Tag Archives: Giacomo Rossi

IL VOLO TO STORIES and MORE by Daniela

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 the SKYTG24 channel during the STORIES 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.

CLICK HERE to view the video (you will need a VPN to view it)

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.

CLICK HERE to view the ANSA article

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.

IGNAZIO+MICHELLE AND MORE by Daniela

We left Ignazio and Michelle tenderly in love and with the promise of marriage, but how are things progressing between them?
I’m sure you are already aware of everything, but since not everyone has news on Facebook I want to update those who haven’t had any.
Things between them seem to be going swimmingly ❤️❤️❤️❤️
❤️❤️❤️ and then Michelle published this short video which I will translate for you:

Click Here to watch the Facebook reel

MICHELLE= Love??
IGNAZIO= My love!
MICHELLE= A good news!
IGNAZIO= What happened?
MICHELLE = I’ve chosen who will make my wedding dress!
IGNAZIO= Nooooo
MICHELLE= Yes, Elisabetta Garuffi (stylist) of Tosca (atelier in Bologna)
IGNAZIO= of Tosca!!!
MICHELLE= And I’m going now…
IGNAZIO= That is now, in this moment? …and I can’t come???
MICHELLE= You can’t, you can’t!
In the following video, published on Instagram by Tosca spose, at the beginning we see part of the video with Michelle with Ignazio and then continues with Michelle’s visit to the atelier.
What an emotion!!
Click Here to view the Instagram story
And this photo was posted by Michelle and there are these two special comments. ❤️❤️

MICHELLE = I didn’t imagine that a dress could excite so much! Thanks to Tosca Spose❤️
IGNAZIO= It’s all starting to take shape! I LOVE YOU
So their beautiful story is progressing well and the preparations for the wedding are also progressing, the date of which is not yet known but I assume it could be this summer…..I can already smell orange blossoms!!
And Ignazio also received great satisfaction:
Giacomo Rossi, a young Italian vocal coach who approached listening to Il Volo by reviewing the covers of Sanremo evening and saying that Il Volo deserved the first prize, declared that he liked them a lot and would review them again and therefore he did so by analyzing MY IMMORTAL that Ignazio sang during the TUTTI PER UNO (ALL FOR ONE) concerts in the Arena. What can I say, big compliments to Ignazio from Giacomo Rossi, but you can read for yourself by activating the subtitles.
For me, I am doubly proud of what Giacomo says, who although Italian did not know Il Volo well but only because of how it had always been presented by the Italian press, furthermore Giacomo Rossi’s usual genre of music is Heavy Metal and therefore a completely different genre from pop – lyrical of our boys, but still as a good and serious vocal coach he recognizes the skill and study of our boys.
Thanks Giacomo Rossi and many compliments to Ignazio. 👏👏👏

Truly beautiful compliments for Ignazio, but he is not the only one who has been the subject of review these days, in fact another Italian vocal coach: Salvatore Cilia, has reviewed Gianluca while he sings Capolavoro alone and here is the final result which I will translate for you!!
Gianluca in 2024 showed off vocal control above the average of Italian singers.
Starting from a half voice, in chest voice (M1), perfectly intoning every single sound.
To then masterfully connect it to a breath-controlled falsetto….
With a voice always forward.
Singing the G3 (a challenging note for a baritone) successively in the Mix without showing any vocal effort.
Maintaining perfect phrasing, changing the dynamics of the sound naturally and confidently…..
Without ever disconnecting the breath from the diaphragm.
Really a big difference compared to his beginnings when he was still looking for his vocal identity.
RATING 10 AND PRAISE
👏👏👏👏👏👏🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

Wow, what can I say, magnificent and well-deserved review for Gianluca. 👏👏👏
I believe that this is also one of the immediate effects of Sanremo, the greater attention of Italian vocal coaches and I must say that their reviews are beautiful!!
Meanwhile, the release date of the new AD ASTRA CD is approaching and Piero, Ignazio and Gianluca showed us that they are busy signing autographs for the new album.
Click Here to view the Facebook video
We hope that sales are high and above all that people like the album, there is a lot of expectation.
The newspapers that published numerous articles and interviews on Il Volo during the Sanremo period continue to publish new interviews and I would like to point out that of the weekly GRAZIA which dedicated its front page to Il Volo.
I’ll translate the interview for you.
Even the radios frequently broadcast Capolavoro!

Click Here for the Grazia newspaper article

IL VOLO:  Music unites us. Every day we work to be a trio.
Protagonists of the digital cover of Grazia, Piero, Ignazio and Gianluca told us about the 15 years of their career, from the luck of the first meeting to the daily work to keep the trio together.
They met as little more than children and today the three guys from Il Volo, Piero Barone, 30, Ignazio Boschetto, 29, and Gianluca Ginoble, 29, celebrate their 15 years of artistic collaboration. It was 2009 when they presented themselves as soloists at the singing talent show for children hosted by Antonella Clerici Ti lascio una canzone on Rai Uno. They didn’t know each other, but the program’s authors thought that a trio of talented little tenors like them could work. And that was their luck.
After the rumors of the last few days that they were in crisis, we met them to create this digital cover and they told us how to live in a trio having different personalities.
The three musicians were the only Italian artists invited by Quincy Jones to We are the World for Haiti in 2010, they sang in front of Pope Francis and sold millions of records. We saw them on stage during the last Sanremo Festival, a competition they won in 2015, and on March 29th they will present their first album of unreleased songs, entitled Ad Astra.
The World Tour will start at the end of April which will also take them to China and Japan, in May they will be protagonists of Tutti Per Uno on Canale 5, four evenings at the Verona Arena with numerous guests. Then from June to September they will be engaged in a 20-date tour in the most spectacular locations in Italy and in autumn they will perform in the main European capitals. When they are not on stage, they live in different places: Gianluca in Abruzzo, Piero divides his time between Bologna and Agrigento and Ignazio in Bologna. And connected via zoom from their respective homes, they tell their stories.
You started singing together at just over 14 years old and are still close, a rarity for a successful group. What’s your secret?
Ignazio: The passion for music and for our work.
Gianluca: Ours was an arranged marriage, like those that were used in the past, with the luck that we then truly fell in love. Because you can only continue if you feel love and passion for the people around you and if you really believe in the project. Aside from historical groups, many bands have actually broken up. We are different, but there is always dialogue between us. Each of us has our own personality: in difference and contrast there is growth.
Piero: When I walk down the street with my friends I often hear people whispering, “Look, it’s the guy from Volo”. Usually they don’t even remember our last name. But that’s right, it doesn’t matter, because our goal was and is to be the Volo trio. And every morning we work for this. Living together is different, requires commitment and involves a certain maturity. Aside from a few misunderstandings, when there is a lot of confidence we can tell each other frankly what we think. We have always been used to open dialogue and have never held grudges, we are satisfied with our path together and we will continue for many years in the future. I always say that, if one day I meet my soulmate, I already know the rules for a lasting relationship: respect, listening and compromise.
How would you describe yourself?
Ignazio: Piero is perspicacious, stubborn, ambitious and altruistic, all strengths that can also become flaws. Gianluca is the perfectionist of the group, very attentive to details and stubborn at industrial levels. All these characteristics unite us, because I am like that too, only for me I would add that I am a little touchy. We had the great fortune of recognizing our talents very early and of being in the same place, at the same time on that show. And after leaving the talent show we had a film life.
You have become very popular all over the world, including in China and Japan. What is the thing that struck you most about Japanese culture?
Ignazio: Great respect for people. During the first concert in Tokyo, on stage I said to Piero: “Look, they’re asleep”. Instead they had their eyes closed, absorbed by the music, and at the end of the song they applauded.”
Piero: We went to China in 2015 and sang for their New Year’s Eve, we went to Japan several times and that country changed me.
Gianluca: Abroad they really like our music. In Japan they also love a certain type of Italian elegance, like that of many artists who have made history, from Luciano Pavarotti to Frank Sinatra. Now Italian music is moving in opposite directions and even we, who are only 30 years old, have decided to take some risks by putting ourselves out there and trying to do what we have never done. In the last album there is a duet with Irama, one of the most beautiful pieces on the album, which contains all unreleased songs.
Where did the title Ad Astra come from?
Gianluca: As in the Latin saying “Per aspera ad astra”, through sacrifice you reach the stars and all your goals. It was a message we wanted to send to the younger ones. We also talk about life, how we have built the sense of the group in these 15 years of career and our personal growth.
Piero: Today we think that we can achieve a lot very easily and we think more about money. When I was little I don’t remember any numbers, our dream was to sing. I’m not saying that everyone should sacrifice themselves to reach a goal, but it’s right to know.
Have you always been so wise?
Ignazio: The education we received at home certainly helped us, but it was also the life we have led up to here, traveling and getting to know the world in its thousand facets, that made us grow faster.
Gianluca: We’re also a little crazy. We have been traveling since we were 14, we eat everything without problems, we have been to Rio De Janeiro at least 15 times, to America 50 times. At 30 we have already lived a hundred lives.
Piero: For this reason we could live anywhere and traveling has taught us to be open to other cultures. The traveler is always ready to accept what a place, a people, a culture offers you. But in the East I will struggle to eat jellyfish again: they are my terror when I dive into the water.
And now I propose this short video of Il Volo with Alexa (voice assistant), very nice, Ignazio Piero and Gianluca spoke with Alexa and now they listen to their messages recorded in all the Alexas in Italy.
For one day, anyone in Italy who has Alexa can listen to the voices of Ignazio, Piero and Gianluca directly in their home, I have Alexa and I did it, it was exciting. 🥰

Click Here to watch the Facebook reel

IGNAZIO= Alexa good morning.
ALEXA= Good morning, today is a truly incredible day, the three guys from Il Volo came to visit me in my cloudy sky.
I’ll leave the microphone to you, the stage is all yours!
IGNAZIO= Good morning everyone, we wanted to thank you for all the support and love you sent us during the festival.
PIERO= We came by to say hello and to tell you that our new Sanremo single, Capolavoro, is contained in our first new album of unreleased songs entitled AD ASTRA
GIANLUCA= And it will be released on March 29th. We can’t wait for you to listen to it. We’ll talk to you very soon, but in the meantime you can continue listening to Capolavoro.
ALEXA= Legendary!!
If you want to listen to it, ask me: Play Capolavoro!
Little thing, while yet another car advertisement was scrolling on TV, something caught my attention…..but of course, the background music is Capolavoro!!

And now this final gem, when Il Volo was at Iene, recorded this reading of comments on Il Volo. This video was published by Le Iene now and it is truly hilarious. I think Piero, Gianluca and Ignazio had no idea what they were supposed to read, because their reaction is really big laughter, and it’s nice to see them so self-deprecating. There’s a lot to laugh about!! 😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣
I translate for you!!

Click Here to see the Mediaset video

1) GIANLUCA= Great those of Il Volo who carry the name of Italy high in the world. My favorite is Ethan, but Damiano isn’t bad either…. (these are the names of two of Maneskin’s singers) 🤣🤣🤣
We also have Victoria (the female guitarist of Maneskin…. but it’s Ignazio), look how she has changed! 😂😂😂
PIERO= Our version of Victoria 😂🤣
2) IGNAZIO= One thing in four, with those of Il Volo…..can it be done or VOLO (flight) with the imagination?? 😂😂😂
No! Fly (in Italian: vola) away, no, no…..😂😂😂
3) PIERO= But since Il Volo is so popular abroad…..why do we want it back??🤣🤣🤣
We have an Italian passport!🤣🤣🤣
4) GIANLUCA=
Gianluca the handsome 😍
Piero the good 
🥰
Ignazio the bastard 
😱
When I see them I need the defibrillator.
 🤣😂🤣
PIERO= No, you need an ophthalmologist 😂🤣😂
5) PIERO= Can I get engaged to Il Volo?
In the sense that I get engaged to each of the three in turn? Are you jealous?
😍😂
IGNAZIO= I would be busy, so no. 😉
GIANLUCA= I’m here in the summer (in the sense that he’s available in the summer) 😂
PIERO= Me all year round. 🤣
6) I+P= My favorite band? IL Volo
My favorite writer? Fabio Volo (an Italian writer)
My biggest fear? The flight (Il volo in Italian)
Are you saying I have a problem?
PIERO= Yes. 😂
GIANLUCA= I would say yes.😂
7) IGNAZIO= Il Volo is about to disband…..?I want to hear a loud NO from the chest!
PIERO= This thing has come out that Il Volo is breaking up, I don’t know who spread it, but it’s not true. 🙄 Where are we going alone?  👏
IGNAZIO= I’m just telling you that the wind takes words away, the facts remain. The facts: we are together. 👏👏👏
GIANLUCA= And we are not facts. (play on the pun) 😂😂😂
8) GIANLUCA= But do you think Il Volo was annoyed by Angelina Mango’s victory? (lei è la vincitrice di Sanremo) In my opinion, yes! 😁😤😤
PIERO= He nods his head. 😁
IGNAZIO= We didn’t get angry because she won, but because someone else won and not us! 🤪😤
GIANLUCA= No it’s not true, it’s not true, it’s not true, because otherwise people think: “presumptuous, they always want to win” 😂😂
IGNAZIO= Yes, yes yes!! 😂
PIERO= But if you wanted to win…(to Gianluca)  😁
GIANLUCA= It’s not true! 🙄
IGNAZIO= We argue again, so then they say we broke up!! 😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣
There are many appointments in the next few days for Il Volo, intense days of commitments and therefore there will be many posts to read.
Stay with us, we will try to satisfy all your curiosities.
See you soon:
Daniela 🤗

Credit to owners of all photos and videos.