Every year, the Abruzzo newspaper IL Centro elects its “Person of the Year,” and this year, the citizens voted and elected our Gianluca Ginoble!
Luca Telese conducted a very interesting interview, which I’m translating for you.
Gianluca Ginoble talks about himself: “I’m Flying like Dean Martin.”
The Director’s interview with the singer of Il Volo: inspired by grandfather Ernesto, from Roseto to the world thanks to bel canto.
Where do we start?
“I want to tell you something, before any other considerations. We are three eclectic performers, we sing any genre as long as it’s good music and we like it. But…”
What?
“There’s only one melody, musically, that allows you to speak to everyone, all over the world.”
Really?
“Let me explain. There’s only one melody if you want to make music, if you’re Italian, if you want to be consistent with your history, and if you want to be successful abroad.”
Which one?
“Art alone holds all these threads together. It’s an ancient art, but one in which everyone recognizes us—we Italians, I mean—as masters, a language that still speaks to millions of people, and which is inextricably linked to our culture: I’m talking—obviously—about bel canto.”
This actually seems like a portrait of Il Volo. It’s your history, an important part of your repertoire. Are you sure it applies to everyone?
“No, I’m not necessarily talking about Il Volo. You see, we’ve sung and continue to sing everywhere, in five different languages. Our repertoire spans themes, genres, and obviously eras.”
Explain further.
“We’ve sung to the most diverse audiences. But audiences recognize us as ambassadors of this music.”
Is there a figure from the past who inspires you?
“In another era, I would have felt close to Dean Martin: a great man from Abruzzo, but also a profoundly international artist.”
Explain to me why you think opera speaks to people who know nothing about our country, who don’t speak our language, who know nothing of those operas.
“I wish you could see the same faces I see from the stage, in the audience, when we sing an aria like Nessun Dorma.”
Try to describe it. It’s beautiful if you can.
“Nessun Dorma is more than an aria. It’s more than a success or a famous hit: it’s a journey. Starting from Turandot, and a night in Beijing, emerging in a theater, and ending up walking, led by Puccini, along the paths that lead to a dream. A magic, an emotion everyone can relate to.”
Evocative.
“When I see those enchanted faces at our concerts, listening to the most famous melody in the history of opera, I understand that we’re not giving people something they need to know or learn, but that we’re giving them back something that’s already inside them.”
What?
“A music that’s a century old, but which is actually timeless and ageless.”
And when you sing Puccini, do you see on people’s faces that this ritual is being celebrated?
“Yes. We all have an enchanted story within us, but no one can reach it except through dreams. It’s wonderful to know that you’re the one making it possible. That’s why I can sing Nessun Dorma, a thousand times, in a hundred different stages, but it’s always as if it were the first time for me.”
But is bel canto still alive in the present time? Or is it a luminous but dead language, like Latin and Ancient Greek?
“Are you kidding? Schools and conservatories are full of Anglo-Saxons, South Americans, and even many Koreans and Japanese who study, even with great effort, our language and our music so they can sing in Italian.”
Is this what gives you the most satisfaction when you perform with Il Volo? The emotion of universality?
“Yes, I admit it. For me, performing this repertoire means never betraying who we Italians are.”
In what sense?
“It means paying homage to something we inherited from our masters as a gift, and that we must pass on to those who come after us as a legacy.”
Gianluca Ginoble, a baritone voice between two tenors in the global lyrical trio Il Volo. Gianluca is thirty years old: he has the face of an eternal boy that could be stolen from Peter Pan, but he displays the maturity of a wise highlander: refined vocabulary, omnivorous curiosity, a ravenous passion for literature. It’s as if in its fifteen years of activity, the most famous Italian group in the world has lived, as the android from Blade Runner says of himself: “I burned the candle of life from both ends.” It’s as if behind Gianluca’s smile (proud Abruzzese by birth but cosmopolitan by experience and education) there was something more mysterious: I found myself imagining a portrait of Dorian Gray hidden in some attic of his birthplace in Roseto degli Abruzzi. That’s why it wasn’t easy for me to write this interview, which we did in installments. You always learn something from those who travel through different worlds at the speed of light.
You learn in a flash: but then it takes much longer to understand everything. In these lines—almost without realizing it—we talk about national identity, education, values, and, of course, music. This interview, full of complex lives and stories, is the end-of-year gift I want to give to the readers of the Center. (Center is the name of the newspaper.)
Gianluca, one day—in a public debate—your father, Ercole, moved the audience by telling how, while you tour the world, you never stop promoting Abruzzo.
(He smiles) “It’s true. It’s a matter of principle for me. One evening, at the Circus in New York, Woody Allen meets us and asks, ‘Where are you from?’ And my classmates, who never have these problems, reply, ‘Sicily!’”
And you?
“I always have to be resourceful, depending on who I’m talking to.”
In what sense?
“Woody Allen is a cultured man: when I say ‘Abruzzo’ to him, he’s almost disappointed; he suffers from not knowing where to place it. So, I say, ‘Near Rome.’ And he says, ‘Ah…’ But he’s perplexed; something’s missing.”
Have you given up?
“No! Never. I’ve played my last card.”
Do you have a last card to geolocate yourself?
“Of course. He asked, ‘Where is it?’ I replied, ‘In the land of Montepulciano d’Abruzzo.’ And he immediately smiled at me: ‘Wow!’”
Miracle.
“Think about it. Winemaking is replacing geography. There’s a part of America that imagines Tuscany as a fine winery. For some, we’re just a wine by the glass, but we’re there.”
Ha ha ha.
“In dramatic cases, finally, I also have a last resort, you know?”
Which one?
“Cinema: for a younger audience.”
What do you mean?
“Where is Abruzzo? Answer: ‘In front of Game of Thrones.’ But don’t write that, it makes me suffer.”
Let’s start with the astonishing success of Il Volo: wherever you go, the theaters are full.
(He laughs) “For now, yes.”
Why do you say that?
“You see, a lot has changed in recent years. My friends, Piero and Ignazio, and I realize that part of our audience has grown up with us: today, on average, they’re in their forties. In South America, fortunately, there are also many thirty-year-olds. We go there often.”
Guys who know everything about you. You’re stars.
“If that’s the case, it’s also thanks to those who came before us: abroad, Nessun Dorma is by Luciano Pavarotti, just as Con te partirò is by Andrea Bocelli, and Bohemian Rhapsody is by Freddy Mercury.”
Give me a parameter.
“We did a concert with Bocelli in the Vatican, which aired on Disney Plus, and had 100 million views.”
It’s scary. But you managed to get Venditti to speak Abruzzese, there’s proof.
“No, there’s a backstory there. Antonello’s partner is from Francavilla.” (A city in Abruzzo)
And when you were with him, you took out your phone.
“Antonello does it all by himself and starts reciting: ‘Ass up, Gianlu! Don’t give a damn, you fella!’” (words in the Abruzzese dialect)
You even mentioned Abruzzo to Barbara Streisand!
“Oh, she’s a sure thing. I’ve enlisted her among my fans. But do you want to know the real secret?”
Of course.
“Except when we’re in concert, I never listen to or sing opera.”
You were born in February 1995, in Roseto degli Abruzzi.
“I grew up here: in Montepagano, a beautiful hamlet of Roseto. As a child, I played in the village pine forest.”
It seems like a century ago.
“I feel great nostalgia for the Abruzzo of my childhood: because everything has remained as it was, except me. I’m the one who left.”
Like the migrants of the turn of the century.
“But I was alone.”
And yet you’re very attached to your coming-of-age story.
“Because I always come home. Except physically, I’m convinced that all artists remain children: Pueri aeterni.” (it’s written in Latin and means eternal children)
It’s evocative, but who knows if it’s true.
“In my case, yes. The explanation is simple. If you stop being amazed, you can’t play anymore.”
Who influenced your education, who introduced you to music?
“My paternal grandfather, Ernesto. He was the artistic soul of the family; he played with the village band.”
Is he still alive?
“In great shape. He’s 91 years old and has a great musical sensibility. His band instrument was the alto horn.”
And your father?
“Well, my father was everything in this adventure.”
What do you mean?
“A companion, a parent, an accomplice: from an amateur, he became one of the greatest connoisseurs of Italian pop music, and not just Italian.”
What did he do for you?
“The greatest gift imaginable. He gave up his adult job to follow me and help me in my work as a boy.”
But it all started with Grandpa Ginoble.
“Another pillar is my mother. She used to drive me to school, and along the way I would hum the tunes my grandfather had taught me. She also followed me and supported me, even when it seemed crazy.”
You’re in eighth grade when the earthquake that changes your destiny arrives.
“The great opportunity of my life brings with it my greatest regret: I formally only studied until eighth grade. From then on, I learned entirely by myself.”
Like Jimi Hendrix and Leonardo Da Vinci.
“Don’t make fun of me. It’s serious.”
What happened in the spring of 2009?
“I was 14, I was participating in a children’s talent show, ‘Ti lascio una canzone’. There I made my stage debut and met my future traveling companions, Ignazio and Piero.”
The sliding door of your life.
“I was on television while my peers watched me from home.”
The first to bring you together were director Roberto Cenci and the host, Antonella Clerici. Then it was producer Michele Torpedine, the man who discovered Zucchero, who had the idea of forming a stable group.
“He put us together based on the model of the three Tenors. Three ‘little tenorists,’ they said, even though I—as you know—am not a tenor.”
You were talented, witty, and easygoing: you burst onto the screen with incredible ease.
“I have controversial memories of that period. You leave as a perfectly normal child, and you come back with everyone applauding you, looking for you, making you the center of attention.”
A mechanism that can be dangerous, and which has crushed many in the history of entertainment.
“Today I have achieved the detachment necessary to protect myself. To never fall, I must always watch myself from the outside.”
And back then?
“I was naive. Potentially more fragile, but perhaps it was precisely this light-heartedness that helped me.”
How did you protect yourself?
“Everything seemed like a game to me. And the fact that there were three of us was crucial: if you can share such an all-encompassing experience with others, it doesn’t seem crazy.”
You were also the youngest.
“Piero is two years older than me. Ignazio is one. We all three had unusual childhoods and adolescents.”
Which, however, had its positive aspects.
“I thought: ‘I’m part of a minority that has enormous opportunities: traveling the world, learning languages…”
Absolutely true. Were you that clear-headed?
“No, everything was happening so quickly. Even my memories today are so compressed that I struggle to distinguish them, to date them exactly… After three months, we’re in Los Angeles signing a contract with Geffen Records, one of the most important American majors in the world. We’re told we’re the first Italians to do so.”
It was true.
“At that age, you’re a sponge; you learn English almost without realizing it. But then you have to go back to Roseto to take your middle school exams as a private student, and you go back. It’s like being on a roller coaster.”
And then back to the world of fairy tales.
“Recording our first album, leaving for South America with Tony Renis, building our first repertoire of Italian classics for concerts night after night.”
And then?
“Finding ourselves guests of Jay Leno on his Tonight Show.”
The sacred monster of American talk shows.
“Ha ha ha. Everyone was excited except us, who until a few days before hadn’t even known who he was.”
But you knew Gerard Butler.
“Yes, we met him in Oslo when we were special guests at the Nobel Peace Prize.”
Not to mention Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler of the rock band Aerosmith, who said of you, after your performance on the TV show American Idol, that you had touched the heart of America.
You grew up twice as fast as your peers.
“You know, I’m wondering about that now.”
Why?
“In terms of experiences, certainly. But being part of a group doesn’t mean discovering your true identity.”
Do you mean your formative experience wasn’t always about individual growth?
“No, think about it. Each of us was always 33% of what the world loved in Il Volo. And then…
What?
“It was like always being on a school trip, but without the school.”
Every kid’s dream.
“A land of toys, Collodi (he is the author of Pinocchio) would say. Imagine, while my beloved brother, Ernesto, was at school, I was singing for the Pope at the youth festival in Panama.”
And so, you have a unique memory of him.
“It’s the first time we sang with an altar as a stage. Just inches away from him.”
But the relationship with Pope Francis was a unique one, reiterated over time. In this case, I envy you.
“Something clicked, beyond the role-based relationship between a pontiff and artists.”
Two private meetings.
“We brought him a record with an Ave Maria recorded for the Pope. And he posted a photo of himself with our vinyl on Pontifex’s social media. We didn’t want to believe it: he liked us, he saw us as kids.”
And then you met him again.
“In 2022, we sang in the Vatican for World Family Day. I treasure a beautiful selfie.”
He was charismatic.
“Think about it. At that time, I was very skeptical; I didn’t feel tied to any religious idea. I was experiencing my own inner reflection, alone.”
And during World Family Day?
“When I saw him in that wheelchair, with the oxygen cannula in his nose, apparently weakened compared to when he was healthy, but almost euphoric: I realized his power. The charisma he exuded.”
Explain it.
“He communicated passion, energy. The exact opposite of his physical appearance. Stripped of his body, he overwhelmed you with the energy of his soul.”
You were lucky.
“This image of contrast that Bergoglio conveyed, I carry within me like a gift.”
Let’s return to the theme of the symbiotic relationship in Il Volo: you mentioned both the pros and cons.
“The greatness of what we built lies in the simplicity with which we lived our years between twenties and thirties.”
You had an ugly name at the beginning.
“We were born as a trio; the provisional name was: the Tryo.”
Then you draw on Domenico Modugno. (Volare = Il Volo)
“We needed a less descriptive, more metaphorical concept: flying was perfect as a tribute to Nel blu dipinto di blu.”
But…
“We couldn’t be a copy, clones. And so Volare became Il Volo. Simpler, more powerful.”
The first fairytale concert you remember?
“When we sang for Queen Rania of Jordan. I began to feel this magic that loved beyond us.”
I saw you have a curious photomontage in your gallery.
“There’s me—the one today—embracing myself as a child. Emotionally, I’m still that child.”
Actually, I sense that you feel older than your age.
“Because of the things I’ve done, perhaps. On an experiential level, as I told you, but not on an emotional and formative level. I’m starting to think that being an adult means becoming your own father and mother.”
So, very few succeed.
“In fact, there are plenty of people who think they’re adults but aren’t, even in our world. I can immediately recognize someone who seeks attention.”
Between 2011 and 2015, you did everything: two albums, singing the American national anthem in the most important baseball final, collaborating with the biggest stars. And then in Italy there was Sanremo. Almost a minor event.
“For us, however, it was a milestone. We had been there, but as guests, introduced by Clerici. Now they were coming back as adults. As competitors.”
And coming in first, with 39% of the votes.
“A unique, unrepeatable moment. Us on stage, and inside the Ariston everyone on their feet for the standing ovation.”
And you?
“I turned twenty in front of the cameras, in prime time.”
What’s it like to have won everything at 25?
“The answer I give you now is: the child in me is always there. I watch myself act. I can enjoy everything. But…”
What?
“Careers are long journeys. There are times when—incredibly—practicing gratitude is difficult.”
What do you mean?
“Days when I was always complaining about the things I didn’t have. Success? Yes, abroad, but not in Italy. Sanremo? Yeah, but we never won it. Asia? Let’s go to China, come on. And then we actually did all of this.”
Luckily, Piero and Ignazio are more pragmatic.
“Here, 33 percent is an advantage. When I believe in a project, I let it happen. Then the answers come, and I can be more at peace.”
The Beatles had George Martin, you have Michele Torpedine. Much more than a producer.
“He still has a gift today: vision. We all know that if we found ourselves together, it’s thanks to him. And if we’re still together, it’s always thanks to him.”
Tell me the first funny thing you remember about your relationship.
“We were kids, and he took us to the boutique of a very famous brand. He filled our walk-in closet with clothes and said, ‘Now you choose!’ We had no stylist. Just us and him.”
How does he treat you?
“Like three sons.”
And you?
“We all think we’ve lived Michele’s life.”
What do you mean?
“I remember, as if it were an episode of my own life, the story of Michele bringing the demo of Bocelli’s Miserere to Pavarotti, because he wanted to play it for him in Philadelphia. On an audio cassette.”
They still existed.
“The tape is rolling. They both listen, in silence. Michele is anxious.”
And then?
The recording ends and Pavarotti says, “I won’t sing it. He has to sing it.” Michele is taken aback. Pavarotti says, -”It’s one of the most beautiful voices I’ve ever heard.”- End.”
And what are you like as an artistic son?
“Michele and I are the only ones who have clashed.”
Why?
“In the role-playing game of our relationships, I’m the rebel, the black sheep.”
And him?
“He’s not afraid of confrontation. He always tells me: assert yourself. But in the end, before you decide, listen to me.”
Even in your trio, there are roles.
“I carve out the role of… creative. I plan ideas, the artistic part.”
And Piero?
“He’s a machine, always on the ball: we have to make this call, now, the contract must be closed under these conditions, immediately, we need to put together ten musicians… He’s the wizard of organization.”
And Ignazio?
“He’s the musical Art Director. Behind our sound, our choices, there’s his taste.”
A sticking point?
“We all three have the temperament of leaders. There was a time when each wanted to prevail. Tensions we’ve resolved over the years, with wisdom.”
You sound like Methuselah now.
“Imagine that in 2029—if I get there—I’ll be 33 years old together, and twenty years of career.”
Indeed.
“Do you realize we’re one of the longest-running Italian bands? We could beat Pooh.”
Oh my God, that’s impressive. Is it true that sooner or later you’ll try to do something solo?
“When you’ve achieved all the apparent goals, you feel like you have to find a deeper meaning.”
How?
“It’s not enough for me to just be a performer. This way I feel like I’m giving 60% of myself.”
Ouch! Doubts like this destroyed the Beatles, Pink Floyd, and Genesis.
(He smiles) “I want to give you a clear answer: Il Volo will never break up. Because of everything I’ve told you. We’re too close. Too supportive. Too many things unite us, for better or for worse.”
What do you share?
“I identify with Il Volo: I know it’s the same for Ignazio and Piero.”
But what is the most powerful bond between you?
“We’re proud of what we do. The three of us are unbeatable.”
Indeed.
“Believe me. There’s a chemistry that’s palpable. We’re incredibly powerful when we get on stage together. We feel it.”
There may have been shadows, too. I don’t believe in an idyll.
“True. Precisely for this reason, we know how much it costs to get along without clashing.”
So, imagine a parallel experience of yours that doesn’t challenge the group.
“We are not one. There comes a time when everyone comes to terms with themselves.”
And yours?
“It will be about exploring the masks I wear.”
Why are you an artist?
(He laughs) “Because I’ve been on stage since I was fourteen.”
And what do you want to understand now?
“When I strip myself of everything, who am I really? When you reach the end of every success, you feel the need for only one thing: the essential.”
What’s your relationship with your mother, Leonora?
“She’s my emotional archive. My great refuge. She knows how to listen to me like no other.”
Who have you taken most from?
“I can say I took from both sides.”
Even at school, they realized you had a beautiful voice.
“They asked me to sing; I’d stand behind the blackboard facing the wall.”
You’ve had analysis.
“A Lacanian method.”
And your brother?
“He’s the person I would have chosen if I had to find someone I could trust. He works with me. He’s six years younger than me, but sometimes he’s older than me.”
And your father?
“He saved my life twice. Imagine, the night of the avalanche I was supposed to be in Rigopiano. They even told me, ‘We’re coming to get you.’ My father got angry, looking at the sky: ‘You’re not going anywhere, okay? It’s going to snow.’ Angry.”
A premonition.
“He’s rarely this harsh. If I hadn’t listened to him, I would have died. We children are the extension of our parents.”
Your father agrees with this too.
“He’s completed his circle with me. Absolute solidarity. He experiences my success as if it were his own. And, luckily for him, with fewer doubts.”
The most beautiful memory your grandfather Ernesto passed on to you?
“The emotion of being welcomed into homes, when he toured the villages of Abruzzo with his band.”
Beautiful.
“One time, which he couldn’t forget, at a humble table, out of a sense of hospitality, they offered him the last piece of meat left. My grandfather thinks about it. But he takes it. It was 1954. This too, if only I had lived it.”
A steely ninety-year-old.
“Yesterday I went looking for him; he wasn’t home. I found him at the bar playing cards. Grandpa is always with me.”
When you travel the world.
“His voice accompanies me when he tells me: ‘I worked hard, even in the factory, in Switzerland, saving penny after penny to return to Roseto.’ This voice always helps me, in difficult times.”
Does your grandfather’s life lesson apply to you too?
“Yes. It reminds me that the best is yet to come.”
Gianluca and Luca Telese.
The newspaper’s paper masthead with the interview.
Gianluca also released a brief comment for Rete 8.
WOMAN’S VOICE = Your music takes Abruzzo to the whole world. Do you feel like an ambassador for Abruzzo in the world?
GIANLUCA = I’m very proud of my homeland, my roots, and I always make a point of mentioning Abruzzo and our land wherever I go, so I’m honored by this nomination, if I may say so. I must admit that with two Sicilians, it’s not easy, but I try to give my best.
WOMAN = And how is Abruzzo perceived around the world?
GIANLUCA = It’s certainly a land of great culture. In short, our history speaks for itself. Obviously, it also has a great musical and cultural culture, with D’Annunzio (poet and writer), but also great musicians like Ivan Graziani, and so many other great figures who have helped bring our land to fame, not only nationally but internationally. With Il Volo, we try to show that there’s so much more, especially me, of course, and I’m very proud of this.
WOMAN = Do you remember the first time you sang in public, that you took the microphone?
GIANLUCA = Yes, it was in church at my confirmation, so from there I somewhat overcome the barrier of shyness that had accompanied me for many years. But through that first performance, I managed to create a deep connection with the audience, and then I made it a profession, and today I can’t live without it.
WOMAN = Today, thanks to social media, there are so many emerging singers, a small shortcut to getting noticed. Do you believe in this path?
GIANLUCA = Let’s say that my beliefs are tied to my way of seeing things. We all have conflicting opinions on this matter. We certainly shouldn’t be slaves to this extreme production of music that ultimately lacks quality. However, there are many artists, there are voices that want to be heard, but there is a risk of consumerism that can in some way undermine the quality but also the mental health of many young people who are promised the world, when in reality success is achieved through sacrifice, through determination, even obsession, because excellence can only be achieved through sacrifice.
WOMAN = You’re thirty, you’ve been in the spotlight for many years, but what has success given you and what has it taken away from you, if it has taken anything away from you?
GIANLUCA = Perhaps identifying with the mask of success can be dangerous, especially when it happens at the age of 14. I am not my success, I am not the public, I have to try to build a strong personality that will allow me to be strong if I were to lose at any moment everything life has given me, certainly achieved with sacrifice, but I believe that beyond everything you have to really work on yourself to strengthen yourself as a person, then whatever comes… will come.
WOMAN = But when you’re in the car, stuck in traffic on the highway, what music do you listen to?
GIANLUCA = Lately Battiato, but also, say, Bruno Mars. I really listen to all kinds of music. I’m a music lover, especially Italian singer-songwriters, but also Bob Dylan, because it’s important to know all music, and everything comes from classical music. We know this. The scores are written in Italian, so we should be proud. Italians probably invented music!
Gianluca, as always, you amaze us and leave us speechless.
You are a cultured, refined, and kind man.
This award is a perfect fit for you; no one is a better ambassador for Abruzzo than you.
Congratulations, Gianluca, you are a special man!!
How proud we are to read the interviews made to our young men, especially today it is Gianluca’s turn who was interviewed by the magazine VDossier, a magazine that deals with volunteering, but also with good gestures, with people who do good, of positive things, as a reflection of many magazines that instead write only about negative things.
A nice interview that perhaps not all of you have read, here it is!
GIANLUCA GINOBLE: HOW TO BE AN EXAMPLE FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
The artist, with the Il Volo trio, is acclaimed on all continents. He never forgets his commitment and as soon as he can he takes refuge in his village and spends time with his family and grandfather.
The little boy who came to success almost by chance, for a television broadcast (“Ti lascio una canzone”, conducted by Antonella Clerici on Raiuno in 2009) today has become a mature man, despite being only 28 years old, responsible and profound.
An artist who, while treading the most prestigious stages around the world, appreciated by stars such as Barbra Streisand, Quincy Jones or Anastacia, accustomed to performing in front of the greats of the Earth or tens of thousands of people on all continents, continues to remain very attached to his village, in Montepagano di Roseto degli Abruzzi, where he continues to take refuge, to regenerate, to unwind as soon as international commitments allow him.
His name is Gianluca Ginoble and he is one of the three members of the Il Volo trio.
Baritone, as for vocal texture, unlike the other two, tenors, Ignazio Boschetto and Piero Barone, the singer from Abruzzo, has recently returned from a triumphant tour in South America.
In forty days, under the skilful direction of their historic manager Michele Torpedine (discoverer of Bocelli and Zucchero among others) they performed, among other cities, in Guatemala city, El Salvador, Bogota, Quito, Buenos Aires, San Paolo, Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, Brasilia, Porto Alegre, Mexico City, Panama.
Here is what Ginoble wrote on his social networks (over 700,000 followers on Instagram) to thank the Latin American public:
“Music has given meaning to my life. The goal has never been to desire and pursue ephemeral and fleeting concepts such as fame and success, but to do what makes me happy and serene and to express my essence. But to understand who we are we need to get to know each other, dig deep into our inner self, dialogue with ourselves daily to discover what our vocation is and persevere in the search for what we were born to do, always recognizing our potential and humbly our limits and with tenacity and ambition everything else will come by itself… Thank you for the love you have shown us every day since the beginning of this wonderful journey.”
Back from the tour, after a break of a few days for Easter, the Il Volo trio recorded the program “Uno Per Tutti” for Canale 5, at the Verona Arena, broadcast on the flagship Mediaset network, at the end of May.
VDossier interviewed him during his rest period.
“I’m in Montepagano, at grandfather Ernesto’s house,” he explains on the phone, “today I spent a day with him. I’m happy because I finally have some time to dedicate to my loved ones, to my friends.”
It is no coincidence that one of the most popular photos on Instagram is the one with his grandfather and has received almost 70,000 reactions worldwide with 1,400 comments. The one with Ed Sheeran, to give just one example, received “only” 53,000 hearts. And Ginoble, as a comment on the photo with Ernesto senior, writes:
“Do not neglect your grandparents, they are the greatest treasure in life.”
This strong bond with grandfather Ernesto honors him. Some things don’t change.
You, together with her two colleagues from the Il Volo trio, is an international star. Your recent tour in South America touched twenty cities in countries such as Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, which have a population almost similar to that of the whole of Europe. And, everywhere, you were greeted by huge and cheering crowds, as usual.
It was needed, after four years, it was really needed. Seeing the affection of such a distant audience, even culturally, and that appreciates everything we do, is always a nice gift.
And this demonstrates, once again, your maturity and professionalism because maintaining success for all these years is not easy and, perhaps, it wasn’t even so obvious at the beginning.
In the great performers that I admire, I have always tried to identify their great strength, and I wanted to inspire them a little, especially in the message to send, regardless of musical tastes which can be subjective. We must always recognize the success of the artists, everyone is always unique in what they do. Because, even if we at Il Volo didn’t invent anything new, we were the first singers of our age who brought this genre of music to stages around the world, which, historically, has always been interpreted by adults. I remember the first concerts well: the aspect that struck most of all, both the public and the critics, was seeing these three kids propose a repertoire of great love songs. The second step was to demonstrate that we were able to go further. Consolidating our first success, avoiding the risk of appearing and disappearing like one of the many meteors in the entertainment world, are the goals we have achieved and exceeded. We were able to count on an artistic choice managed in detail.
Credit to you, your manager, Michele Torpedine, and your families who have given you that security, that armor to face the world of the star system.
I’m not a parent, maybe one day it will happen, but the mistake I won’t make is to expect my child to follow the path I like. My father, Ercole, and my mother, Eleonora, have always given me advice. They have always passed on fundamental values to me: education, responsibility, seriousness. What I appreciated the most, however, is that they always supported me because they recognized that there was something in me that I wanted and could express. Unfortunately there are parents who, taken by their own self-centeredness, totally ignore the needs of their children, especially in art and culture.
You speak, you sing, you perform in front of thousands of people who see you as myths. Do you feel the weight of responsibility?
If you live everything spontaneously and naturally you don’t feel any weight, the secret is all here. Also to convey emotions it is important to maintain a child’s candor on the playground. Every evening there is a different audience even if you sing the same repertoire, you try to concentrate on the songs to be interpreted and on the message you want to send. I focus a lot on the lyrics, on the melody, every night I try to create a connection with the audience, as if it were always the first time.
In your opinion, does your music, your success have a civic role? If so, which one? Does the question of how your songs affect the lives of your fans arise, do you pose as a trio?
I believe that every artist has a great duty to be a positive example. How many times have charismatic characters influenced fans in a negative way? Mine, our aim, has always been to represent a correct point of reference for young people who, especially in adolescence, do not know who they are or what they want. The new god, for many, for too many, is definitely money, but they have no idea how to reach that goal. If you recognize who you are, even with the help of your family, it’s easier to have a peaceful life. We sing of love, of solid, lasting values. They seem ancient, obsolete concepts. But today it is as if the new generations had focused more on the body than on the soul. The goal, however, is not to lose sight of those values.
Today one of the problems of the young generations, all over the world, is that of inclusion. Which also means solidarity with others, with people most in difficulty, not just physical ones. How do you deal with it during your tours or in your daily life?
The aim is always to do good, to develop a certain universal love towards everyone, because you don’t know what battles your audience is facing. The only way I know is to live a peaceful and quiet life. Everyone is made in his own way and I believe that the real great diseases are indifference and wickedness.
You started singing as a child. Today, looking at that little one, what do you think helped him make the leap from a small city in the middle Adriatic, Roseto degli Abruzzi, indeed, Montepagano di Roseto degli Abruzzi, to the most important movie theaters in the world, from Madison Square Garden in New York down?
Sometimes I think about the past and I believe that what has helped me the most to achieve my successes has been fighting a certain insecurity and forming a self-esteem that has allowed me to recognize my limits, but also my potential. Being aware of one’s talent does not mean being presumptuous, on the contrary. Just because you get certain recognition is because you have awareness. It is a fundamental ingredient in everything we do. Always with humility. I believe that education and knowing how to deal with others is more important than talent. And above all, it is necessary to have a vision of the future. How many people, despite having a great talent, don’t know how to exploit it? Others burn out quickly because they can’t handle personal relationships or are caught up in a thousand distractions. Or worse, they behave irresponsibly like getting lost in alcohol or drugs. So, going back to your question, it was a complex job. Since I was ten years old I have developed a strong curiosity about everything that surrounds me, I always try to understand as best as possible how this world of art, music and entertainment works, I observe other colleagues and how they manage their own art. I asked, I asked, I always wondered, and my parents helped me. I trained and probably achieved my goals for this series of reasons.
The values of his family, starting with his grandfather Ernesto – who was also important in making his love of music and singing and who he continues to have by his side when he returns to Roseto – were the fundamental ones, which allowed him to have peaceful growth.
I believe that to live with great intensity we should also contemplate the negative moments of existence. In this period, and for many years now, I have been successful but I have to contemplate failure, so I live every day as if it were my last. Even thinking about the affections: I could lose my loved ones, I could lose my own life. In this way, contemplating these possibilities, without wishing them, of course, but knowing that they can happen, I live every moment as if it were the last. I enjoy every day, I am committed to making sure that I am always at the center of a fulfilling life.
You, also with your two colleagues Barone and Boschetto, are often personally involved in causes of solidarity. You have given, you have dispensed joy, serenity, to many people. How much did those experiences give you?
What does the smile of a child, the grateful gaze of a mother add to his life, full of successes, affections, satisfactions?
They are gestures of love even if you don’t actually know the people you meet. Giving without thinking of receiving anything in return, the happiness of a child, a mother, a father, makes your existence even more beautiful. This is the concept that I would like to send to everyone, especially boys and girls. There wouldn’t be wars if we all reasoned like this, we wouldn’t argue with our neighbor, because we’d finally be able to put pride, self-centeredness, our presumption aside. Unfortunately we live with this disease that wears us out. We arrive at the end of our life with great frustration because the gestures of love that make it unique and special are few. They allow us to be better people by helping others. There is nothing more beautiful.
Dear Gianluca, looking at you everyone can notice your external beauty, but knowing you, anyone can appreciate your every word, you are such a mature, profound young man, full of great values that have been given to you by your family.
Surely your gestures, your words, can be an example for today’s young people who, unfortunately, are attracted by ephemeral values and often forget their families.
You are great Gianluca, and we are proud of you. ❤
Gianluca is very different from Piero and Ignazio. He had a calm and peaceful childhood. He didn’t have the challenges that Ignazio had or the intense classical education that Piero had. No, Gianluca lived a very simple life. Perhaps that explains why Gianluca is a romantic. With him, everything is about passion! Actually, four passions! Family, Country, Music, Soccer! Not necessarily in that order! He takes his passion for Abruzzo around the world with him. On tour he always speaks about Abruzzo. He loves his country and, he wants others to love it too!
So, let’s begin Gianluca’s Story in a small town in Abruzzo…. Montepagano!
My name is Gianluca Ginoble. I was born on February 11, 1995, at the Atri hospital.
I am from the town of Montepagano, Abruzzo. To be precise, I grew up, in Montepagano, on a hill two hundred meters as the crow flies and ten minutes by road from the sea, and Roseto degli Abruzzi.
The accents are beautiful, the dialects are beautiful, but I can say that what I prefer is the Abruzzese? I am, very, proud to be from Abruzzo. I love everything about this region. And I like to bring Abruzzo around the world and keep it high.
I am right at the sea. I’m relaxing, I’m calm! There is a sea breeze and nothing else. It’s Thursday and I am practically alone on the beach. I’m fine, from God! I’m fine because I’m home.
When I come home, I relax and I am calm, as I cannot be anywhere else in the world. And now, I can say I’ve seen a lot of places in the world. Coming home to Abruzzo, I feel like I am on vacation. Montepagano is right on top of the hill facing the sea, it seems to look like a postcard. It is here that I can get away from everything and everyone and stay in peace. Montepagano is a perfect place, a kind of paradise, but what concerns me is I see Abruzzo “emptying.” The boys achieve a diploma and go to study in Bologna or farther. This is not new this is something that I have seen since I was a child.
My life as a child seems so far away. I remember, very, little of my childhood! It’s like twenty years have passed but, only five have passed. I’m not like Ignazio I was born and raised in Montepagano. I was traveling only with dreams. What made me dream? Music naturally.
I had a radio with a knob that turns to find the radio station. What am I looking for? The songs of Andrea Bocelli, my absolute idol. Or Domenico Modugno, or others of this kind. In the summer, I would take the radio along when I went with my friends in what we call la pinetina (the small pine forest), that is a park with wooden games and tables and with lots of green space. Like today I was looking for music, for songs that inspired me and made me dream. My friends would listen to my music but, they liked Eiffel 65 and music from the early 2000s, and so they would tell me, come on, change…! What is this? I liked modern genres, I listened to everything, but what I loved was something else.
In November 2000, when Gianluca was five and a half years old, his brother Ernesto was born.
I was five and a half years old, when I was starting to hum. A year later I started to get interested in Bocelli and Modugno.
So, Ernesto’s is in his cradle and he’s listening to me sing these melodies. The most beautiful thing I remember and, it is a memory that I have printed in my head is when Ernesto was big enough to come to the small pine forest too, I made him listen to these songs that my friends did not appreciate. We sat close together on the ground and I placed the radio on my legs, or I sat on the swing with the radio resting on the ground and we listened to music that was so unusual for our age. I told him my dreams. I do not think I’ve ever had this confidence with anyone, and even today, it’s like that with my brother. The result is Ernesto has a natural talent for music. He has something “musically speaking,” both when he strums the piano in the living room, and when he sings. Who knows…studying? Today I trust him as I do not trust anyone else. After an exhibition I go to him for his opinion. Ernesto, how did I sing? Did you like the performance? He answers, well, yes, maybe you’ve been a little waning there. Ernesto always understands and gives me his opinion. He has never studied music, he has never studied singing, but he always knows how to give me the right advice, the right vision. It’s like when we sing together: I play the melody and he immediately makes harmony. At his age, I did not do that. I think the radio did well by him.
As I grew older, I became more passionate about singing, including the great American classics, first of all Frank Sinatra.
I’ve never studied music, if I have to tell the truth, but the music at home has always been there. My grandfather Ernesto has been a musician since he was a boy. He played the contralto flugelhorn in the band of the town, he toured all of Abruzzo doing performances with the band and has always been a lover of the opera.
My father Ercole, studied music, played drums and sometimes he still does. Let’s say he’s more rock than grandfather!
Dad and mom realized that I had something special in my voice when I started to sing at the age of three or four years. But, as it has always been, they let things take their way without ever forcing me.
Gianluca’s grandfather was the first to think of bringing him closer to music. He had a classic taste, more “popular” to say, he is one of those gentlemen who fifty years ago listened to Luciano Tajoli, but he is also an opera lover.
So, around the age of eight or ten, I began to listen to classical music, opera, especially Luciano Pavarotti, and some genre of music from the Fifties to the Sixties.
I took the tape recorder and put the cassettes in, my parents told me, it seemed like I was immersing myself in those notes.
They tell me that, when I was three years old, I sang O Sole Mio in the town square in front of all the elderly gentlemen friends of my grandfather who, sitting around the bar table, were listening to this little boy with such a particular voice.
This was my first audience but, of course I don’t remember it. My grandfather wanted me to study music, he always told me: “Gianluca, study the piano, study an instrument.” I’ve never done it. It would be a dream to sit down on the piano and start playing and singing. Let’s say it’s one of my next goals: learning to play the piano.
While my grandfather made me listen to classical music, Pavarotti and music from the Fifties-Sixties, my father made me feel Fabrizio De Andrè, Francesco De Gregori, Giorgio Gaber, Antonello Venditti and, as I grew older, I became more passionate about singing, including the great American classics, first of all Frank Sinatra.
So, let’s say that as a child I had a beautiful musical culture. What was left of that period? The classical opera no, because today I do not listen to it, it is not part of me and, I do not feel it particularly mine. The only opera singer I keep listening to is Andrea Bocelli, but I have come to him by another road.
I never liked school. I was a lazy man and I’ve never been a great scholar. But in spite of it, I had good grades. I liked algebra in middle school. But most of all I had always been fascinated by languages: Spanish, French, English. I did not have a hard time studying them, I am naturally inclined to study languages. I remember that when we sang the first songs in English and Spanish, I was the one who took the least time to do the right phrase, with the right pronunciation, because I immediately feel the musicality of foreign languages. I contribute this to listening to Sinatra who had perfect pronunciation and I understood every single word of what he sang. It was a great way to learn the pronunciation and even the songs.
After middle school I did not choose to go to linguistic high school, it was only because I thought that with my work I would travel and, I would learn the languages directly.
In 2009, I enrolled in a classical high school as a privatist to study Greek, Latin and French translations. This is also difficult. I liked Greek more than Latin. Then unfortunately I had to stop in the second year, I could no longer continue because the work was too demanding.
Between the age of eleven and thirteen, Gianluca enjoyed playing soccer, long games with Pokemon cards and, and always music!
Football has always been a great passion of mine. This too, like music, is a family passion.”
My father is a big fan of Pescara, as is my grandfather. They were also big fans of Vialli, no matter which team he played on because he was a myth for my father. And because Vialli also had a name that appealed to both my father and mother, when I was born, they named me Gianluca Vialli. Let’s say that name aside, my father gave me a piece of football culture. I am a big fan of Roma football, before Il Volo, more so. I watched all the games, I did not miss one, and every time Totti beat a penalty, I covered my head with my arms and, if I heard the scream from the television, I screamed from home. But now there are work commitments and that prevents me from following my favorite team. Even now, despite the commitments, I continue to play football as soon as I can.
If I have any regrets about my school years, it’s that I never studied music when I was ten or eleven. But there is still time.
When I go back to Montepagano I always try to organize a game with old friends with whom I trained in the youth teams of Roseto.
How did I play soccer? I was good, come on, I did not like losing, I wanted to score goals by force, I never passed the ball, and when I had the ball, I scored. Let’s say that I was a bit “instinctive” even on the football field.
Once when I was playing in Pescara there was a score of 4 to 4. I had already scored two goals, but the draw was not enough for me, I wanted the win. Only the field was difficult, it had rained, so there was a lot of mud. What happened? I pull, huge slide and I fill myself with mud, from head to toe. What do I do? I start shouting, ‘I got dirty!’ In all this, it must be said that the game was true, even if we were very young. There was the championship, with the ranking and everything else, it’s not that you could take and do what was going on in your head. The referee shouts, ‘Get up, what are you playing ball.’ ‘No,’ I said, ‘I’m leaving, I’m all dirty!’ He shouts, ‘get up and go to the locker room.’ Not for nothing, they don’t call me the ‘little Cassano’ (famous Italian soccer player) for nothing. Cassano was so good and, he was so restless!’
Another time we were at the Borghesiana in Rome, at a national tournament. The Roseto was also in series C2 and even in the very young there were good coaches, competent, good, that when they told you one thing, that was that, because they knew what they were talking about. In that game at the Borghesiana, I do not even remember, against who we were, I did not score goals, the coach takes me away from the game. At the beginning I came back on the bench nice quiet, but after a moment they did everything to restrain me. “I want to go in! I want to score!” I was shouting. I kicked the coach. Now obviously, I would not do it again, even if football is still my passion.
This actually is the end of Gianluca’s childhood story but let’s think about this for a moment. If Gianluca didn’t become a singer, would he have become a soccer player? He was, real, good!
So, I started Gianluca’s story with his passion for country so let’s end with his passion for soccer. I will let Gianluca tell one more soccer story. In this story he is an adult! This was the soccer game that the guys played in for charity.
You cannot imagine the happiness of playing in the ‘Partita del Cuore,’ (Match of the Heart) a Telethon for Charity on June 2, 2015 at Juventus Stadium. The stadium, in fact, made Ignazio happy more than anyone, because he is a huge Juventino (a big fan of Juventus). I was more excited about having been called up for the first time in the National singers and even more for being able to score. The match was against the team of Champions for research, all great sports champions and big names in the show, from Alex Del Piero to Pavel Nedved, from Jorge Lorenzo to Liam Gallagher of Oasis. What a dream it was! The stadium was full of people cheering crazy. My team was losing, when I came in, we were 3 to 4 and not being able to do anything, apart from shouting directions to my team-mates on the pitch, it made me feel even more strained. It’s like, I know how to play football, you see the others, think about what you would do for them and tell them. No, you scream it, otherwise they will not hear you. Ignazio and I shrieked like crazy to Piero, and then Piero and I shrieked like crazy to Ignazio, but ‘my legs are trembling’, I had to run, enter the pitch, I wanted to score.
The coach made me enter in the 83rd minute.
We were, as I said, under a goal, but I do not like losing football. So, I took the ball and I scored. What magic! The stadium was screaming, the guys ran to hug me, it was almost like winning the Sanremo Festival again.
So, Gianluca has scored not just in soccer but in music. An amazing young man with a tremendous voice. Gianluca’s Story was a simple story about a boy who grew up in a small town and became a Super Star!
Join me next week as I go back Through the Fields of My Mind and open the door to a new adventure!
What I have written here are excerpts from the book the guys wrote about their lives. “Il Volo, Un’avventura Straordinario, La Nostra Storia.” (An Extraordinary Adventure, Our Story) This is just a small piece of each mans’ story. The book is written in Italian. If you can read Italian, I would highly recommend that you read it. It’s wonderful! If not, I can only hope that someday it will be translated into English. Or you can use Google Translate to translate it.
I also recommend you read their second book “IL Volo: Quello Che Porto Nel Cuore” (What I Carry in My Heart).
And let’s not forget the new album. Available on Spotify, Amazon, and other music media!
Friendship, the true one, can move seas and mountains, and is recognized in times of need.
Piero and Gianluca are two true friends and right now they are demonstrating this. Ignazio, since his father’s funeral, has remained in Sicily, perhaps he did not want to leave his mother and sister alone and he needed a moment of rest.
But there is a project to be completed, the tribute for Morricone, time passes and the date, which for now remains confirmed, is approaching.
So, a couple of days ago Gianluca published a photo of him at the Rome airport, leaving, for where?
We all thought about a return to Bologna, to continue the registration for the tribute.
But it wasn’t like that, the three friends got together, but not in Bologna, but in Sicily, it was all planned ….. I don’t think so. I think that the events, which prompted Ignazio to return to Marsala and to take a rest period, made Piero and Gianluca decide to return with their friend, to support him and also be able to continue their projects.
This is a true friendship. ❤❤❤ And here they are, beautiful and united.
Can I interpret the feelings of all of us fans, seeing Ignazio Piero and Gianluca together again? A feeling of great affection invaded me on seeing their beautiful faces gathered together. So much gratitude to Piero and Gianluca who preferred to go back to their friend and companion of many moments, Ignazio.
But the works have to resume, and so here they are intent on rehearsing the songs, they nicely let us peek, small moments, some chords ……. to make us understand that everything is proceeding.
I glimpse between them Lello Analfino, the one who had written beautiful words for Piero and Ignazio, now he has also met Gianluca, it looks like a recording studio, perhaps Analfino is giving them advice, and they know how to listen to the advice of people who have experience!
Surely, the Sicilian landscape outside is gorgeous, by the admission of the guys themselves ….. “the best way to record music” …..
And then we go out together, as friends, return by car and…
….. to end the evening, a nice dinner all together, while watching a football match, good times with friends, to end the evening, after a day of rehearsals.
And tomorrow we start again, but always together, always united.
Because this is the meaning of friendship.
The friendship that makes Ignazio write a beautiful theme for a television drama, Màkari, but which he shares with his old friends: Piero and Gianluca.
(this photo is the fragment of Màkari’s opening theme where Ignazio and IL VOLO are credited for the song)
And in the recording studio MCN STUDIO 17, in Palermo, they work, record, but there are also satisfactions.
These beautiful words had just been published by the studio itself.
Days of friendship and a special love that only music can give, thanks Il Volo, because in addition to music you bring with you that healthy joy of life that makes every moment madly beautiful, after all, art is to transform into happiness, and to live every moment of what some commonly call work, in a light way and full of ideas to improve by improving, you have brought this into our studios.
PS: Silvio Schembri (Piero’s friend) brought the “cassata” (delicious Sicilian dessert) and isn’t that happiness too ??? 🤡
To the most demanding, rightly, we remind you that the people portrayed in the photo are all “buffered” (they performed the test for the virus), see the following photo, and despite this, during the working hours all the positions were maintained and used precautions to avoid contact.
The photo without masks is a need that concerns the affection you feel with friends, and also a desire to exorcise the moment with the hope of being able to return soon to hug and kiss without fear, because hugs and kisses are that code of body language that makes us men and women free to love each other, and we want for these young talents a good that goes beyond imagination.
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
A couple of days ago, the page of Il Volo gave the official news of Vito’s passing with these beautiful and moving words.
A few years ago we titled one of our concerts “An Extraordinary Adventure”.
Well, all adventures contain moments of happiness and moments of sadness, the key thing is to face each of these moments together.
United, always.
Ciao Vito, we will miss you.
Better words could not be chosen, Vito will never be forgotten.
Always united, in happy and sad times, because that’s how true friendship works.
And what about the nice words used to our guys by the recording studio
What a joy to be able to see Gianluca, Piero and Ignazio, at work, rehearsing and recording, because they want the next event to be “perfect”, they want everyone to like it and be a worthy tribute to a “great composer”.
They will succeed, we are sure, and we will contribute to their success, with our affection and with our support.
Land of Sages and Fools ~ Made of Devils and Saints!
Sometimes I feel like I spend every day of my life writing about Ignazio! In the last year I wrote over fifty stories about the guys and, it seems as if half of them were about Ignazio’s projects. Because of all his projects I sometimes write two and three stories a week about him, wearing many different hats. Entertainer, Lyricist, Manager, Entrepreneur! The amazing thing about it is, I can’t get enough of him! Ignazio lives in mind. I have an emotional attachment to him. I guess it comes from writing all those stories. With fictional characters, the writer develops the character but, when you’re writing about real people, you come to a point where you are in their minds and, you feel their passions and emotions!
As usual, it was Daniela who made me aware that something new was going on. She sent me a video that said Màkari and I wondered what is this about? And then I clicked on it and heard Ignazio’s beautiful voice and I thought when did Ignazio record this? That’s when I realized it was a new series on Rai1 and Il Volo will be singing the theme song. And if that wasn’t enough, I learned Ignazio wrote the song. Ignazio, do you ever sleep?
Ignazio, last year, you told us you had many surprises for us. This obviously was the collaboration with Rai1 you were talking about. Unless we have another surprise in store! We can only hope!
Truthfully, who better to write a song about Sicily and the region of Trapani than a native child! No, Ignazio wasn’t born in Sicily but, for Italians, who your parents are is who you are so, in fact, Ignazio is Sicilian.
It amazes me that the young boy who went to Sicily kicking and screaming when he was ten, became the spokesman for Marsala, around the world, and now for the region of Trapani. Ignazio came to embrace the land of his parents and he loves all the wonders of Sicily.
Sicily is different than Italy. Yes, I know Sicily is Italy but, how the Sicilians live and, who they are is very different. Ignazio’s song invites us to take a better look at this other land in the south. It speaks of “a land of sages and a land of fools, made from devils and saints.” Yes, that’s what Sicily is! They honor their saints while keeping their superstitions!
Ignazio invites you to live a new reality through his eyes. He invites us to see a different side of Sicily through his beautiful theme song, Màkari.
Ignazio begins his video by explaining to us his experience of Sicily as seen through his eyes. “It is a Sicily as told by a twenty-five year old who lived Sicily through stories, through images!”
This song speaks volumes! Where did the words of this song come from? Ignazio’s heart! There is something very mysterious about the song. Besides the fact that it speaks of a land of sages and fools made from devils and saints. It also speaks of truth! The truth as seen through Ignazio’s eyes.
Ignazio’s words allow us to see Sicily through tradition, home and love!
In the video, Ignazio talks about the summers he spent in S. Vito Capo in the landscape of Màkari. What is it that draws him back year after year? Is it the “silence” of the land that screams for you to open your eyes and look around at the wonder of the landscape or, the traditions of the land that go deep into your soul? It seems to Ignazio, Màkari is joy and love and so he will never forget it! And what does that say! Simple! This is Ignazio’s story!!! His story of Sicily, the land he left to pursue his dream and the land he is drawn back to time and again.
Think about the words of the song! Is Ignazio talking about the writer who leaves his home and returns after a long period of time or the entertainer who travels the world? The similarities in his life and the life of the writer are striking, that’s why he was able to write such an emotional song! I feel like Ignazio wrote the song and then they made the show. His words are very enticing, they pull you into the story. They tell all there is to know and, Ignazio tells us a story, through the imagery of his words!
The mystery of it all is the relationship Ignazio has with this land! Having become a part of this land at the age of ten, it is amazing to me that Ignazio developed this great bond with Sicily. Yes, Bologna is his home but, Sicily is the place he comes home to!!!
Ignazio says, “it is an honor to talk about my Sicily through a fiction that tells the truth of this Sicily.” Ignazio loves that through all the mysteries and mystique of the program, the show speaks of love, which is something that he loves and, he loves that that love is combined with yellow (mysteries)!
Sicily is amazing for Ignazio because it’s different for him every time. He sees a Sicily that is always offering something new while being a part of something old. Always remembering what was while looking forward to what will be! This speaks to Ignazio’s soul!
Ignazio’s thoughts and emotions are everywhere in this song. In an interview on Sunday, with Inga and Claudio Gioè, the actor from Màkari, Ignazio reminds us of his words, in the song, about His Sicily. “Whoever comes to Sicily, cries twice,” (once when you arrive and, once when you leave). I think that sums up Ignazio’s feelings for Sicily.” I think the words of this song will be on the lips of everyone for many years to come! A Classic!
The final verse of the song is sung by Ignazio with a few beautiful words in Sicilian and he is accompanied by a classical guitar. “Sing louder but do it in silence because here no one hears us, sees us. This is a story a little curious, a little grumpy, it speaks to me of love. For traditions, for my roots, Màkari is home and my heart sings for you!” These are emotional words, very touching!
In the video, Gianluca and Piero expressed their feelings about the project. Gianluca said, I have anxiety waiting for this moment, so I renew my congratulations to everyone for this great project and we are delighted to be part of it. We, also, learned something very interesting in this video. We now know what everyone’s plans are for the future! Gianluca says, he would love to be an actor. I always thought he would be a model. He certainly has the body and looks for it! But who knows maybe he will show up in one of the episodes of Màkari? And Piero the sweetheart that he is, told us how proud he is of Ignazio and how happy he is to be a part of this project! Piero, all of us are very happy that all of you are embarking on this new adventure together!
One final thought! Ignazio’s words in the song call out to, many, people expressing his feelings on many matters! I would like to go back to those last words of the song so that you can listen very carefully to Ignazio words! “Sing louder but do it in silence because here no one hears, sees us.” Think about it!
Màkari we’ve been waiting for you!
What an amazing song! Ignazio as usual you took my breath away, not just with your voice but, with your beautiful words. No doubt they were from the heart. They truly hit home! They so speak of where you heart is! And from the bottom of my heart I say, thank you for the song and thank you guys for the beautiful delivery!
You know how many times I’d like to leave from this land of devils and saints but Màkari is home, it’s joy and pain this is my land.
Land of Wise Men and Land of Fools of people who take heart, take it and give it! Whoever comes to Sicily, cries twice! Màkari is my home.
This is a story a little curious, a little grumpy, it speaks to me of love. For traditions, for my roots, but Màkari is home, and the heart sings for you.
Sing louder, but do it in silence, because here no one hears us, sees us, but Makari is home, it is joy and pain, Màkari I do not forget, I forget no more.
This is a story a little curious, a little grumpy, it speaks to me of love. For traditions, for my roots, but Màkari is home and the heart sings for you.
Credit to owners of all photos and video.
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