July 6:

It is the first time that Il Volo held a concert in Val d’Aosta which is a small region in the north, on the border with France and Switzerland.

The concert was held in the Bard Fort which is a beautiful fortified complex in the middle of the Alps, a typical example of a barrier fortress from the early 19th century.

The concert took place in the internal courtyard which has been used for the event. The performance of Il Volo opened the concert series.

Unique emotions. A great evening of music with Il Volo which opened the 2024 summer of Forte di Bard. A musical journey that celebrates 15 years of activity of the famous trio.

And here are some moments from the concert. (turn on subtitles)

CARUSO

CLICK HERE to view CARUSO

FRAMMENTI DI UNIVERSO

Finale

I remind you that after this concert, on July 9th, unfortunately and with immense pain, Barbara Vitali died.

On July 11th there was a concert in Catania and we talked about it in the post previous to this one.

July 9^th, a very sad date, Barbara Vitali is no longer with us, with her beloved boys.

“The show must go on” and we’ll continue with the chronology of the concerts.

July 13, concert in Palermo, the beautiful city full of wonderful monuments and the capital of Sicily.

The concert was held in the Falcone-Borsellino velodrome, the two magistrates killed by the mafia.

I immediately propose this beautiful video which contains many clips of the songs of the evening.

Before singing Hallelujah the boys made a beautiful dedication to Barbara and then sang for her with emotion.

I thank our friends Yukio and Kumico Kobayashi who were present at the concert in Palermo and recorded the video of the dedication to Barbara which I translate for all of you.

CLICK HERE to view the dedication

IGNAZIO= This is a special song and it is even more special for us, because in life the beautiful thing is to create relationships, friendships, real relationships, human relationships, and we had created one of these relationships with a wonderful person, a wonderful person who was our shadow for 15 years.

(applause). She was perhaps one of the five most important people in our lives outside of our family, who helped us grow, helped us become the men we are today.

PIERO= Her name was Barbara (applause) she traveled with us to every part of the world, without her we wouldn’t go anywhere. (applause) We ask you to turn on the flashes of your cell phones one at a time to create an atmosphere and perhaps go up there.

At the end of the song all the people stood up and gave a very long warm applause.

Other videos of the evening:

NESSUN DORMA

CLICK HERE to view NESSUN DORMA

CARUSO

SE

CLICK HERE to view SE

LA CURA  (Gianluca)  On a special note, before starting the song Gianluca spoke about the love and care that a person must have for the person they love. At the end of the speech he said that he is in love and that she was there.

So Gianluca is in love again! 😍

AMOR VIDA DE MI VIDA  (Piero)

SHOW MUST GO ON  (Ignazio)

MISERERE

CAPOLAVORO

A sweet moment during the concert.

This little girl who sings CAPOLAVORO is truly beautiful and this comment was written by her mother, Tsvetelina Rizzuto:

My wonderful daughter is a super fan of, as she calls them, “our boys”. Going on stage yesterday was a dream of hers and she was very emotional! We came from Bulgaria to see the concert in Palermo! It will remain a beautiful memory for both of us. 🥰

Ignazio asks the little girl who her favorite is and suggests he say Piero, the little girl nods.

Piero greets the little girl and tells her to go back to Santa Claus (Torpedine). 😂

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But the performances in Palermo are not over yet because on July 15th in Palermo Santa Rosalia, patron saint of Palermo, is celebrated.

This festival is deeply felt by the people of Palermo and this year marks the 400th celebration.

The story goes that the plague and the dark ages had invaded Palermo, there was pain, disease and famine.

Rosalia, a very young girl from Palermo who was martyred, will free Palermo from the plague.

It is a very long ceremony that takes place in several stages.

The statue of Santa Rosalia is carried along the main avenue starting from the Palazzo dei Normanni (Royal Palace) and reaches the Cathedral where Il Volo will perform singing two songs from the roof of the Cathedral.

They will sing NESSUN DORMA and CAPOLAVORO, but only Nessun Dorma will be filmed on local TV because, due to copyright issues, Il Volo cannot be recorded for more than three minutes. So we will only be able to see Capolavoro recorded from fan videos.

The procession will then continue to the Quattro Canti and then arrive on the seafront where there will be splendid fireworks.

300 thousand people were expected, it is a truly very special event.

Here is Il Volo during rehearsals:

CLICK HERE to view the rehearsal

The arrival of the boys at the Cathedral for the final performance.

The people present greet them and say: “You are a masterpiece.” 🤩

And here is the NESSUN DORMA in the evening, so many people are present.

But someone still recorded a nice video of CAPOLAVORO, hear the people singing along with Il Volo and the final applause.

And here’s a short fan video of Capolavoro. Look at how many cell phones turned to record the song.

CLICK HERE to view CAPOLAVORO

The Sicilian moment of Il Volo with the concerts in Catania, Palermo and the Santa Rosalia party ends here.

Our boys quickly return to Bologna, on July 15th there will be the funeral ceremony dedicated to Barbara 🙏❤️, Il Volo communicated it with these words:

For those who wish to say a final farewell to Barbara Vitali, the funeral will take place on Monday 15 July with a Holy Mass which will be celebrated at 11.30 am at the Basilica of Santa Maria dei Servi – Strada Maggiore 43 Bologna, and at 4.00 pm with a Holy Mass. Mass at the Parish of Santa Maria Villiana hamlet. Gaggio Montano.

The Bologna newspaper IL RESTO DEL CARLINO published this article.

CLICK HERE to view the IL RESTO DEL CARLINO article

Il Volo at Barbara Vitali’s funeral: “You were our second mother”

The funeral of the 54-year-old manager who died in an accident in Gaggio Montano: the Basilica of Santa Maria dei Servi in Bologna was packed. The coffin was carried by relatives and friends united in grief. The singers also spoke to remember their collaborator and friend.

Bologna, 15 July 2024 – A day of condolence for the numerous people who gathered this morning at 11.30 to say a final sad farewell to Barbara Vitali, inside the Basilica of Santa Maria dei Servi, in Strada Maggiore.

The coffin is surrounded by family and friends of the 54-year-old, historic collaborator of the tenor trio Il Volo, who died on Tuesday 9 July at Sant’Orsola due to serious injuries sustained in a car accident that occurred two days earlier in the Gaggio Montano area.

Inside the Basilica the coffin was carried by relatives and friends united in grief over the passing of their loved one. The tears of the emotional eyes of those who came to the commemoration are hidden inside the dark sunglasses and the hugs are more of pain than anything else. And so the Basilica became the frame and mourning box for those present at the funeral.

The arrival of the coffin inside the small square was followed by that of the guys from Il Volo and Michele Torpedine, the manager of the three singers and friend of Barbara.

The singer Nina Zilli also brought her greetings to Vitali.

During the ceremony, we were moved by the memory of Gianluca, Ignazio and Piero, the three tenors of Il Volo, who paid tribute to Barbara with their voices, singing during the ceremony and then speaking. “Our second mother and she made us the men we are today. Events that remind us how ephemeral and precious life is. There are no words to describe our pain”, says Gianluca Ginoble, tenor of Il Volo, during the funeral. Even more moved was Ignazio Boschetto, part of the trio, who told some anecdotes about Barbara and remembered “her contagious smile”.

Piero Barone, of the trio, also described Vitali from the microphone: “Barbara is the only person who could have written a book about us perfectly. She demonstrated to us the seriousness of the work and what it means to dedicate yourself to your passion. Thanks to your father Gianni for making her the woman she was.” The head-on collision last Tuesday also caused the death of the driver of the other car, 49-year-old Pietro Bervicato from Cremona. Vitali, on the other hand, who turned 54 last June 13th, had been at Sant’Orsola since the late evening of Sunday July 7th when his Fiat 500x was involved in a dramatic accident on the ss64 Porrettana in Gaggio Montano. Following this, at 4pm, there will be a second mass in his area of origin, the Apennines, in the church of Santa Maria Villiana in Gaggio.

IL RESTO DEL CARLINO also filmed the moment in which Piero, Gianluca and Ignazio said some words in memory of Barbara.

PIERO= How she met us, how she loved us, no one.
Barbara showed us the seriousness in work, what it means to dedicate your life 360 degrees to what you do, with passion.
A little while ago the priest was reading the questions that are asked at the end of life: have you loved? She knew how to love.❤️

GIANLUCA= How ephemeral life is and how precious it is to enjoy every moment with the people we love, and that’s what we did with Barbara in 15 years of our life, she was our second mother, she accompanied us in all the moments our travels, made us grow artistically, personally, made us, I can say, the men we have become today.

Maybe it’s a natural process, you have to accept it, but it’s the hardest thing especially when you know the pain at such a young age. There are no words to describe the pain. ❤️

IGNAZIO= I don’t want to say that this loss is the worst, but I can tell you that I feel the same way. Because as Gianluca said in those 15 years I spent more time with Barbara than with my family. We shared joys and sorrows and unfortunately, due to my personality, I can’t remember Barbara without a smile, I don’t know, I imagine her now telling me: 

“When you go to drink a spritz, get one for me too”.

I want to remember her so. ❤️

Il Volo sung Panis Angelicus during the mass for their Barbara.

The man who hugs Ignazio outside the church is Barbara’s elderly father, her mother was not present, she is not well.

Barbara was an only child.

 

There are no words, just a lot of sadness.

R.I.P. Barbara 🙏❤️

CLICK HERE to view Kumico’s short video

 

Credit to owners of all photos and videos.