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.
On July 6th there was the Il Volo concert in Bard, forgive us if this time, given the sad events that have occurred, we will give priority to talking about the concert in Catania.
After the terrible news of the death of dear Barbara, we were all waiting to know if the concert in Catania would be suspended, even though in our hearts we knew that it would take place.
In fact it was like this, Il Volo honored its commitment with heartbreak.
Piero, Gianluca and Ignazio went on stage and began their concert, then the moment of Hallelujah arrived and at this point it was a unique emotion.
Sitting on their stools, Gianluca, Ignazio and Piero made a long dedication to Barbara, the sweet Barbara who always followed them and who was always backstage waiting for them.
I cried while I watched the video and I think you will cry too seeing these three boys hold each other in mutual comfort and in the memory of their “angel”.
I translate for you.
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. (applause)
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. (applause)
It’s very difficult (applause) and this evening, this concert will be the first of all those we will dedicate to it throughout our lives. (applause)
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. (endless applause, and the guys and the people all standing)
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.
A beautiful photograph of a happy moment with Barbara, Ignazio, Piero and Gianluca is projected on the screens.
Gianluca’s voice trembles, the emotion makes its way, heartbreaking to see Piero turning his gaze towards the orchestra so as not to show his emotion and perhaps his tears and see Ignazio continuing to dry his face.
Gianluca Ignazio and Piero bring the stools closer together to gain more strength , like in a consoling embrace, each touches the other’s leg in a message of support, the tears flow.
A friend of mine was present at the concert and said these words to me: “I was in the second row. Ignazio and Gianluca were devastated, they both cried a lot, the one who contained himself a little more was Piero, but the suffering could be seen on his face. Ignazio, who is usually irrepressible, didn’t speak almost not at all. I must say that the audience was very involved, everyone was on their feet during the dedication.”
In fact, everyone stood up for a very long final applause, the boys’ emotion took over.
Another touching moment of the evening, Gianluca singing ANGELS visibly moved.
Ignazio sang ALMENO TU NELL’UNIVERSO presenting it with these beautiful words:
This is one of those songs that, thanks to the lyrics and thanks to the melody, has reached the hearts of many people, because it is one of those songs that help you feel close to the people who unfortunately you can no longer have close to you. I’ve been singing this song for four years now because it’s one of those songs that really gives me emotions that are hard to feel. I hope that you too, together with me, can feel closer to the people you would like to be close to at this moment.
Definitely the sweetest and most affectionate photo of the whole evening.
The GIORNALE DI SICILIA published this article: The first time of Il Volo in Catania, sold out at Villa Bellini and fans in raptures
The first time of the three boys of “Il Volo” in Catania, led to a sold out, in the new version of the Piazzale delle Carrozze at Villa Bellini. The works carried out have transformed the area into a beautiful arena, which will allow many fans to comfortably enjoy the music of their favorites. Works that have brought the most important tours right to Catania, with related activities that will produce great benefits for the local economy. Last night the first act, with the concert of the three “young people” on tour to celebrate their first 15 years of career, which began in 2009 in the show “Ti lascio una canzone”.
Among other things, Ignazio Boschetto and Piero Barone are two Sicilians flanked by Gianluca Ginoble from Abruzzo. A career spent between television and major world tours to bring the most loved Italian songs around the world, and participation in a Barbra Streisand tour in North America in 2012 as a special guest. Great applause last night, especially when they remembered their collaborator Barbara Vitali, who died on July 9th following an accident on July 7th, to the tune of “Hallelujah”. The 54-year-old woman had been following the three boys for years who projected a photo with her during the song, to remember her. Long applause and the audience standing, even, at the end of the concert which closed with “Grande Amore”, the song with which they won the 2015 edition of the Sanremo festival. A great evening of music, organized by Puntoeacapo di Nuccio La Ferlita, which opens the many musical events planned in the next few days at Villa Bellini.
My goodness, what a great emotion, as I have already written to you, I cried seeing the video of Hallelujah, too touching and too evident that Piero, Gianluca and Ignazio were suffering.
There were other such sad moments, such as the death of Vito and grandfather Pietro, but these events were expected, illnesses had accustomed us, if possible, to the final absence. But Barbara was in full health, she had gone to visit her parents and upon returning her life was unfairly and prematurely taken away.
The rest of the concert took place with great professionalism and for this I appreciate even more Ignazio, Gianluca and Piero who faced this event with a broken heart.
Once again you have shown us, without any filter, your sincere affection. Thank you guys!!
Unfortunately it’s all true, the terrible news is making the rounds on fan pages all over the world, Barbara Vitali has left us.
We still can’t get over the sad news, Barbara, the sweet tour manager who always followed Piero, Ignazio and Gianluca step by step since the first days has left us.
The announcement was made by Il Volo with these sad and poignant words:
Il Volo and Michele Torpedine
announce with deep sorrow the
premature death of their friend and
historic collaborator Barbara Vitali.
Barbara passed away last night
at the Sant’Orsola Hospital in Bologna
following the tragic accident in which she was involved in on Sunday 7 July.
Michele, Ignazio, Gianluca, Piero
together with Eliana Dalila Biondi,
Roberta Natali, Cristina Gelsi, Liliana
Torpedine and all the collaborators of
MT Opera&Blue’s management and the
family hug each other
all those who loved
Barbara and that they will continue to keep her
in a special place
in their heart.
A tragic car accident, Sunday evening near Bologna, it was 8:00 p.m. 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 but she had very serious injuries, last night she finally left us.
The words of Ercole Ginoble are also moving:
Ciao Barbara, for 15 long years you were the lighthouse, the point of reference for our kids, always present and punctual, alongside Michele Torpedine, we shared the trips, the evenings, the concerts together, we shared together the joys that the guys with their great work and their great talent they gave us, the void you leave is unbridgeable, there will always be a special place for you in the hearts of all of us!
Thanks for everything, Barbarina, as we called you. ❤️❤️❤️
And those of Eleonora Ginoble:
@divileo15 Our dear Barbara left us suddenly leaving an unbridgeable void, 15 years with us, in the big family of Il Volo, you saw Piero, Ignazio and Gianluca grow up, always present, point of reference for everyone, many memories and life lived together it will be hard without you Barbari’💔 you will remain forever in our hearts.
Barbara’s birthday, June 13th.
She was always present with our boys, ready to listen to them, to follow them, to even act as their mother a little. Sweet, sensitive, proud of the three of them, as if they were her children.
She was their “guardian angel” ❤️🙏
I dare not think of the pain of Piero, Ignazio and Gianluca and the profound sadness they will have in their hearts.
Now the news is reported by all the newspapers.
Tomorrow evening Il Volo is in concert in Catania. For now there is no news of a possible canceled concert.
Rest in peace dear Barbara, you will always remain a sweet memory in our hearts! ❤️🙏❤️
There is always some news and something to write about Il Volo and so I will update you with the latest news.
A nice audio interview has been published by THE NEW CLASSICAL RADIO, a station that is part of Zoomer Radio and broadcasts from Canada. Host Mark Wigmore talks to Piero, Gianluca (from Milano) and Ignazio (from Venezuela), but you can listen to everything because the interview is in English!!
At the beginning Mark immediately mispronounces the names of Gianluca and Ignazio! 😁😁
(if you are using a computer to listen to the interview, you can right click on the audio player line under the first photo and save the interview as an MP3 file to your computer 😀 see photo below)
Meanwhile Il Volo has published three concert dates in Germany and ticket sales are already active.
16 OCTOBER = DÜSSELDORF
17 OCTOBER = BERLIN
19 OCTOBER = FRANKFURT
Barbara Vitali also posted this nice announcement:
We are happy that this beautiful special can be seen in Brazil!
Another piece of good news:
ITALIAN OPERA SINGING is officially on the list of intangible cultural heritage of humanity: the proclamation took place on the occasion of the 18th session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of UNESCO in Botswana.
A beautiful result that confirms how important our opera tradition is, a tradition which unfortunately is now greatly underestimated here in Italy if not even relegated to a few enthusiasts.
The most popular Italian music has nothing to do with opera nor with bel canto and little with pop.
You will surely have known that the Il Volo Christmas EP, which contains 4 Christmas songs, was put on sale in red vinyl format and signed by Piero, Ignazio and Gianluca.
I didn’t bring you the news here, because the vinyl couldn’t be ordered outside Italy. But look how beautiful it is!!
Needless to say, I ordered mine and it should arrive these days, so I’ll let you know my impression as soon as it arrives!! 😉
We finish this news with a roundup of photos of our favorites:
IL VOLO in the recording room.
Piero with two famous Italian singers: Gianni Morandi and Antonello Venditti.
And how happy is Ignazio as he hugs his new girlfriend’s little cousin? ❤️
That’s all for now, but we’ll talk to you soon!!
Daniela🤗
Credit to owners of all photos and the audio intervew by The New Classical Radio.
Little by little, Il Volo has reached the last 3 concerts of the European tour.
There were great satisfactions and everything on tour went well.
9 October, Hungary: BUDAPEST
A nice surprise from Gianluca during the soundcheck in Budapest, he sang and played SIGN OF THE TIMES, very good!! 😍
From the concert:
ECSTASY OF GOLD
HALLELUJAH
HERE’S TO YOU
There was a guest, the Hungarian singer, Gabi Tóth with whom they sang the beautiful song: CANZONE PER TE. Beautiful quartet, congratulations to all four. ❤️❤️❤️❤️
GABI published this video on her Facebook page, with this comment:
Il Volo had a fantastic concert last night and I am grateful to have been able to sing this wonderful song with them, with just one rehearsal and without speaking the same language, but we understood each other in the language of music! Thanks for the opportunity, Roland Horvat. (her manager)
This was published by KONCERTPROMO.HU
Il Volo hosted a fantastic evening in Budapest! 🎉
Budapest, October 10, 2023. It was a magical evening on October 9, when the trio of IL VOLO, Piero Barone, Ignazio Boschetto and Gianluca Ginoble performed at the Budapest Sportarena. The evening was opened by the energetic performance of the talented Vavra Bence, where the excitement and anticipation of the audience could be felt from the very beginning. The tension reached its peak when the long-awaited moment finally arrived and IL VOLO took the stage. The world-famous trio, which conquered the Hungarian audience for the first time in 2019, once again proved that it rightfully belongs among the greatest. As Piero Barone, a member of IL VOLO, said in his interview to Index: “We are very happy to have come to Hungary again, and we are sure that the audience will enjoy the evening.”
At the end of the evening, Roland Horváth, director of Koncert Promo, enthusiastically declared: “IL VOLO concerts are always special, but this evening was exceptional. Their music, their voice, their splendor is unique. We are sure that the audience had a unique experience during the concert.” The production, the organizers and the artists concluded the evening satisfied. Budapest will surely remember this special concert for a long time and we hope we won’t have to wait long for the trio’s return!
**IL VOLO’s concert was an evening that music lovers should not miss. Thank you for being with us and being a part of this unforgettable musical experience!**
October 10: Czech Republic: PRAGUE
Our young men always send photographs of the cities where they will have concerts, “tourists by day, singers by night”.
But sometimes, walking around the streets of the old part of the city of PRAGUE, you can have special encounters that make your heart happy, and this is how mum Eleonora and dad Ercole reached their son, to the joy of a happy Gianluca! 😍😍
The concert was held in the beautiful and modern O2 Arena.
O SOLE MIO
VOLARE
GRANDE AMORE
Also in Prague CANZONE PER TE was sung with a good singer from the Czech Republic: Tereza Maskova. ❤️❤️❤️❤️
Tereza posted this on her Facebook page.
I’m realizing this really happened. 🙈❤️ My childhood dream has come true. 🙏
I’ve been smiling from ear to ear since the morning and remember yesterday’s concert @ilvolomusic I’m watching videos and I still can’t believe it. 😍 I wonder, but was I really next to them? Did I really sing with them? Well, for sure yes. 😁❤️
Thank you so much for this experience it was an honor. ❤️
02 ARENA Prague, published this comment:
The musical group Il Volo presented its long-awaited debut in Prague! We will long remember this wonderful evening full of Italian passion and extraordinary musical experience!
How did you like the concert?✨
This instead was published by IREPORT.CZ Musica and Style Magazine, which I translated for you.
Il Volo created a magical atmosphere in the O2 arena, the trio was accompanied by Tereza Mašková.
Il Volo visited the Czech Republic for the first time. The trio, who represented Italy at Eurovision 2015, amazed Prague not only with their singing talent, but also with their spirit. The singers accompanied by the orchestra were not afraid to communicate regularly with the audience, both in English and in their native Italian. At each concert of the Il Volo tour, a selected song is accompanied by a local artist.
For the Prague show they chose Tereza Mašková, who has been a fan of theirs for a long time. Together they sang the song CANZONE PER TE. Celine Dion’s My Heart Will Go On, Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah and Sinatra’s My Way were also performed. The fans rewarded the trio with a standing ovation and incessant applause for the beautiful evening.
Among many concerts and great successes with the public and affection, we are slowly moving towards the last scheduled concert, as the concert in Tel Aviv, as you know, has been postponed for now. 😞🙏
And so here we are at the last European concert.
October 12, LITHUANIA: Kaunas
IL MONDO
MY WAY
CARUSO
MISERERE
A nice summary of some songs.
Standing Ovation 👏🏻
In this photo you can see Gianluca, Piero and Ignazio with the journalist Ramunas Zilnys who published the photo with these words:
“It’s nice to meet the Il Volo guys in person after an 8-year break. Beautiful concert in Kaunas tonight / Nice to see Il Volo again (we met at Eurovision 8 years ago). Great concert in Kaunas.”
While Il Volo on its Facebook page thanks all the fans for the love they had during the European concerts, Barbara Vitali publishes this photo which highlights the flights carried out by Il Volo for this tour, remarkable!!
And we are right at the end of the European tour. I would say that Piero, Gianluca and Ignazio can be happy with how this tour went, because the affection of their fans has been reconfirmed.
And now??? What will they do??
Maybe they should rest a little……but no, there is already some news that will make us happy, on October 29th they will be in Mexico for the closing of the Festival Internacional Chihuahua.
And that’s all for now but, as you may have understood, we’ll talk to you soon:
Daniela 🤗
Credit to owners of all photos and videos.
Come in and share the love of life, friends and Il Volo!
.
.
