCA= I have to tell you that I wouldn’t change anything at all, because even mistakes made me become the person I am today.
SCHILLACI= But by the way, since you mentioned pain, it’s true that you were about to go to Rigopiano when there was the tragedy of the avalanche that caused death…
GIANLUCA= Yes, Roberto del Rosso was a dear friend of mine from Abruzzo, I had already known him for a couple of years and I took refuge there every now and then to get away from various trips. The tragedy was on Wednesday when it happened, shortly after 4:00 in the afternoon and on Monday I heard it and had to go there, then my father stopped me (Ercole didn’t let him go because it was snowing heavily). My father stopped me at the last moment, because he (Roberto) had also offered to pick me up, because no one expected something like this, no one.
Yes, in some way I escaped death from that point of view, but I put myself in the shoes of all the parents who lost their children, of the very young kids, of the families who were there in that truly enchanting place. (29 people died including Roberto del Rosso) And you realize how precious life is, how much in a moment everything can change, it’s really the transience of life, so we must enjoy every moment.
Let’s see another clip. (Who Wants To Live Forever begins). This is Freddie Mercury’s testament, it is one of Queen’s most beautiful songs, you took great care to include it in this roundup of clips that we have seen. Why this song?
PIERO= We brought Who Wants To Live Forever this year to the covers evening at the Sanremo Festival, it is a song that we have always kept on our wish list and we took the opportunity of the Sanremo Festival to sing it, produce this song, then we needed a guitarist and we somehow asked Vasco’s permission because we stole his guitarist Stef Burns for those 4 minutes and we thank Stef for accepting our invitation, we thank Vasco for his trust and it was a magical experience to be able share and make people understand this marriage that took place on stage between classical music and rock music.
SCHILLACI= You have truly achieved so many dreams, more than any person can probably achieve in two or three lifetimes, but what if I asked you now what dream do you have? But it must be strange, I mean, I don’t know… I would have liked to play Gladiator… that is, a dream of this kind that you think about every now and then and tell me you’d like it.
IGNAZIO= I would like to have been able to study and perhaps have had the opportunity to make a film with Massimo Troisi (Italian actor who died young).
SCHILLACI= Nice, this is nice!
PIERO= I have a dream, but it will always remain a dream…
SCHILLACI= What do you know, let’s hear it!
PIERO=….is to stay for a few days on the aerospace station with Luca Parmitano (Italian astronaut), that’s a dream I would like.
SCHILLACI = Nice, nice!
GIANLUCA= Oh God, to be part of a film with Nolan, something like that.
SCHILLACI= Nice, nice too.
The disgusting thing you’ve eaten anywhere in the world.
PIERO= Spicy jellyfish, I find it hard to tell.
IGNAZIO= I’m disgusting to say it, but it was delicious, the alligator curry.
GIANLUCA= I have to say Igna’s pizza….no joke!!
IGNAZIO= But once in Japan they made me eat…
GIANLUCA= The head of a fish.
IGNAZIO=….but I didn’t eat it, basically it was typical in Japan at that time, it was a sardine that they served in broth and you had to eat it all, even the head.
PIERO= But will you come and visit us at some concert?
SCHILLACI= So, you’re on tour right now, okay, and you’ll be on tour for basically months.
IGNAZIO= We are on tour for the whole summer, then…
PIERO= The tour started on April 25th from Japan, we will spend the whole summer on tour in Italy, 30 dates more or less…
GIANLUCA= In October all over Europe…
PIERO= ….in October throughout Europe and then in January in the sports halls in Italy and then America, South America and Australia.
IGNAZIO= Yes because we make the distinction between Italy and Europe, understand? That is, for us, Italy is not Europe at the moment, when we do the tours, understand? (ironic).
GIANLUCA= But we will be free for two weeks in August, we have holidays…
SCHILLACI= You have holidays, you gave them to each other.
GIANLUCA= We gave them to each other, exactly. Then Ignazio gets married and so….
SCHILLACI= Ignazio, best wishes!!
IGNAZIO= Thank you (but he signals to speak softly)
SCHILLACI= We can say it, right? Does the bride know?
IGNAZIO= Yes, she know…..maybe!!
PIERO= Do you know where he gets married? At Campo Franco. (way of saying)
SCHILLACI= Guys, I thank you, thanks for being on SKYTG24, thanks for being on STORIES, we’ll see you at one of the next stops and then with all those who decide to see you.
IGNAZIO= However, we are SKY customers too (he means that they are SKY subscribers)
SCHILLACI= Let’s face it, it’s always nice.
IGNAZIO= Sky thank you for purchasing tennis, I love you! Thank you!
(Sky is a private pay television network. At the end Ignazio says that all three are Sky subscribers and thanks the network for having purchased the rights to show the tennis matches.)
Also, in these days, Giacomo Rossi, the young Italian vocal coach, gave a wonderful review of IGNAZIO who sings WHO WANTS TO LIVE FOREVER in Arena.
Beautiful words for him from a connoisseur who analyzes technically but who also makes us understand the beauty of a voice that we admire “from the gut”.
He promised that he will also review Gianluca and Piero soon, we will look forward to them with joy!!
Turn on subtitles.
And then this good news arrived, in this period Mediaset, which also owns Canale 5, disclosed the program schedules from September to August 2025 and Il Volo was confirmed, but here is the ANSA article of which I translate the interested parties.
Pier Silvio Berlusconi (Mediaset manager) announced, during the presentation of the schedules, the renewal of the relationship with Il Volo for another two years.
“They will be part of the Canale 5 team – he said -, with three prime time shows in the spring of 2025, three in the spring of 2026 and another Christmas concert. I am really happy with this relationship, I believe that Il Volo has great artistic value but not only that, we have an excellent relationship.”
So there will soon be other concerts in the Arena filmed and broadcast by Canale 5, furthermore this year’s Christmas concert will be done by them and also the one in 2025.
What great news, it is clear from the words of Pier Silvio Berlusconi (Silvia Toffanin’s partner) there is a lot of respect for Il Volo.
Another piece of good news, the Il Volo concert in London is already sold out!! 👏👏👏
And finally, look at how beautiful this fan art is, congratulations to whoever made it.
Luckily some good news comes to lift the spirits of these sad days.
I am happy that Il Volo has had its contract renewed for another two years with Mediaset and I really liked Pier Silvio Berlusconi’s words of esteem.
I’m also happy with the sold-out in London and also with the nice review from vocal coach Giacomo Rossi, and what about the nice interview?
Come on guys, there are still many commitments for you.
See you very soon: Daniela🤗
Credit to owners of all photos, videos and artwork.
It is the first time that Il Volo held a concert in Val d’Aosta which is a small region in the north, on the border with France and Switzerland.
The concert was held in the Bard Fort which is a beautiful fortified complex in the middle of the Alps, a typical example of a barrier fortress from the early 19th century.
The concert took place in the internal courtyard which has been used for the event. The performance of Il Volo opened the concert series.
Unique emotions. A great evening of music with Il Volo which opened the 2024 summer of Forte di Bard. A musical journey that celebrates 15 years of activity of the famous trio.
And here are some moments from the concert. (turn on subtitles)
I remind you that after this concert, on July 9th, unfortunately and with immense pain, Barbara Vitali died.
On July 11th there was a concert in Catania and we talked about it in the post previous to this one.
July 9th, a very sad date, Barbara Vitali is no longer with us, with her beloved boys.
“The show must go on” and we’ll continue with the chronology of the concerts.
July 13, concert in Palermo, the beautiful city full of wonderful monuments and the capital of Sicily.
The concert was held in the Falcone-Borsellino velodrome, the two magistrates killed by the mafia.
I immediately propose this beautiful video which contains many clips of the songs of the evening.
Before singing Hallelujah the boys made a beautiful dedication to Barbara and then sang for her with emotion.
I thank our friends Yukio and Kumico Kobayashi who were present at the concert in Palermo and recorded the video of the dedication to Barbara which I translate for all of you.
IGNAZIO= This is a special song and it is even more special for us, because in life the beautiful thing is to create relationships, friendships, real relationships, human relationships, and we had created one of these relationships with a wonderful person, a wonderful person who was our shadow for 15 years.
(applause). She was perhaps one of the five most important people in our lives outside of our family, who helped us grow, helped us become the men we are today.
PIERO= Her name was Barbara (applause) she traveled with us to every part of the world, without her we wouldn’t go anywhere. (applause) We ask you to turn on the flashes of your cell phones one at a time to create an atmosphere and perhaps go up there.
At the end of the song all the people stood up and gave a very long warm applause.
LA CURA (Gianluca) On a special note, before starting the song Gianluca spoke about the love and care that a person must have for the person they love. At the end of the speech he said that he is in love and that she was there.
So Gianluca is in love again! 😍
AMOR VIDA DE MI VIDA (Piero)
SHOW MUST GO ON (Ignazio)
MISERERE
CAPOLAVORO
A sweet moment during the concert.
This little girl who sings CAPOLAVORO is truly beautiful and this comment was written by her mother, Tsvetelina Rizzuto:
My wonderful daughter is a super fan of, as she calls them, “our boys”. Going on stage yesterday was a dream of hers and she was very emotional! We came from Bulgaria to see the concert in Palermo! It will remain a beautiful memory for both of us. 🥰
Ignazio asks the little girl who her favorite is and suggests he say Piero, the little girl nods.
Piero greets the little girl and tells her to go back to Santa Claus (Torpedine). 😂
But the performances in Palermo are not over yet because on July 15th in Palermo Santa Rosalia, patron saint of Palermo, is celebrated.
This festival is deeply felt by the people of Palermo and this year marks the 400th celebration.
The story goes that the plague and the dark ages had invaded Palermo, there was pain, disease and famine.
Rosalia, a very young girl from Palermo who was martyred, will free Palermo from the plague.
It is a very long ceremony that takes place in several stages.
The statue of Santa Rosalia is carried along the main avenue starting from the Palazzo dei Normanni (Royal Palace) and reaches the Cathedral where Il Volo will perform singing two songs from the roof of the Cathedral.
They will sing NESSUN DORMA and CAPOLAVORO, but only Nessun Dorma will be filmed on local TV because, due to copyright issues, Il Volo cannot be recorded for more than three minutes. So we will only be able to see Capolavoro recorded from fan videos.
The procession will then continue to the Quattro Canti and then arrive on the seafront where there will be splendid fireworks.
300 thousand people were expected, it is a truly very special event.
The Sicilian moment of Il Volo with the concerts in Catania, Palermo and the Santa Rosalia party ends here.
Our boys quickly return to Bologna, on July 15th there will be the funeral ceremony dedicated to Barbara 🙏❤️, Il Volo communicated it with these words:
For those who wish to say a final farewell to Barbara Vitali, the funeral will take place on Monday 15 July with a Holy Mass which will be celebrated at 11.30 am at the Basilica of Santa Maria dei Servi – Strada Maggiore 43 Bologna, and at 4.00 pm with a Holy Mass. Mass at the Parish of Santa Maria Villiana hamlet. Gaggio Montano.
The Bologna newspaper IL RESTO DEL CARLINO published this article.
Il Volo at Barbara Vitali’s funeral: “You were our second mother”
The funeral of the 54-year-old manager who died in an accident in Gaggio Montano: the Basilica of Santa Maria dei Servi in Bologna was packed. The coffin was carried by relatives and friends united in grief. The singers also spoke to remember their collaborator and friend.
Bologna, 15 July 2024 – A day of condolence for the numerous people who gathered this morning at 11.30 to say a final sad farewell to Barbara Vitali, inside the Basilica of Santa Maria dei Servi, in Strada Maggiore.
The coffin is surrounded by family and friends of the 54-year-old, historic collaborator of the tenor trio Il Volo, who died on Tuesday 9 July at Sant’Orsola due to serious injuries sustained in a car accident that occurred two days earlier in the Gaggio Montano area.
Inside the Basilica the coffin was carried by relatives and friends united in grief over the passing of their loved one. The tears of the emotional eyes of those who came to the commemoration are hidden inside the dark sunglasses and the hugs are more of pain than anything else. And so the Basilica became the frame and mourning box for those present at the funeral.
The arrival of the coffin inside the small square was followed by that of the guys from Il Volo and Michele Torpedine, the manager of the three singers and friend of Barbara.
The singer Nina Zilli also brought her greetings to Vitali.
During the ceremony, we were moved by the memory of Gianluca, Ignazio and Piero, the three tenors of Il Volo, who paid tribute to Barbara with their voices, singing during the ceremony and then speaking. “Our second mother and she made us the men we are today. Events that remind us how ephemeral and precious life is. There are no words to describe our pain”, says Gianluca Ginoble, tenor of Il Volo, during the funeral. Even more moved was Ignazio Boschetto, part of the trio, who told some anecdotes about Barbara and remembered “her contagious smile”.
Piero Barone, of the trio, also described Vitali from the microphone: “Barbara is the only person who could have written a book about us perfectly. She demonstrated to us the seriousness of the work and what it means to dedicate yourself to your passion. Thanks to your father Gianni for making her the woman she was.” The head-on collision last Tuesday also caused the death of the driver of the other car, 49-year-old Pietro Bervicato from Cremona. Vitali, on the other hand, who turned 54 last June 13th, had been at Sant’Orsola since the late evening of Sunday July 7th when his Fiat 500x was involved in a dramatic accident on the ss64 Porrettana in Gaggio Montano. Following this, at 4pm, there will be a second mass in his area of origin, the Apennines, in the church of Santa Maria Villiana in Gaggio.
IL RESTO DEL CARLINO also filmed the moment in which Piero, Gianluca and Ignazio said some words in memory of Barbara.
PIERO= How she met us, how she loved us, no one.
Barbara showed us the seriousness in work, what it means to dedicate your life 360 degrees to what you do, with passion.
A little while ago the priest was reading the questions that are asked at the end of life: have you loved? She knew how to love.❤️
GIANLUCA= How ephemeral life is and how precious it is to enjoy every moment with the people we love, and that’s what we did with Barbara in 15 years of our life, she was our second mother, she accompanied us in all the moments our travels, made us grow artistically, personally, made us, I can say, the men we have become today.
Maybe it’s a natural process, you have to accept it, but it’s the hardest thing especially when you know the pain at such a young age. There are no words to describe the pain. ❤️
IGNAZIO= I don’t want to say that this loss is the worst, but I can tell you that I feel the same way. Because as Gianluca said in those 15 years I spent more time with Barbara than with my family. We shared joys and sorrows and unfortunately, due to my personality, I can’t remember Barbara without a smile, I don’t know, I imagine her now telling me:
“When you go to drink a spritz, get one for me too”.
I want to remember her so.❤️
Il Volo sung Panis Angelicus during the mass for their Barbara.
The man who hugs Ignazio outside the church is Barbara’s elderly father, her mother was not present, she is not well.
After a two-month absence I planned to come back and write an amazing story about our truly amazing guys. I thought a lot about what I would write. But on the last day of my trip to Iceland, I got the sad news that Barbara Vitali had passed away as the result of a car crash. Poor beautiful Barbara. What a great loss!
When I got the news, I thought I will still write an amazing story, but it will be about an amazing woman ~ Barbara Vitali.
Barbara was a crucial figure for Il Volo, though she remained behind the scenes she was ever present. She quietly fulfilled a significant role in Piero, Ignazio, and Gianluca’s lives. Her influence was palpable, akin to a guiding shadow that watched over the boys.
Finding information about Barbara is challenging, almost impossible, yet her impact was undeniable. Very little is known about Barbara’s life. We know next to nothing about her childhood and her formative years. If I had to sum up Barbara’s life, I would have to say her life began the day she met Piero, Ignazio and Gianluca. She never sought the limelight. She never imposed on the tour but was always present. Her role was vital, and it took immense patience to fulfill it. Michele Torpedine once said, “she was instrumental in harmonizing the lives of Piero, Ignazio and Gianluca.”
The boys’ diverse backgrounds, their adolescent challenges, and their often-long absences from their parents required someone to step into the role of mother with a certain gentleness and compassion. Barbara stepped into and up to the role of Second Mother. Barbara was by far an exceptional mother to the boys.
Her role also required her to be a diplomat. She was exceptional in the role! She was the buffer between the boys and the fans who wanted so much more. She knew the limits and proposed the boundaries. She was overly protective! Perhaps that is why she excelled in her role; always present, always supportive, accompanying them on their journeys without fanfare.
Coordinating three youngsters from different family backgrounds into a cohesive unit was no small task. On international tours she managed all of their daily lives, keeping in mind no two boys were alike, and each needed to be handled in a different way. She was the person the boys most loved and admired besides their families. She was the go-to person! In her role as Second Mother, she certainly won the Mother of the Year Award (for 15 years).
She cultivated a profound relationship with the boys and their families, earning the love and respect of all of them.
Fans who were fortunate to meet her were captivated by her warmth and grace.
The boys have matured into fine young men, partly due to her role in their lives. Until that fatal moment, Barbara remained indispensable to them. Her guidance extended beyond professional duties, influencing the character formation and fostering a deep mutual affection and respect between herself and Piero, Ignazio, and Gianluca.
Barbara was a cherished confidante and supporter, essential to the fabric of Il Volo’s success and personal growth.
The fans are grateful for her invaluable contributions, recognizing her enduring impact on the group.
Her role as Road Manager came second to her role as Second Mother.
Dear Barbara, you will be dearly missed by the guys. They are heartbroken by your loss. You are gone from their sight but not their hearts. You will always be one of the reasons why Il Volo became who they are. Their greatness was your reward in life.
I didn’t want to disturb the story with music, so, I left the music till the end. At their concert in Catania, the guys sang their hearts out through their tears! Very emotional moments, tears of love for the woman who gave her life to these young men and gave them all her love and affection! Just as any good mother does for her children!
Piero:We started this profession when we were 15 years old and we traveled the world and with us there has always been a person who traveled all over the world with us, every day.
She was a mother when we were younger, she was the person, the most important figure for us in our travels and we would like to publicly say that we, but above all our families, will be eternally grateful to her, because our parents when they knew that she was with us and we were with Barbara, they slept soundly.
It’s very difficult and this evening, this concert will be the first of all those we will dedicate to it throughout our lives.
Gianluca: We are all united, everyone, everyone, everyone for our Barbara, everyone, from the crew, from the technicians, from the musicians, from Michele Torpedine, all for her, because she was a special person who will continue to live inside us and will give us strength to continue doing this work, because we will sing for her, Barbara we will sing for you, for a lifetime, for a lifetime, we love you.
Ignazio:And as I said before, we would like to make this moment even more special if you help us with the flashes of your cell phones to illuminate the whole square, so for those who believe in it, someone from up there is watching us.
Thank you, Daniela, for the translation.
Following are more songs from the concert at Catania. It was all about Barbara!
According to Daniela Perani, there was a tragic car accident, Sunday evening at 8 PM near Bologna. Barbara was driving her Fiat 500 car. For reasons still under investigation, the car driven by a 49-year-old man and the car of Barbara, 54, had a head-on collision. The man died immediately; Barbara was transported by helicopter to the hospital in Bologna.
Barbara passed away on July 9, 2024, at the Sant’Orsola Hospital in Bologna.
Rest in Peace sweet Barbara!
Come in and share the love of life, friends and Il Volo!
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