As you all know, on 31 August and 1 September the two Il Volo television concerts were held in Agrigento and will be broadcast, the first at Christmas on Canale 5 and the second broadcast by the PBS television network.
As I had already announced to you, a friend had sent the request to participate via fan club and obtained the confirmation letter, so she left Canada for Sicily.
Thus began Judith’s journey (not without problems), and when I asked her to write her impressions of the two evening and this was her response:
“I’ll do my best to take some photos and make notes on anything that might interest you. I tend to get lost in my own musical world, but at least one is a show in English. I’ll be able to understand.”
“I take a flight from Chicago to Munich and then to Palermo, then a train or car as close as possible to my hotel in San Leone (near Agrigento) and then I try to get to the concerts. I have a friend who will take me to the concerts from my hotel.”
Already on the plane Judith wrote me beautiful words that are the story of many of us, words that come from the heart and that you absolutely must read. ❤️
“I have no idea what time it is. Outside the plane window it is dark and inside most are asleep and the lights are low. Thinking about it, it’s incredible what some of us, actually many of us, do for an Il Volo concert or to support what we have come to know and love in these few years of Il Volo. Many of us fly all night through strange airports and cities, strange towns and train stations, strange streets and trust strange taxi drivers to take us to strange hotels, whose language we don’t speak, all to enjoy those two hours of music, fun, passion and friends. Some can afford it and some can’t, but those moments of joy listening to the voices of the “kids” make us dream listening to their beautiful voices that take us elsewhere, somewhere deep in our hearts and dreams. My eyes are closed, lost in those moments of beauty. For me, all the frustrations and uncertainty of unknown long-distance destinations absolutely fill my heart when the lights go down, the music starts and Gianluca, Piero and Ignazio take the stage!”
It wasn’t easy for Judith, who arrived in San Leone (a hamlet of Agrigento on the sea) in the evening, in the dark and immediately realized that her accommodation was far from everything, not only from the Valley of the Temples where the concerts were held, but also from the beautiful walk by the sea of San Leone, and from all the shops and restaurants and she hadn’t eaten anything yet and the hunger was making itself felt.
After eating a couple of Sicilian cannoli which Judith found really good, she managed to sleep at night and wait for the first concert on August 31st, the Christmas-themed one which will be broadcast by Canale 5 at Christmas.
“Judith with her friends, ready for the concert, so much elegance.”
August 31st Christmas concert for Canale 5
Last night was very strange. It was a difficult location, but the stage was set up beautifully. What a fantastic location. I can’t tell you much about the show, we and the fan club group were sitting on the far right. Where we couldn’t see the stage, we couldn’t see the orchestra. All were tall, built on a high platform, here are a couple of photos so you can understand better.
There were guards patrolling everywhere to make sure we didn’t take out our cell phones or cameras, and they were diligent every time I took out my phone to take a photo.
The people in the fan clubs weren’t sitting in a good position and the stage sets were built so high with the barrier around it and from where we were sitting, there wasn’t a good view of the whole thing.
We couldn’t see the orchestra or the two big Christmas trees.
A very confusing night for everyone, there weren’t many people, maybe 800. I don’t know and since there was such a small entrance when they finally opened the small door to let us in (it was closed until 7:45 and it was very hot), for getting 800 people in took a long time. To get to the stage the road was really narrow. There was a shuttle that you could pay for to travel a little distance, if you wore high heels you were straight away in trouble. The road (plus a wide path) was made up of rocks of all sizes, nothing asphalted and it was very, very difficult and, of course, holding each other’s arms to be able to walk, and, after a long walk up the hill, when we arrived, there were so many barriers of cameras and lighting crews that it was not possible to see a lot around. We managed to move in the rows more up, but from the photos you can see that we were under the stage and under everyone. But we were in the corner of the stage where the boys were performing, thank goodness!
The boys weren’t wearing Christmas clothes, they were dressed in dark suits, perhaps black, with some sequins on the jackets, very elegant. No one person had winter clothes, there was a lot of elegance, but no winter clothes, one lady had a fur hat. There were two large trees, as you can see from the photos, and may have had other decorations too, but we couldn’t see them. And it was a Christmas show in theory it was filmed outdoors. It was an interesting location for the Christmas show because you could see it was a hot, warm night and the wind was blowing, but people were still in sleeves and how they would rig that Christmas show is beyond me, some people still wore sleeveless t-shirts and tops.
The concert started on time and the guys, as always, were at the top. They were professional as always, they were friendly, they communicated, they told jokes, they sang their songs better than anyone ever could. Of course the songs were mostly Christmas themed. The orchestra was good, the little known songs were great and the first half or more of the show was very good. There were a lot of standing ovations, a lot of applause and a lot of appreciation for their music.
At a certain point between one song and another there began to be huge gaps and the boys were waiting, walking back and forth, then Ignazio said something that I didn’t understand, and he went to the back of the stage, Gianluca told him I went behind to talk to him. Finally they returned to the front and said to the master: Master, as if we were ready, let’s go.
Everything after that was calmer, the music was wonderful as always.
Come to think of it, some of these gaps in the music may have been due to the TV show’s film crew blocking everything.
I learned a little lesson and I don’t think I’ll ever go to a TV-produced concert again. Too many things can go wrong and it’s not about the music. It’s about the show. I think Morricone’s concert in Verona was the best production I have ever seen. It was very well produced, organized, very well planned, excellent music, singing dancers, everything. It was the best on every level.
The guys were fantastic and their voices were exceptional: Gianluca singing “Music of the Night” was a spectacle!
I think as I watch Gianluca more and more, he’s a passionate old soul. He is so kind he is so empathetic and supportive. I actually watched him a lot last night because I could only see them and nothing else in the corner of the stage, and he constantly watches Piero and Ignazio for their reactions when things aren’t going well, he seems to protect them and care about their mood. He supports them.
I remember that at the beginning of the meeting and greetings with them, Gianluca held my hand because I was nervous and he smiled. He listens, watches and cares deeply. I know that every time I approach him in the meet and greet he looks me in the eyes calmly as if he sees me and he does this with everyone. He’s a good man. ❤️
September 1 concert for PBS
I’m sorry for my limited photos, but both PBS and the Italian TV crew were relentless and aggressive in preventing us from filming. I’m sorry I couldn’t capture more.
I wanted to tell you that I think tonight’s concert was fantastic, exceptional. For me there wasn’t enough English, only when filming the PBS parts. However, their voices, their arrangements, their passion, the delivery and their energy were amazing.
Ignazio sang “Memories”, the favorite representation of his vocal range, and everyone seemed to enjoy it.
Gianluca showed his, again a powerful, rich voice, singing “Music of the Night” from Phantom of the Opera, as well as an Elvis Presley favorite that I can’t remember right now.
I would like to have the titles of the songs or their program to help you understand better, but I don’t have this information, sorry.
In truth, the musical choices were a combination of a little bit of pop, but a little bit of opera, a little bit of their Belcanto. In every song they sang, they gave everything. For the Italian press to belittle them is simply unfathomable. They did an English version of their latest song and I’d say overall the night was … unlike the highly organised, highly successful and musically stunning first night. They also introduced new songs that I had never heard before, but they were very positive and definitely a crowd pleaser. I definitely want to listen to the new songs again, definitely! 🥰
Piero Ignazio and Gianluca wore dark suits, but the jackets had no glitter.
People were still elegant but with more colors and less formal and women had abandoned their heels, given the early evening. 😣 The Christmas trees and Christmas decorations were obviously no longer there. 😉
The concert started on time and the energy and anticipation was palpable throughout the audience. Once again the songs were a mix of bel canto, pop opera and classical, with songs from their previous concerts.
However, the introduction of the new songs was electric. Their choices were exceptional and for many moments during the show there was not a cough or a sound except for each magnificent voice that filled the sky and the stars. That night was magical. After every song the audience went crazy, but no one got up and I don’t know why. During the concert, the songs were projected onto a screen at the end of each row of seats and during some English-language presentations for PBS, the words were written on the screen (like the teleprompter).
A funny moment, Gianluca was reading the script on screen for the PBS audience and came across an English word that he couldn’t pronounce. He kept trying to say it.
The word was “transcend.” Nobody helped him and in the end I shouted the word and Gianluca repeated it correctly.
After I gave Gianluca the correct pronunciation, Piero shouted: “Who are you?”
Ignazio said: “But it’s her!” (he didn’t remember my name).
Piero replied: “But who are you? I can’t see anything with this light.”
Ignazio: “Canada” (they know me as the redhead from Canada), and my friend shouted: “Giuditta!”
The kids recognized me because the lights were now on me!!
It was a very fun time.
Another strange thing, later, towards the end of the show, one of the PBS film crew members came to my row and seemed to be pointing the camera at me and recording, I don’t know why. That remains to be seen, I guess. Maybe I’ll be at the cinema soon!
The first evening I had two women next to me, two women from Sweden, the second evening two women from Japan.
When the three guys weren’t announcing their songs or speaking to the PBS audience, they were constantly interacting with the audience, in Italian, of course, which was great. There was a lot of laughter, a lot of applause, a lot of feeling part of the Il Volo family.
All three boys were kind and playful that night, and it was one of their best concerts. It didn’t last long. The concert ended at 11.00 pm, it surprised me.
Just when we thought it was all over, the boys came back on stage and sang Masterpiece in English, a first for me and their fans!!! ❤️
The staff let us out around 11, although it wasn’t over for PBS or the film crew who may have had to repeat some songs because they called back the guys and the orchestra that remained after we all left.
Thank you, Judith, for the nice review of your participation in the two concerts. You were very thorough and your photos are beautiful, considering that you were certainly not in a good position and that the security was inflexible.
I’ve been to the Valley of the Temples and reading your words made me feel like I was there with you.
The setting was certainly unique and fantastic and I hope that the television representation lives up to this Christmas event.
I also think that the crews were different for the two events and perhaps for this reason the second concert went better. We will see the final results on TV.
Thanks again for your writing, Judith!!🥰
Now you of Flight Crew must know that these two concerts had a lot of problems from the usual Italian press. Many articles have reported misrepresented or exaggerated news, but I will talk about this in detail in the next post.🤬
Meanwhile, I conclude this nice review with some beautiful photos taken by some people present at the concerts.
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.
This is the distance between Copenhagen, Denmark, and Verona, Italy. One day my husband said: “Why don’t we take the car and drive instead of flying? Use the opportunity to convert a concert tour into a holiday?” Yes, why not? That’s how we ended up driving some 3500 kilometers through no less than 5 countries (Denmark, Germany, Austria, Italy and Switzerland + a ferry crossing) taking in the sights of some of Europe’s most beautiful mountain and lake districts – just in order to participate in one of this year’s out-of-the-ordinary “Tutti per Uno”,Canale 5 Verona concerts with IL VOLO. Namely, on May the 11th. Not at all a bad idea though, I can report. 😊
And what can I say? Being my second time at this event – hence well acquainted with the special concept of these concerts coupled with the most beautiful weather – the concert fulfilled all my expectations and hopes and became yet a fantastic IL VOLO experience in all aspects. This year I did, however, arrive fully prepared bringing along a full length woolen winter-coat, several sweaters, boots, a tiny umbrella and – for the purpose only purchased huge backpacker rain-cover! Only to find Verona bathed in sunshine with some 26 C (79 F) day temperature and not a cloud in the sky! A bit of a laughing stock maybe but rather that than once again being unexpectedly caught in heavy rains for more than four hrs.
IL VOLO brings the world together.
My husband and I had arranged to meet up with Daniela (our Daniela) and her husband for a bite to eat before the concert – unfortunately, family matters and unexpected troubles in finding a suitable parking space altered the plans in the last minute. However, meeting up with fellow fans has become a vital and fun part of participating in these concerts, hence after a quick feast at one of the many touristic restaurants offering breathtaking views of the Arena di Verona as a backdrop, my husband and I rushed into this unique venue well before concert start enabling us to spend time greeting, selfie-taking and mingling a bit with fans acquaintances from all over the world. Among others we met for the first time Martina Gerlach-Buntz from Germany and her friend Isolde as well as had a pleasant reunion with Jolanta Szczepanik from Poland and her friend Mariola that I had the pleasure of spending some extra time with last year. Luckily, at the very last minute Daniela and her husband made it to the Arena and it was time for big re-union hugs and kisses. Catching up would have to wait to the next day where we agreed on doing an outing together.
Beppe, Danela and Kirsten, Steen
Isolde, Germay – Kirsten – Martina, Germany and Jolanta, Poland. + Kirsten – Mariola and Jolanta, Poland
Just being inside Arena di Verona is a fantastic experience in itself. This more than 2,000 year old architectural pearl brings you in awe… And huge it is. Several times during the evening I took myself in letting the eyes wander around this unique setting pinching my arm. Especially when it gets dark it becomes truly amazing. Sitting in the warm spring night with a pitch black starlit sky above watching the moon move while listening to the voices of IL VOLO – nothing really compares – and I wish that you all may have such an opportunity once in your lives. We had been extremely lucky managing to obtain first row seats on the floor this time – and albeit situated far to the left it appeared actually to be a rather good choice. The reason being that the very wide stage is built out with little extension platforms in each corner frequently used by the guys bringing them up-close-and-almost-personal to you at times. Further, the big projection screens are likewise placed here. Of course a center seat is always great, but one has to realize that from there you will always have to gaze across the orchestra pit which, however, at IL VOLO concerts is never used, but still leaving a considerable gap between the first row and the stage. On top this evening we had a further benefit by these seats as it appeared that several of the IL VOLO team and family members were actually seated just next to the platform giving us glimpses of i.e. Michel Torpedine, Gianluca’s father and brother as well a Ignazio’s pretty fiancée Michelle and hence all the activity that surprisingly took place in this corner during the show. Later we learned that Piero’s singing coach was also to be found in this area.
And then it all began.
At 21:00 hrs. sharp the orchestra started up with strophes from the well-known “Also sprach Zarathustra” by Strauss – and shortly after Piero, Ignazio and Gianluca entered the stage from the center stairs and a roar arose in the Arena.
Finally, here they were – probably just as excited as the some 15,000 people in the audience – and immediately starting out singing the pompous score from the film “The Gladiators” setting us all in the right mood right away as well as proving that indeed they do still master, love and perform songs of the more classical genre. I have never heard them sing this song before, but it was strong, voluminous and perfect for the opening of a grand evening. Bravo! A few more songs from their well-known repertoire followed before the guys greeted the audience and Canale 5 viewers – and the show was on the go.
Following the Sanremo performances I had wondered a bit as to how they would present themselves in respect to appearance now having moved towards a somewhat younger music genre – but I could immediately relax as in front of us we had three guys all modestly dressed in black tuxes from top-to-toe and looking their very normal handsome selves. No fancy haute couture outfits or odd hair styles… just a slight indication of their individual personalities hence with Piero in a very elegant and well fit tux with a string of black sequins on the lapels topped with a black flower. Ignazio wore a very classic tux with no frills while Gianluca sported a bolero-like short jacket over a transparent black tee and some sparkling sequin clad boots. They looked stunning! Being a huge Canale 5 production no corners had been cut – and on the stage we found a 54-piece symphony orchestra and some 40-persons ditto choir – all under the direction of the great maestro Marcello Rota. I wondered what had happened to Gianpiero Grani though – I didn’t spot him anywhere? The stage was colorfully lit up and decorated in bright yellow and red while all performances were accompanied by either video shows matching the themes or blinking light shows – all fine and suitable for a grandiose show without taking the focus too much from the guys. Luckily, we were spared half-naked ballet dancers splashing in pools… – you know what I mean. Personally, I prefer as simple a stage setting and lightshow as possible in order to fully enjoy the guys and their facials and antics while performing, but I do understand that for a TV show of this caliber you need that something extra.
The score from “The Gladiatores”
“Grande Amore”, the start
“Grande Amore”, continued
“La Vita”
Guest stars – a win-win situation.
At these shows no programs are available hence making it quite difficult for at least foreigners to figure out who the guest singers were as well as the names of the songs performed. As Daniela was seated a few rows behind me and I didn’t take notes, I had no-one near to ask and hence cannot fill you in on this. However, by now you have all probably watched and read so much about these shows that you have been able to acquaint yourselves with same to a certain degree. As a foreigner – and not the least not speaking nor understanding any Italian at all – I must likewise confess that the guest performances were those of least interest to me personally. That being said no doubt that the locals in the audience were more than happy to see and re-hear very beloved Italian artists and being able to sing along on the popular tunes from bygone days. Two Italian ladies seated next to me were indeed almost in ecstasy at times and stood up constantly swinging and swaying and apparently knowing each and every lyric. Therefore, it shall neither be forgotten that these TV shows are made for an Italian audience and hence it is only to be anticipated that foreigners shall not be enjoying the guest performances and skits in the same way. Personally, only two names were known to me, namely Gianna Nanini and Irama – both guest stars from last year’s shows and hence recognizable (last year they were total strangers to me as well). No bells rang in connection with anyone else. I couldn’t avoid paying attention to especially Gianna Nanini though as not only was she the first guest star of the evening, but she was likewise granted a rather long stage time as first she sang a duet with each of the guys, then one together with all three only to return later in the show to have a solo entirely on her own. I must confess that her voice is not exactly my cup of tea nor her genre, but I have learned that she has been backing and standing up for the guys from their early days and hence is a very good personal friend. Therefore maybe a form of gratitude and thank you?
Surprisingly Irama was, however, only few minutes on stage joining the guys in “Saturno e Venere” from their joined venture on the guys’ newest “Ad Astra” album. They seemed to enjoy the company of each other very much. Of the other guest stars I paid special attention to the classic soprano Nina Solodovnikova who duetted with Piero in the aria “Libiom de Lieti Calici”. It is always a pleasure to watch Piero sing with a pro opera singer – no difference this time. And it is so sweet when he attempts a few dance steps with them. Piero’s smile was, however, even broader following a presentation of “Non Piangere Liu” from Turandot by Puccini together with five pro opera singers. No doubt he enjoyed this performance thoroughly himself as he couldn’t avoid showing his happiness following the very last strophe loosening his otherwise very concentrated face up into a giant wall-to-wall smile. Actor Beppe Fionello was likewise totally unknown to me and I didn’t understand a word of his speech delivered from the far end of the Arena apart from the word “Morricone”. This lead, however, to the guys entering the audience to the tune of “Here’s to You” and a very sweet moment in which both Piero and Gianluca found their moms and gave them a loving hug and kiss. This is so special for IL VOLO – I don’t believe I have ever experienced any other artists unfolding such a love and affection in front of a live audience – it is truly sweet and goes right to heart. Following Beppe joined the guys on stage and continued his long speech. He caught my attention at the end though when apparently he was asking the guys to present themselves à la James Bond (007). It was hilarious and I loved their little performances – Gianluca standing out with a very sexy voice followed by a smog blink and smile. Later I have learned that Beppe was speaking of films and recited numerous legendary film quotes. As said, none of the other guest artists caught my particular attention hence I am not going to review these further. This leads me, however, to emphasize the fact that the guest concept does indeed work very well for foreigners as well and should be regarded as a “value added bonus”. Not only does it let us experience the guys in new genres and unexpected connections while at the same time we get a full normal IL VOLO concert due to the extended duration of the show from 2 to 3½ hrs. Hence it is a true “win-win situation” for everyone!
“Volare”, Ignazio leads
“Volare”, Gianluca leads
“Volare” – the audience
The red thread.
To link the show together was popular TV-hostess Frederica Panicucci from Canale 5, who was the hostess of the two shows last year but, apparently, this year only present on our night. To put emphasis on the timeline for various tunes to follow she brought various props on stage such as an outdated tape cassette player, an old-fashioned transportable CD-player and not the least a huge jukebox. Among others she used the jukebox to introduce the ever so popular Bel Canto song “Volare”. Being a lady of years it was a bit strange to realize that our three guys were far from born or in mind when my friends and I spent our evenings at the local Milkbar listening to the jukebox as the most natural thing – still I loved Ignazio’s comment that the jukebox was bygone days “Spotify-box”. That guy has humor. 😊
Tutti per uno – or is it Uno per tutti?
Apart from all the guest performances the guys did likewise present a long row of solos. Gianluca pampered us among others with an energetic version of the Elton John legendary tune “Rocket Man”, which he took to the audience, as well as the Beatles’ song “Eleanor Rigby” – a rather unusual choice with sad lyrics about loneliness but yet probably rather meaningful to especially Gianluca who embraces the more philosophical and dramatic universes. Ignazio was performing several to me unknown tunes but I enjoyed among others “La Notte” – by the Italian-Belgian singer/songwriter Salvatore Adamo – and not the least the good old Stevie Wonder tune “Higher Ground” that had me almost get up dancing with its groovy rhythm. I don’t recall any of Piero’s solos in particular as I found his duets with the invited opera guest singers of more interest – but no doubt he is now a master of this genre on an equal level and, once again, I found him as “the winner takes it all” when it comes to standing ovations. He was massively applauded each time he was singing his classical repertoire – alone or in duets.
“Rocketman”, Gianluca solo
“I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing”, Ignazio solo
“Eleanor Rigby”, Gianluca solo
Emotions.
The evening was also filled with many emotional moments… At a certain point Ignazio brought out a piece of paper and read out loud a letter he had written to his beloved deceased father. It was difficult to keep the tears back learning the content. He is so obviously still hurt and missing his dad immensely and oh boy, to bring that forth and share his vulnerability with the audience – and the entire world – shows a very courageous young man. He is to be commended. During the entire evening I did likewise witness from my choice seat that each and every one of the guys took time to sneak over to their families and friends in the corner for a hug or quick chat. I would have thought that any spare minute off stage would have been used to catch the breath or a drink of water before re-entering but apparently not IL VOLO. First I noticed Ignazio sprint up to his girlfriend to embrace and kiss her and sit next to her holding hands. Next was Piero, who apparently had invited his singing coach and with whom he sat down for a bit seriously chatting. Gianluca passed by twice to say hello to his father and not the least give his brother a huge hug and sit next to him for a bit. What can I say… these guys are awesome. I have debated forth and back with myself whether or not to mention the most emotional moment of the evening though as it was so personal… but yes, I have to share with you when I spotted Gianluca in tears on stage. It all happened right in front of us when he was setting course towards the stage extension by our seats singing “Capolavoro”. He was urging the audience to sing along when suddenly he stopped, closed his eyes and lowered his head… what was happening? First I thought he was about to fall ill or something, but then I detected him licking salty tears off his lips… OMG. Then I realized that obviously he had been overwhelmed by all the love and affection sent to him and his colleagues from the huge audience not being able to hold back his emotions. I believe it being happy tears. He got hold of himself in split seconds and continued singing through the tears – and shortly afterwards he returned to the front with a forceful jump and a smile once again urging the audience to sing along. The moment touched me strongly though and went straight to heart. I wanted to rush to the stage and hug him. I shall never forget this as it so clearly shows us that we are not just watching three robots on stage but rather three human beings of flesh and blood with genuine feelings and emotions – just like the rest of us. And as for Gianluca I can only applaud him for the courage to be himself on stage as well – sharing his sensitivity with his fans – what a fine young man!
Gianluca getting emotional, start
Gilanluca emotional, end
And then it was all over.
Everything good comes to an end – also IL VOLO concerts. Hence with one of the new “Ad Astra” tunes: “Framenti di Universo” – accompanied by big canon salutes of white confetti – the evening was concluded in an appropriate and festive manner. Left for the guys was only to bid everyone goodnight, and with their signature stage departure signal: “1-2-3 and a little jump by Ignazio” out and away they were. I must admit that I miss the Danish custom of bringing the artists back to stage one or several times by means of clapping, stamping and long standing ovations generally leading to one or more extra songs. It felt a bit “empty” just in one split second to go from flying high on their music to total silence, bright lights and everyone leaving the site. I would have appreciated to show them my appreciation and love in a more concrete way, but evidently this is not the way it is done here. Daniela and I did, however, have yet a very nice little extra experience as before leaving the Arena we succeeded in shaking hands and share a few words with Ercole Ginoble, Gianluca’s father. It was indeed great meeting him face to face in real life and not just on Facebook. Albeit way past midnight the night was still warm and inviting with the town square full of people and activities, so having waved goodbye to Daniela and her husband we gathered with other fans at one of the lively cafes for a nightcap to slowly land on our feet again and realize that our IL VOLO concert was in past tense now. A most anticipated event and a lovely evening had come to an end.
Gianluca waving good-bye
All 3 saying goodnight and out
I hope you have enjoyed following in my footsteps and send my warmest greetings. Love, Kirsten.
PS: All photos and videos are shot by me and my husband and hence are our private ones except the photo with Daniela her husband, me and my husband (from Daniela) and the one of me, Mariola and Jolanta (from Jolanta).
We have reached the last of the TUTTI PER UNO concerts broadcast by Canale 5.
An evening that promises to be full of Italian guests who will surely make all the people sing, because they have songs full of beautiful memories of periods of Italian music.
Unfortunately recently there has been a lot of degradation of Italian music, rap and trap are supported with incomprehensible lyrics because they are sung with a half-closed mouth with a “potato in the mouth” effect, it is difficult to understand what they are singing and with booming and boring music.
But let’s get to our beautiful concert.
I always thank Il Volo En Clase who manages to publish the entire episode on you tube!!
The preview begins with a very nice gag, already done in the second concert, but with a different ending.
The person in charge of checking people backstage at the Arena checks the list of guest singers and says that Il Volo isn’t there so Gianluca shows him the photo on the badge and says that it’s really the three of them. The man says he doesn’t recognize them and then Ignazio Piero and Gianluca place themselves exactly in the position in the photo.
Now the attendant recognizes them! 😂😂😂
The evening begins with the beautiful WHO WANTS TO LIVE FOREVER by Queen. Piero, Ignazio and Gianluca enter the seating aisles among the people happily filming with their cell phones.
A really strong start and the song is over, just a quick hello to everyone and immediately Il Volo begins the beautiful IO CHE NON VIVO by Pino Donaggio and Ignazio asks people to sing with them.
Piero greets all the people and Ignazio thanks them for the support received during the other two evenings and asks for applause for the orchestra and maestro Rota.
Gianluca says that they have reached the last episode of this journey into music and will celebrate with many guests.
Piero tries to say the names of the guests but is silenced by Ignazio, but they immediately say that they can already announce the first guest, Max Pezzali enters, author of many beautiful and catchy songs that people recall by singing.
NESSUN RIMPIANTO sung with Piero GLI ANNI sung with Ignazio ECCOTI sung with Gianluca
Piero says that singing Max Pezzali’s songs is a dream come true (his songs were sung by all the kids in the early 2000s), and Max says that for a singer-songwriter to hear his songs sung by voices like theirs, that It’s truly a dream come true.
Ignazio says that they grew up with his songs. (Max Pezzali was the leader of 883).
All together they sing COME MAI. 🥰
Piero says they got off to a great start, but Gianluca says someone is missing, a female figure with the three E’s: Elegance Etoile Eleonora Abbagnato. (She is a classical dancer, now directs the ballet of the Rome Opera, she was an etoile of the Paris Opera. She is Sicilian.)
Eleonora enters with two dancers and they perform a piece from Bizet’s Carmen. 👏👏
Eleonora will join Il Volo in some moments of the evening.
After the ballet Eleonora thanks the people of the Arena. Ignazio tells her that it is an honor to have her as a co-host and they will help each other.
A beautiful series of duets by our boys on truly special songs begins.
Gianluca and Ignazio begin with the beautiful CINQUE GIORNI by Michele Zarrillo. 🥰
Gianluca says it’s a song they sang when they were little and Ignazio says the audience will definitely sing with them.
I saw our friend Janet Dong filmed waving her arms to the beat of the music!! 😘
Gianluca and Piero follow with the timeless and beautiful MY WAY. 😍😍
And now a beautiful and classic duet between Ignazio and Piero: LA DONNA È MOBILE by Giuseppe Verdi.
Ignazio and Piero are too nice! 🥰🥰
But it doesn’t end here, after these beautiful three duets, they all come back together for the beautiful CARUSO by Dalla.🤩🤩🤩
A solo by Piero, I remind you that this concert was held on May 13th and in Italy it was Mother’s Day, therefore Piero dedicates this song to all mothers, in particular to his mother.
MAMMA song by Bixio. ❤️
While Piero sings, a group of little dancers perform the song. They are the children of the Rome Opera of which Eleonora Abbagnato is director who returns to the stage greeting her little pupils among whom there is also her daughter Julia. 🥰
Julia calls her mother and Eleonora arrives and they hug. Piero says how important parental support is for a child, then he asks Julia about a flaw in her mother and she says that she is a neat freak. 😂😍
The concert continues with a rock touch, an unexpected duet between Ignazio and Nek who you know well, they perform on SENZA PIETÀ brought to fame by Anna Oxa. 🤩🤩
It’s time for a solo by Gianluca, this song deeply touches my heart and Gianluca sings it splendidly.❤️
LA CURA by Battiato
Eleonora Abbagnato returns to the scene.
She proposes a nice game. Words flow on the scene and each of the guys must identify a word that corresponds to their character. Now Eleonora tells Piero to choose a word and he chooses PUNCTUALITY, he loves punctuality. Someone in the audience shouts “well done” and Ignazio immediately protests.
Eleonora asks for an example and suggests a concert, the evening is starting and where is he?
Piero replies that three hours before the concert he is already present and has already eaten his pasta (it is a ritual he always does before concerts of eating a plate of pasta). 🥰
Eleonora says that now there are 15 minutes left until the start and where is he?
Piero replies that he has already finished vocalizing, he hasn’t put on his jacket yet, he has already put on his in-ears… and Ignazio isn’t there. 😂😂
Eleonora says there are 5 minutes to go and Piero replies that he is putting on his jacket, he hears the hairdryer on in Gianluca’s dressing room next door and knows that he is getting ready, but Ignazio is not there. 😂😂
Eleonora asks Ignazio if it is true and he hesitates….Piero asks him if he wants to deny what is happening…..😁🤪
Eleonora confirms that she is like Piero, methodical in her commitments before the events and leaves the scene.
Piero goes back to the fact that Ignazio is never there and not to deny him, but Gianluca comes to Ignazio’s defense saying that he could sing even in his pajamas…..the people confirm and Ignazio asks Piero to let him have this moment of congratulations and applause. 😂😂😂👏👏👏
It’s time for a great guest, maestro Riccardo Cocciante, much loved in Italy for his songs but also in France and Europe, he wrote all the songs of the musical Notre Dame de Paris, wonderful songs of which he immediately proposes tonight duet with Piero IL TEMPO DELLE CATTEDRALI.😍😍
At the end Piero compliments and thanks Cocciante for the honor of being with them and then Ignazio asks him to sing one of his most famous songs written 50 years ago: BELLA SENZ’ANIMA.🤩
Cocciante is 78 years old and is much loved by the Italian public.
The concert continues with Il Volo performing the beautiful LONTANO DAGLI OCCHI by Sergio Endrigo. 🥰🥰🥰
Ignazio presents a very strange duet, and indeed it is, Piero wanted to duet with Big Mama, a singer-rapper who had success during the last Sanremo. She had a difficult life, bullied, marginalized, but she made her way with strength.
Piero and Big Mama propose NON PENSARE A ME, a beautiful workhorse song by Claudio Villa. 🤩🤩
Honestly Big Mama has a type of singing (rapper) that isn’t for me, but I really appreciated the duet to combine two such different types of music.
We return to the game to understand the personalities of Piero, Gianluca and Ignazio. Our boys call their “star” (Eleonora) onto the stage, dedicating a short song to her. It is Gianluca who has to choose a word and Ignazio is happy that it’s not his turn!
Gianluca chooses FRIENDSHIP.
Gianluca says that he chooses friendship because it is a feeling as important as love. Without friendship perhaps life has no meaning and Gianluca says he has few but good friends who he cares about. 🥰 Then he says that there are different types of friendship, that of adolescents of fun, of need and that of the heart.
Eleonora asks for an example for the friendship of need, she says that Gianluca is in the middle of the countryside and has a flat tire on the car and so she asks him who is calling.
Gianluca replies that he would call both of them, Ignazio and Piero.
Piero replies that he can call his friends from his town and not just the two of them! 😂 Gianluca says that the two of them are his friends anyway.
Piero replies that they certainly don’t walk with a jack in their hands and Ignazio tells him that he could call a mechanic or make a friend who is a tire dealer. 😂 Then between the two of them Gianluca chooses Piero.😉
Eleonora asks who she would call as a friend for fun and Gianluca replies “obviously Ignazio”! 😂
Piero immediately protests by saying that he has organized the best parties in recent years and Gianluca replies that they are well organised, but without Ignazio the parties are a disaster.😂
Eleonora asks who her best friend is. Both Piero and Gianluca are sure of the choice, but Gianluca says it is his brother Ernesto. ❤️ “You don’t choose brothers but when you find them they are perfect and they are the best friends.” 🥰😘
Eleonora confirms that she too calls her brothers when she needs it and therefore underlines the importance of family.
What I have attached is the video of the embrace between brothers that took place on the second evening while Il Volo was performing a song, which I had told you about. ❤️❤️
Gianluca remained on stage for the next duet.
Together with the beautiful and talented Rose Villain they perform YOUNG AND BEAUTIFUL, the beautiful song by Lana Del Ray. 😍😍
In the end Gianluca and Rose remember the Sanremo period, she too was in the competition and on the evening that the singers had to present other singers, Rose had presented Il Volo.🥰
Ignazio talks about feelings and how good he feels on stage, he talks about an artist who felt the stage wherever he was: Lucio Dalla. A duet begins, but this time it is virtual between Ignazio and Dalla on his beautiful song LA SERA DEI MIRACOLI. 🤩🤩
And we continue with a very touching moment, the beautiful HALLELUJAH by Cohen, masterfully performed by Il Volo. ❤️❤️❤️
From the royal box, comedian Enrico Brignano reads a beautiful presentation:
“Friends, friends, friends, Verona is the city of lovers, the most magical place in the world to celebrate love.
In the Arena then, one can only celebrate it with music.
But how many songs have the word AMORE (LOVE) in the title…. “LA STAGIONE DELL’AMORE (The season of love) of maestro Battiato” “QUESTO PICCOLO GRANDE AMORE (This little great love) of Claudio Baglioni” “AMORE DISPERATO (Desperate Love) of Nada” “THAT’S AMORE by Dean Martin” and I could fill pages and pages with other titles, and if I put them all together, a huge, giant, unique book would come out and it would be titled: GRANDE AMORE 😍😍😍
Piero presents Enrico Brignano on stage, a good comedian, naturally I hope to be able to make you understand his jokes.
He enters greeting everyone and then the strictly female choir, but they point out to him that there is also the male one. Say hello to the people of the Arena who call “Arenati” (stranded). 😂
Then Brignano greets Piero by name, greets Gianluca by name and then pretends not to remember the third name (Ignazio)…..😳
BRIGNANO= Hello, boy, wait, don’t help me…..hi Piero, hi Gianluca and hi Iginio…..Ilario…the third of Il Volo!!! 😂😂😂 What do they call you, a little help…
IGNAZIO= Ignazio!
BRIGNANO= Ignazio!! I had it here on the tip of my tongue…😂
IGNAZIO= Yes, I saw it…😂
BRIGNANO = (to the audience) Because they are a bit like the 7 dwarfs, you always forget the name of the last one.😂
And then guys I have always followed you since before you took flight (Volo) since you were at check in, 😂😂😂 and I’m here with great pleasure because I would like to talk about opera, I submitted it as a thesis to university (it’s not true), I went to school, compulsory school, because I’m I was obliged, otherwise I wouldn’t have done them, I’m telling the truth. 😂
However, what better place than this to talk about opera, the greatest have performed here….(Piero, Ignazio and Gianluca go out and leave the stage in Brignano)
You’re already tired, don’t move away, stay close, see you later.
You are Maestro Rota, what an honour, maestro, greetings to all of your relatives, even neighbors. 😁
I was saying that all the greatest performed here, with the most beautiful arias, here they did certain arias…..😳😂
But the opera is not only made up of arias, it is also made up of recitatives, that is, moments of story, and therefore the words are many and the music is shorter.
You maestro (Rota) knows, the recitative is long and the music is a little supportive, two, three instruments and the lyricists or librettists, make the performers say things like this: “Boom boom. Who is? It’s me ha ha ha!!” Such a random laugh, which has nothing to do with it, just to lighten things up. 😁
The recitative serves the story, but the audience, even the melomaniac, who are the melomaniac, is not an illness, sometimes one says: “Madonna, I’ve had a bad liver for two days, the doctor said I have a melomaniac.” (in Italy MELOMANE = melomaniac, it is often confused with the name of an illness) 😁😁
The melomaniac is passionate, fierce. Sometimes the arias are beautiful, but the recitative is disappointing… (Brignano sings) “I don’t want to disturb you. But come in. No, I couldn’t, no. Come on in, I told you to come in. Yes, I’ll come in!”
So the spectator (Brignano pretends to collapse bored on the spectator’s seat),😂 for heaven’s sake, the spectator enters standing like this (nicely upright) but after a while (Brignano makes the gesture which is eloquent….) 😂😂, then he finds an accommodation, perhaps he asks a woman: “Excuse me, but I have to put them somewhere.” 😂😂
But with all the love in the world.
But despite everything, opera (it’s like saying that opera is heavy) is our flagship. We in Italy are known for many things, the usual things: spaghetti, the bridge over the strait (the bridge over the Strait of Messina which is talked about a lot but is never built, it’s now a joke) 😂😂 and the opera that was born accidentally.
It’s true, opera didn’t exist, it hadn’t been invented yet.
In the sixteenth century, in Florence, the comrade of the Bardi (Florentine nobles) thought of inventing something to party with, play cards? No idea, said one: “Let’s revive the Greek tragedies. Yes!” 😳
And so they invented something mixed between words and music, except that of the Greek tragedy, so noble, the music was not left, only the Greek tragedy remained, in fact the protagonists all died.
I’m talking about the titles:
TRAVIATA MADAMA BUTTERFLY TOSCA the plot is always the same, let’s take La Boheme which for an example is easier.
Rodolfo and Mimì fall in love, they don’t have a lira and then in the third act she dies of consumption, because consumption is the official disease of opera, yes there are bronchitis, things like that, but consumption is better. Yes, someone stabs themselves, does harakiri like Madama Butterfly, someone throws themselves off Castel Sant’Angelo like Tosca, but consumption at the opera is their death. 😳😁😳😁
Rodolfo, unemployed, penniless, a bohemian, handsome in the flesh (tenors are often pot-bellied) is always represented even hungry, after her death, he despairs, with an empty stomach.
Now how long did it take me to tell you about this plot? Two minutes? In the original La Boheme it takes four acts and three and a half hours (again an eloquent gesture). 😂😂😂
I think that to bring new generations closer to opera we need to streamline the plots a bit.
So guys (Ignazio, Piero and Gianluca), give me a hand, let’s try to do a quick work, I need you who are so young, so fresh, eager to approach even young people of your age, give me a hand for this work, give me some manpower. 😂😂😂
I put myself here in this position, I do the recitatives and you do the arias, you put in the arias that you know and that perhaps seem more right to you, repertoire arias, arias already done by others, okay?
I need a lover between you three, who wants to be a lover? Rodolfo who does it?
PIERO= I am the sweetheart of the group.
BRIGNANO= I would need the sweetheart Mimì, which of you two wants to do it?
IGNAZIO= Me, Mimì with the goatee. 😂
BRIGNANO= Ok, Mimì makes it, a beautiful Mimì, “always liked mustachioed woman”, perfect, it’s fine. 😂
I have one role left: Alfredo, a friend, okay? (to Gianluca) I repeat: Rodolfo (Piero), Alfredo (Gianluca) Mimì (Ignazio). Let’s go. Music, let’s do it with our mouths, perfect.
It’s a night in May in Verona, Rodolfo and Alfredo go out and go “in tow” (a way of saying that they go looking for female company).
It’s late at night and the city is going to bed, but they aren’t!
GIANLUCA= (he sings)NESSUN DORMA
A timid applause starts and Brignano turns and says to the audience: “If you have to do it like this (the applause), save it for later.” 😂😂
Spontaneity is the first thing. 😂😂
So, walk walk, because in opera you always walk, Alfredo and Rodolfo arrive at a club, they see Mimì all shy, very shy. She is alone and the two offer her a drink…..what opera would you put on?
PIERO= (he sings)LIBIAM DE LIETI CALICI
BRIGNANO= Perfect!
Setting the opera in our times, to uninhibit himself, to loosen up, Rodolfo has a piece of cannabis in his pocket that a friend gave him….
GIANLUCA = That’s me.
BRIGNANO= Mimì notices them from afar and therefore….
IGNAZIO= (he sings) MADAMA BUTTERFLY, the song says: “One fine day we will see a wisp of smoke…..”
BRIGNANO= A fine wisp of smoke (referring to cannabis). 😂 You are truly great Mimì. 😂 Taking advantage of the situation, Rodolfo takes courage and goes to Mimì and tries to win her over…
PIERO= (he sings)VINCERÒ VINCERÒ(I will win)!!
BRIGNANO= What do you want to tell him… despite Rodolfo’s ardor, Mimì isn’t up for it.
IGNAZIO= (he sings)CASTA DIVA
BRIGNANO= Rodolfo, it didn’t go well for you. Mimì leaves, Rodolfo is defeated without a woman. Alfredo, the friend is disappointed, he has finished smoking, the two look at each other, hold hands because in friendship it happens….
GIANLUCA= Should I do it? 😁
BRIGNANO= And what do we sing in these times? 😳😳
PIERO= (he sings)AMAMI ALFREDO(Love me Alfredo)!!! 😂😂🤪
BRIGNANO= And they all lived happily ever after!! 👏👏👏👏
(I hope I have conveyed the moments well, it is not easy to translate a comic part.)
Thanks, thanks guys, Ignaziuccio bye, have a good life. (Kisses and hugs between Brignano and the guys.)
After the comic break, the concert continues with a beautiful solo by Piero: CORE NGRATO by Cordiferro. 🥰
Eleonora Abbagnato returns for the final part of the game. This time Ignazio chooses the word and his choice is ROCK.
ELEONORA= Why did you choose ROCK?
IGNAZIO= Because rock is a lifestyle, no….
ELEONORA= Explain well what you mean.
IGNAZIO= Rock means stone, rock, in life, however, I had to learn to be a rock, like many people I think.
ELEONORA= It’s true, the word rock is not only in music, it’s actually in life, how to deal with problems.
IGNAZIO= Absolutely, let’s say that my life has been a bit tough, and what about you?
ELEONORA= I was a rock at the age of 11 when I had to leave mum and dad in Sicily (she was admitted to the Paris Opera) and I was alone and at the time there were no cell phones, we used letters.
Now let’s see if you have a song where your rock soul comes out.
IGNAZIO= I have it…..but shall I sing it now??
ELEONORA= Of course!! Ladies and Gentlemen: Ignazio.
Ignazio goes wild singing IL MARE IMPETUOSO AL TRAMONTO by Zucchero on a poem by Ciampi. 🤩
Followed by a very beautiful and sweet Gianluca in VEDRAI VEDRAI by Tenco (Tenco is a great singer-songwriter who committed suicide on one of the Sanremo evenings on 01/27/67). 😍
The tribute to Tenco continues with another good guest, the singer Nina Zilli who performs with Il Volo: MI SONO INNAMORATA DI TE. 😍
Followed by the beautiful CIAO AMORE also by Tenco. 😍
This is a beautiful tribute to Tenco who passed away at the young age of 29. 🙏
Il Volo continues the concert with the beautiful NESSUN DORMA from Tosca. 🤩🤩🤩
A nice standing ovation for them.
Taken from their latest album Ad Astra, the beautiful CAPOLAVORO. 🥰🥰🥰
And now a very good Ignazio gives his all in a difficult Queen song: SHOW MUST GO ON. 😍
Piero continues with a tribute to Puccini, under a beautiful starry sky, inside the Arena of Verona, the beautiful E LUCEVAN LE STELLE from Tosca. 😍
Gianluca finishes the trio of solos with a crackling ROCKET MAN by Elton John. 😍
Eleonora Abbagnato returns and says that she always listens to their last CD Ad Astra and asks them to sing her a song.
Eleonora greets the public in the room and from home and takes her leave.
To end on a high note, Il Volo performs the beautiful OPERA. 🤩🤩🤩
The concert is over, the final confetti starts to the tune of AD ASTRA and the guys say goodbye to everyone, thank them and wish them goodnight.
But there is still a little surprise, one last song after the concert. Accompanied by maestro Riccardo Cocciante Il Volo sings the beautiful song BELLA, taken from Notre Dame De Paris by Cocciante. ❤️❤️❤️❤️
What can I tell you?
It was a success from every point of view. The home audience was once again top rated. Canale 5, proud of the result, published this press release which I translate for you:
Record ratings for the last appointment with “Il Volo Tutti per Uno”, absolute leader of the evening with 3 million viewers and over 20% share.
The show which featured the trio formed by: Piero Barone, Gianluca Ginoble and Ignazio Boschetto on the stage of the Verona Arena as protagonists together with many extraordinary guests from the world of music and entertainment.
Huge applause and positive comments everywhere from people who greatly appreciated Il Volo, even those who didn’t know it or didn’t follow it.
Even the newspapers published positive articles singing the praises of the three boys.
An article today was titled: “Il Volo: silent critics and snobs…..” as if to say that it silenced the malicious comments of the usual critics and snobs who didn’t appreciate them, and how it silenced them, with the demonstration of what they can do, sing very well, knowing how to host a program, welcoming and accommodating every type of guest and different types of music, being polite, well dressed, never over the top, in short, the best!! 🤩🤩🤩
And at the end of the television filming, a beautiful explosion of joy and well-deserved toasts.🎉🎉🍾🍾✨
And here we are at the second TUTTI PER UNO concert broadcast by Canale 5.
Almost the entire concert corresponds to the concert that I myself saw live in the Arena on May 11th.
What a thrill, seeing those moments again, the beautiful atmosphere and wonderful songs and then them…… the three of them: Gianluca, Ignazio and Piero, our three super artists so loved by the public. 😍😍😍
But let’s go straight to the television concert, where I will translate the speeches for you and so you will understand each situation better.
I thank Il Volo En Clase who once again reproduced the entire concert so that it is visible on YouTube 😘 (for us in Italy it is not visible)
The preview begins with Gianluca, Piero and Ignazio walking under the stands of the Arena to reach the stage and are stopped by a control officer who looks at the list and reads all the names of the various guest singers who will perform, but their three names are not there. Ignazio tells him to check if Il Volo is there and the man confirms that Il Volo is at the top of all the names and Piero confirms: “We are here for TUTTI PER UNO”.🤩
The concert begins.
The Arena seen from above is wonderful, full of people waiting for the three of them to start singing UN AMORE COSÌ GRANDE.(In reality that evening the concert began with the music of Il Gladiatore.) 😉
After Piero’s greetings to the public and viewers at home, Ignazio explains the meaning of TUTTI PER UNO and wishes you a good evening.
Gianluca wants to reveal the names of the guests but Ignazio and Piero tell him not to spoil, but Gianluca immediately introduces the first guest, the rock singer Gianna Nannini.
Gianna truly loves our boys and has always admired them from the beginning.
A medley of Gianna Nannini’s beautiful songs begins:
MERAVIGLIOSA CREATURA, sings with Piero
SEI NELL’ANIMA, sings with Ignazio
BELLO E IMPOSSIBILE, sings with Gianluca
The effect of the lights in the Arena and the people were fantastic, what a wonderful choir of voices, these songs are very well known here in Italy and I assure you that all the people in the Arena who knew them, sang at the top of their lungs, including me, magnificent and engaging! 🤩
PIERO= Gianna, music has no boundaries, apparently distant styles but which manage to come together.
GIANNA= Melody has no boundaries!
PIERO= You are unique, you are unique.
GIANLUCA= Last year you came to visit us and it was exciting, but coming back here…
GIANNA= You and I didn’t sing together last year.
GIANLUCA= You sang with Piero.
IGNAZIO= I didn’t sing with you either.
GIANLUCA= This year, however, we all wanted to sing with you and being here with you is always exciting.
GIANNA= I always enjoy singing with you, because you bring true Italian music to the world, (addressing the audience) this is the music, this is the music.
PIERO= You know Gianna, this is a magical night for us…..(way to introduce the next song they sing together, Gianna, Il Volo and the whole Arena)UN’ESTATE ITALIANA (Notti Magiche) song by Gianna Nannini written for the football world cup held in Italy in 1990. 🥰 ⚽
The boys present Federica Panicucci, the face of Canale 5 who already presented last year. Federica after the greetings and pleasantries says that she finds the boys well after a year but something has changed because she announces that Ignazio is getting married to Michelle and confirms that Michelle is a beautiful girl and that she was Miss Venezuela. 🥰
The solos begin.
Ignazio sings the beautiful ALMENO TU NELL’UNIVERSO. 🥰
Piero continues with the beautiful MATTINATA by Leoncavallo.
In the end Ignazio says that he was used to singing Mattinata in duet with Piero and now Piero sang it alone and behind the stage he thought “what a Caino” 🤪 (like saying what a traitor), but he liked it and in the end Ignazio says to Piero is proud of him who has been studying day by day for more than a year and the results can be felt.❤️
Gianluca comments “Che patatone (as if to say that Ignazio is very sweet). I’m happy for you too.” (turning to Piero) ❤️❤️
Gianluca continues with THE POWER OF LOVE song by Frankie Goes to Hollywood, wonderful, I always listened to it. 😍
Ignazio says that now there is a song that they haven’t sung for many years, words full of meaning for: LA VITA. 🤩
Federica Panicucci entertains Il Volo and the public by taking a “journey into music”.
She shows the boys a “cassette recorder, or cassette player” and asks if they know about it.
Gianluca asks if it’s a toaster. 😂
Piero says he knows it because his grandfather used a similar one. 😘
Federcia remembers that the ribbons were always twisted and fingers or pencils were used to unravel them. 🙄😁
Then Federica shows an old cassette with a song by Umberto Tozzi from 1978.
Umberto Tozzi enters and everyone sings the song TU.
At the end Ignazio congratulates Tozzi for his results and for 50 years of career and makes the audience sing the refrains of some very famous Tozzi songs: Ti Amo and Gloria.
Piero presents a young and talented soprano Nina Solodovnikova, together they will duet in LIBIAM DE’ LIETI CALICI. 🥂
Gianluca continues with the beautiful ELEANOR RIGBY of the Beatles.
At the beginning Gianluca explains the words of the song and says that Paul McCartney had invented those names in the song but a few years later visiting a cemetery he actually found a gravestone with the name Eleanor Rigby and a little further away one with the name Father McKenzie, just a coincidence ? 🙏
The beautiful CAPOLAVORO follows, (in reality that evening it was sung immediately after Il Gladiatore).
When the chorus starts and Gianluca is on the left of the stage, he is exactly in front of the seats where we were sitting and I must tell you that it was clear that he was very excited, hearing all the people singing the chorus he was overwhelmed with emotion and didn’t hold back a few tears, what a sweet and extraordinary boy. 😍❤️
Ignazio launches the advertisement and then resumes with L’IMMENSITÀ. 🥰
Federica Panicucci returns to the stage and this time offers the guys the CD player.
Gianluca says he used it often, put on headphones and listened to music.
The whole skit introduces a Negramaro song, as their front-man Giuliano Sangiorgi is the next guest and enters to sing SOLO PER TE in duet with Piero.
Personally, I don’t really like Sangiorgi’s type of singing, but the song is very beautiful and I really liked the unexpected duet. Even Sangiorgi, in the end, admits that he has never heard his song sung in an opera version and he really liked it. 🤩
Ignazio and Gianluca also return and Ignazio asks the Arena to sing choruses of famous Negramaro songs such as:
Usami, straziami Stringimi Ancora Estate
Then Piero presents the new song which will be sung in duet by Umberto Tozzi and Giuliano Sangiorgi: DONNA AMANTE MIA.
Now there is a moment full of feeling, Ignazio reads a letter he wrote and which he dedicates to his father. ❤️🙏
IGNAZIO= You know, there comes a point in life, especially for a guy like me, that you can only talk about some things when you reach a certain emotional maturity and today I feel like doing something, reading you a letter, a letter that I wrote and I wanted to read it to you. ❤️
“Life has taught us the difference between lack and absence. There is a thread so subtle that those who don’t experience it first-hand cannot understand it.
I often want to pick up the phone and call you:
-I found traffic on the highway….
-You know I managed to fix that locker in the room, the one that was broken….
-Today the weather sucks….
-You know, I’m getting married…..
But I can’t, you’re not there, you’re not there physically, I live on memories, I live on sensations.
Precisely for this reason I don’t want to tell you that I miss you, because the memories keep you alive, they keep you alive and you are still in my mind, in my heart, so I want to tell you that I absente you (you are absent and I take note of it).
I absente you because I am madly missing you, and I will stay in front of the school waiting for you dad…..with my pockets full of rocks and my heart full of you!”
Much emotion for Ignazio.😍
Enter Enrico Nigiotti, with whom Ignazio will do a duet singing a song by JovanottI, with very sweet words: LE TASCHE PIENE DI SASSI. ❤️🙏
At the end of the song Ignazio affectionately embraces Enrico Nigiotti and tells him that there was a great feeling with him right away and thanks him.
This is followed by a beautiful embrace full of affection between Ignazio, Piero and Gianluca. ❤️❤️❤️
All together now for the beautiful song by De Crescenzo: ANCORA.
This time Panicucci arrives with a juke box and all three remember this well, in fact Ignazio says that at the beginning when they were in Los Angeles they went to have breakfast in a place called MEL’S and there was this juke box which for them it was a vintage thing, in fact he calls it “boxed Spotify”, so they ask maestro Rota for a coin who kindly takes the joke and says goodbye to the Arena. Federica enters and explains how the juke box works with the token, and this is why it was called “la canzone più gettonata” (the song that had the most hits) and in 1964 the most popular single was NEL BLU DIPINTO DI BLU by Modugno. 🤩🤩🤩
At this point, from the royal box the actor Beppe Fiorello reads a passage dedicated to the sad story of Sacco and Vanzetti, the two Italians unjustly condemned to death. Since then their names have become the symbol of judicial errors and intolerance. Thanks to the film, their story became known everywhere and Morricone took care of the soundtrack.
HERE’S TO YOU begins and Gianluca, Piero and Ignazio singing in the audience.
Very sweet Piero and Gianluca who reach out and hug their mothers. ❤️❤️❤️
Beppe Fiorello joins Il Volo on stage. He is an actor (he is the brother of the Fiorello we already know) and being an actor, together with Il Volo, play a game that is inspired by various cinemas, because Beppe Fiorello says that, “cinema crystallizes things in history” and so do the “famous phrases” of cinema and being in a place like the Arena the first sentence that Beppe Fiorello utters….
B.FIORELLO= At my signal unleash hell. (phrase from Il Gladiatore)
Houston Houston, we have a problem. (phrase from Apollo 13)…..Ignazio pronounces it in Sicilian
Wax on, wax off. (Karate Kid quote)
I’ve seen things you humans can’t imagine. (Blade Runner quote)
My name is Bond, James Bond. (Phrase from 007)
Ignazio, Piero and Gianluca perform the phrase with their name, truly hilarious!!😂😂😂
Last sentence, B.Fiorello says that when Piero called him he asked him if he was taking part in their evening and B.Fiorello replied that he had to see the commitments already made and Piero replied: “I’ll make you an offer you can’t refuse.” (said in Sicilian dialect, it’s a phrase from The Godfather).
B.Fiorello quickly says some famous phrases: “You’re just talk and a badge.” (The Untouchables) “Are you talking to me? Are you talking to me?” (Taxi Driver) “Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get.” (Forrest Gump).
B.Fiorello concludes by saying that: “The words of cinema come out of the screen and enter us, making us protagonists of the greatest film of humanity, our life.”🤩
Great B. Fiorello, actor and director, and when he comes out they all sing PIOVE together. 🥰
We continue with the next guest Irama, with whom Il Volo performs SATURNO E VENERE taken from their latest album Ad Astra. Beautiful song born from a beautiful collaboration and great friendship with Irama! 😍😍😍😍
And finally here is the beautiful song from Il Gladiatore, the music is powerful, the scenes are fantastic, the choir and orchestra are magnificent and Gianluca, Piero and Ignazio are immense!!! NELLE TUE MANI (NOW WE ARE FREE) ❤️❤️❤️
Gianluca presents the next singer who will duet with him. She sings, plays, is also an actress, she was also in Sanremo: Clara.
Together they sing SAY SOMETHING. 😍😍
And now Piero pays homage to Puccini and sings an aria from Turandot: NON PIANGERE LIÙ.
Piero is accompanied by five opera singers who he will eventually present. A beautiful operatic moment arises and at the end there is a beautiful standing ovation.👏👏👏
Ignazio performs a solo on Adamo’s beautiful album, a song that my brothers always played when I was little: LA NOTTE. 😍
Gianna Nannini follows from the royal box with a solo: IO VOGLIO TE.
We resume with two artists who we met in Sanremo, and have become friends, Alessandro and Mario: I Santi Francesi. Together with Gianluca they sing WICKED GAME by Chris Isaac. 🤩
In the end Gianluca says that he found in them some nice people with whom he shared the same passion for music and they became friends.
The beauty of this concert is that in an instant you go from a pop song to a classical song, always beautiful music!!
Piero in a solo in Spanish: TORERO QUIERO SER.
But there is also soul and Ignazio remembers to let us listen to it: HIGHER GROUND by Stevie Wonder.
The always touchingNESSUN DORMA follows, all together.
Federica Panicucci returns for the final greetings and congratulates the boys and talks about the hard work to achieve great results and great successes, just like them. She elegantly announcesFRAMMENTI DI UNIVERSOand greets everyone. 🥰
On the beautiful notes of Ad Astra, the final greetings of Ignazio, Piero and Gianluca begin.
A great show!! 🤩🤩🤩❤️❤️❤️
As you know, I was present at this concert and I’ll tell you three moments that were not filmed by Canale 5 cameras.
As I have already told you, my husband and I were sitting on the far left looking at the stage and there on the first steps there were Torpedine, Barbara, Ercole, Ernesto, Michelle and other people from the staff or family, so I could see these three very well – sweet moments.
At a certain point, Gianluca, during a song, ran up the steps to hug his brother: adorable. 😍😍
Instead Ignazio took advantage of his moment of pause while Gianluca and Piero were singing solos and joined Michelle, what love. ❤️❤️
Piero then, once Mimì’s romance was over, ran to hug his singing teacher Fulvio Massa.
And these are the moments that make us understand the sensitivity, the affection, the respect that Gianluca, Ignazio and Piero have towards people. Simply adorable. ❤️❤️❤️
This time too, the concert had maximum television ratings. 🎉🎉
Many articles now, after the second concert, talk about the success of the audience and how much people love Il Volo.
Il Volo published this thank you with these words that I translate:
Thank you for the warmth and affection you showed us also in the second episode of Tutti Per Uno. ✨
