Before I get into my story, I would like to take a moment to mention the concert in Verona. Concerts at the Verona Arena are always spectacular, this one was no exception. With all that is going on behind the guys, it’s like watching two shows. Thanks to all the wonderful fans out there (especially you Alessandra) we were able to see some of this amazing concert. How many ways can you say fantastic? It certainly was different. We saw another side of our guys. True showmen, each and every one. Or as Alessandra said, “An immense talent!” Couldn’t have said it better my friend!
But guys I have to say there was one song you forgot to sing ~ Singing in the Rain.
Because I didn’t attend the concert, I’ll have to wait to watch both on Canale 5. I’ll be back in a few weeks to talk more about it!
Over the past few months, I have been sharing with you An Extraordinary Adventure as seen through my eyes. (I originally wrote about this adventure three years ago.) I hope you enjoyed the stories as much as I enjoyed sharing them with you. I think I have written this story five times over the last three years. On this fifth rewrite, we have come to the end of our journey. Telling The Story Time And Again, I certainly will be writing it again. There are always new fans to tell our guys story too.
So how did I approach this story. I took the original book which consisted of mostly dialogues and short stories between the boys and changed it to a narrative so you could truly appreciate their stories.
And what extraordinary stories they were. I acted as the narrator and lead you from one story to another always allowing the boys to tell the story in their own words. After a while, the boys took over and carried me along on their journey. A very exciting adventure!
What did I find out about the boys in this book?
I found out that Piero is an excellent storyteller. When he tells you a story, he includes every little detail so when the story is over you know everything there is to know about that story.
I found out that Ignazio is an excellent writer. He is the only one who wrote his story. Ignazio is very articulate. His words just fly off the page. Because of this, his story was the easiest to edit.
As to Gianluca, I was surprised to find out he was such a romantic. Everything that is important to him is a passion. He invests himself in what he loves and believes in: Family, Music, Country and Soccer!
I have now read the book about 20 times. Going back and forth from Italian to English to be sure that the facts were correct. I have edited other books but this one was truly an adventure. Maybe because the characters meant something to me.
Before I go any further there are some people who I would like to thank for giving me the opportunity to share this story. First and foremost, Piero, Ignazio and Gianluca. They were aware that I was telling their story yet, never once did they ask me to stop telling it. It’s their story and they could have stopped me at any time. Next, I would like to thank Michele Torpedine for also giving me a free hand to share it!
As to the book Il Volo Un’avventura Straordinaria, La nostra storia, (An Extraordinary Adventure, our story) let me say, as I’ve said so many times, it is a wonderful book and anyone who can read Italian should read it. Many people have asked me why I don’t translate the book. It’s not my book to translate. All I can say is I would love to translate and edit the book for the English version.
Before I hand you over for the last time, let me leave you with this thought. This story truly was an extraordinary story about three young boys, child prodigies, who travelled the same path but started in different places: Naro, Bologna and Montepagano. I often think and I have just recently said in one of the stories, how is it possible that three amazing boys, with three extraordinary voices, that complement one another, wound up in the same place, at the same time, in history. My only answer is divine intervention. God had a plan and what a plan it was! He gave us three voices that would stay with us for a long time and certainly for me till the end of my days.
So, before we bid the boys farewell, I’ll let the guys tell their final story which is about the one disappointment they had. Or as Ignazio put it, “Eurovision… one of those things that I do not like to talk about, but we’re telling the truth, so let’s tell it all.” So, for the last time let’s join Piero as he tells us about what happened at Eurovision….
Piero:Vienna, the 60th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, was a rather strange experience because we came as favorites. So, we were loaded, convinced! From February 14th to May 17th, the day we arrived in Vienna, we sang “Grande Amore” so many times that we convinced ourselves even more that we would make it. I mean, Gianluca and I convinced ourselves, while Ignazio was pessimistic as usual. However, Gian, your presentiment this time was really wrong.
Gianluca:But do you know what happened to Eurovision? Unlike Sanremo, the vote of the public was not as important as the Festival: fifty percent vote from home and fifty percent vote of the jury of journalists. And this put us at a disadvantage. But the public voted for us, we arrived first for the people at home.
I cried when it was over. Why did I cry? I knew we had lost not because people did not love us, but for other reasons. Mom, I cried….
Piero: What a blow that night …
Ignazio: Do we really have to talk about it? I’m not so happy to talk about Eurovision because I do not have a great memory.
Gianluca: I started crying, then I looked at Piero, he too cried …
Piero:Gianluca in the end had convinced me to say: ‘We win, we win.’ We had taken it in Sanremo, it could be that we would take it in Vienna, right?
Gianluca: Look, I guessed because we won the televoting, I repeat it.
Ignazio:And I always am the pessimistic one, with my feet on the ground, saying, “No, guys, it’s hard. It does not say that we succeed.” Even though I had believed it myself a bit.
But it happened that we got third, behind the Russian Polina Gagarina, second with A Million Voices, and the Swedish Mans Zelmerlow who won with Heroes.
Gianluca took it very badly, he cried. Piero as well. Everyone took it very bad. What could I say?
Come on, guys, we got third, not everyone does that, the last one was Modugno.
Piero:In the end, however, Gianluca and I looked at each other, looking as if to say: ‘Now what do we do? And the moment before we cried and the next moment we laughed. We had lost, what could we do? By now, it had happened.
Gianluca:We could not cry forever. And then, the public’s heart was ours.
Ignazio:Instead, the undersigned, after having done a little shoulder to others, the next morning I felt very bad, but very bad. For two or three days I was very bad, I threw it all out, later.
Piero:In life you cannot always win, that’s what we learned.
Where’s the beauty? Not all women can say yes to you. After that, how do you try to seduce one, if you already know that she will tell you yes?
So, when we came back from Vienna, many people in Italy asked: ‘Are you sad about the third place?’
Absolutely not, indeed we are very satisfied, but maybe even too satisfied, because our goal of Eurovision was to show us to two hundred and twenty million people. Even in Australia they saw us. But think how many are two hundred and twenty million people? A sea, is, a sea!
And can I tell you something? I have never loved the tricolor flag so much in my life.
Knowing we were there at the Wiener Stadthalle with the roar of sixteen thousand people to hear us sing live and another two hundred million to see us at home, to know that we at that moment represented Italy for all of Europe is a great responsibility, however it is also a great stimulus to do it in the best possible way.
We represent it around the world with singing, with bel canto, and we believe we have done it better in Vienna. We put it all, we worked hard, we really gave our heart for this occasion.
It was a completely different experience from the others because it was not a competition between artists, it was a competition between Countries, it was a competition between origins, and we were there to defend our nation.
It was really very strong!
It would be nice to come back there, but first we should win another Sanremo Festival!
So, at the end of the book, the guys said, “Goodbye for Now.” And this is how they summed it up! These final words in the book go to the heart of who these guys are and how they feel about the fans.
In which the true and only secret of the success of our three lives is told.
When they asked us to write this book, our first thought was, ‘Finally, finally we can tell the truth.’ In a three-minute interview you cannot tell a life, but in a book yes. And that’s what we tried to do in these pages: tell our true story.
Which is a normal story, of three guys like many who had a great passion and were lucky enough to be able to transform that passion into what today makes them live and makes them famous.
Being successful is beautiful, it would be stupid to say no after we have so dreamed and desired, but you need to quickly understand something, and that is, that it is not only our merit.
The people who follow us have a large part of that merit.
And knowing it is what gratifies us the most.
It is wonderful to know that we have shared our emotions with those who listen to us.
That’s why we work, and that’s why we try to give everything when we sing, we live in a concert or recording studio. And that’s why we do our work always with the maximum of passion, so that we can create what for us is magic, the magic of emotion that passes from our voices to people.
The Fans are the reason, the only real explanation of what happened to us from 2009 till today, the records, the tours around the world, the victory at Sanremo, what we are finally living in Italy.
During a concert we would like to embrace all the people before us, one by one, we would like to be able to say: ‘Thank you!’with our voices to all. And we want to thank them if we are in the studio to record, if we fill the halls in concerts, if we are in the charts, if we go around the world.
Our ‘fans’ are everything!
We do not know what we will decide to do after the new album and the winter tour. We do not know if we will return to Sanremo, if we will take a vacation, if we will immediately start thinking about another album, new songs to fill your emotions and our emotions.
But for sure, for all we have done so far, let’s say thanks to those who have followed us. And we will continue our great adventure together! Goodbye for now!
PIERO, IGNAZIO and GIANLUCA
I think that was a nice tribute to the Fans. I don’t think any other entertainers love their fans like our guys love us! So, I leave you at the end of the story for now, but rest assured I will be TellingThe Story Time And Again.
Join me next week as I go back Through the Fields of My Mind and open the door to a new adventure!
For your listening pleasure the concert in Verona in 2016
If you would like to share a story with me, please email: susan.flightcrew@yahoo.com
To read more Il Volo stories visit us at www.ilvoloflightcrw.com
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 man’s 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!
As I promised, for the next three weeks I will post a story about each of the guys when they were children. I begin this journey with Ignazio because his story begins at his birth.
Let me start by saying each one of the guys is unique in how he presents his story in their book, “Il Volo, Un’avventura Straordinario, La Nostra Storia.” Ignazio chose to write his story. He comes in and out of the story speaking to the reader and asking questions. He is an excellent writer.
Thirteen years old and totally amazing! Notice how well he articulates. Mr. Perfection!
All of what is said here was said by Ignazio in his story. I did not change the thoughts or feelings of Ignazio or any of the guys in any of their stories. Its’ all in their own words. You might say I’m relating the story as seen through my eyes. Ignazio as the narrator gives you the facts and I follow him by giving you information that is important to the story and makes for a better narrative.
This is a very, sensitive and sincere story! This is Ignazio’s Story. So, let’s begin, in Ignazio’s own words!
If life is a story and, if every story need’s someone to tell it, here I am to tell you mine, all of it from the beginning.
My story is not a fictional story even if it seems to be one of those dreams that you never want to wake up from. My story is sincere. It is the story of my life just as I experienced it before Il Volo and inside Il Volo.
My flight (every reference is purely coincidental) starts with a Christmas Letter.
It seems Ignazio’s mother, Caterina, and his father, Vito, were thinking about expanding their family. It is Christmas time 1993. Ignazio’s sister Antonia, who everyone calls Nina, is at school and the children are told to write a letter to Santa and the Baby Jesus. What Nina writes is a miracle and the beginning of one of the most beautiful and sincere relationships between a brother and sister. Nina, 7 years old, writes:
Dear Santa and Baby Jesus,
I do not want any presents for Christmas. Give my gifts to poor children. I want a baby brother for Christmas.
Nina
Ignazio continues, “Said and done!”
Shortly after New Year’s Caterina discovers she is pregnant. When Nina is told she wants to confirm that her request has come true. Nina asks her mother if she can join her for her first ultrasound. During the checkup, Nina asks the doctor, “May I know what it is?”
“What do you want, honey?” the doctor asks.
“I want a little brother.”
“Then come, I’ll show you the string bean.”
Nina’s first wish is granted but her second wish, not exactly! Nina wants her brother to be born on October 1st, her birthday. It seems Ignazio had another idea.
My name is Ignazio Boschetto. I was born on October 4, 1994, in Bologna, Italy.
No, I didn’t make it for Nina’s birthday. I was wrong. What can I tell you? When they brought me home, I was better than any doll to Nina. Everyone was happy but soon, there are some worries. During the first visit, the doctor found that I had a strange kidney malfunction. After several checkups, they found I was born with a single kidney, but the one kidney I had was larger than normal and it works as if it were two kidneys.
And, as if that wasn’t enough, I was born with the squint of Venus, but I was fine, a Bolognese, brand new. The truth is, I could have been born Sicilian – Sienese. How would you see me with a Tuscan accent?
Is it the same if the images that I will never forget are … the memories of my parents? It’s not that I’m crazy or strange, it’s right that my story would never have existed without my parents.
In 1990 when Nina was four years old and before Ignazio was born, his parents made the decision to leave Marsala. They left with the hope of a better life for their family. As Ignazio says, “The family they had only begun to create.” Things were not going well in Marsala, and it was difficult to make a living for a family. They decided to go to Siena because a good friend of Ignazio’s maternal grandfather, who was a building contractor, offered Mr. Boschetto a job. Ignazio’s parents would do anything to make the families’ life better. Ignazio says, “of the sacrifices they have made there were many and big for me and for my sister, I do not spend a day when I do not think about how proud I am of them.”
On arrival in Buoncovento, Mr. Boschetto worked as a mason. Mrs. Boschetto did many different jobs. By 1992 they realized they did not earn enough to keep going. And, Ignazio would say, “that’s why I was born in Bologna.” They made the decision to move to San Martino on Agrine near Bologna. Upon arrival, Mr. Boschetto, being a mason, immediately found a job. Mrs. Boschetto. was always a determined person who had a great desire to keep busy. She reinvented herself. She was a good cook and she found herself a job as a chef in a restaurant not far from home.
Within a few years they managed to achieve economic stability and decided to move into a house. Finally, a house just for them in Guarda di Molinella. Ignazio says, “The house was very small, but it was my first house, the one in which I was born.”
By far, Ignazio was the most pampered member of the family. He was a lively child who laughed all the time, Ignazio says, “I never stopped laughing.” He learned very quickly to talk and walk. He was never silent.
When I was three or four years old – I played with the piano my parents had given Nina. My mother says I was one years old when I played. Nina taught me to play Happy Birthday with one finger. I was a happy child. My mother told me, ‘You’ve never been a child,’ in the sense that I was always quite serious and responsible. I ask you, ‘Would you ever say that?’ In all, I was a happy child. It seemed the situation started getting better. It wasn’t all roses and flowers but in four years it had changed a lot and so the moves were not finished. The moves were always to make a better life for me and Nina. The moves continued even after my birth. When it seemed that we were fine, it was always time to leave.
Of all the houses I lived in, one particular address remains in my mind: Via Marconi 94 in Molinella. It was a big and very beautiful house. We moved there just before I started elementary school. I do not remember the first day of school, but I certainly did not take long to get noticed. If you’re thinking of scenes of me being put in the middle of the class to sing, forget it. I had a passion for music but, I had an even greater passion for pranks. I tell you, since I started talking and walking, mine was an escalation of agitation. It was official I was not the most mischievous in class that would be my friend Nicholas. I was second. It was always an open challenge, a race to the red crosses. Now the question arises: What are the red crosses? The teachers had a billboard and on it they listed all the students in alphabetical order. If you were good in your school and good in your grades, you got a blue cross, however, if you had taken an insufficiency or if you behaved badly, evil was everywhere! Nicolas and I were the most popular! Our billboard line was a red fire specimen.
With the passage of time, I found something good to do at school, that is, an activity that was able to hold my interest enough to prevent me from slipping into some disaster. I joined the school choir. I always liked to sing, to be ‘in the middle’ of the music. And more and more passionately I began to understand how to make better use of Nina’s famous pianola. I learned how to start the musical bases and flip through them. And that’s when I discovered La Donna E ‘Mobile. I liked it so much that I sang with the base and invented words. I don’t remember the words but, it certainly was a song about Pavarotti. Having seen Pavarotti on TV, I knew he always had a big handkerchief so I would invent text and sing on the air La Donna E ‘Mobile.
Now I would not want you to get the wrong idea of me as a child. A saint I was not, mind you, but thinking about it now if I was mischievous at school, maybe there was a reason.
Around 1998, when Ignazio was four years old and had just started kindergarten, the climate in the house changed. There was a problem in the family. Ignazio’s mom was diagnosed with facial cancer. For a child of Ignazio’s age, it was hard to understand what was happening. He realized that something was wrong when he began to see less and less of his mother. She was going back and forth to the hospital for months without finding a solution. Ignazio said, “Mom did something she always did with us, for as long as I can remember, she explained the situation to us, speaking openly. This is a great merit that I must acknowledge about my family, but perhaps a little more to mom, because the fact of speaking clearly with us children and telling us the truth about things that affected our family and life in general taught us to face up to early adult conversations. With mom we always talked about sex, about society, a little bit of everything that life had in store for us as children.”
Now, I’m going to step out of the story because there are no words that I can say that will express the emotion and the sensitivity of Ignazio words. So, I chose to have Ignazio talk directly to you.
I do not even have to tell you that since my mother’s conversation, my life has changed. I was small, but I could not afford to think like the other children of my age. As for my sister the situation was even more complicated because since 1998, the year of our mother’s first hospitalization, until 2003, the year when all the bad story is over, my mother has become Nina. For the first two years of elementary school, those dotted with red crosses, I have not often seen mom, a little because I went to school, a little because she had to return frequently to the hospital and stay there for long periods. Dad worked and my sister, despite her twelve years, had to be a housewife. She has become my biggest reference point. We had to grow both of us very quickly, without thinking about toys and different entertainment, and not so to speak, but really. The truth is that we were not interested in anything that usually affects two children of that age, because the only thing we wanted was to have mom at home.
It is difficult to say what was the worst moment because her absence was always felt. For sure, however, I was particularly impressed by a quarrel with my sister. I was four and she was twelve and I was playing with a toy, she was fed up because I made noise, she took the toy, and we had a fight. After responding badly to her, I immediately repented. For me Nina was very important, really like a mother. In the end I did not sleep for a week. But I never told her, at least until now.
After five surgeries and one hundred and fifty points in the face, mom has returned home. Too bad they did not leave me much time to enjoy her. I wanted to sit her on the sofa and, I wanted all the kisses, hugs and everything I haven’t had in those years. Mom is mine and woe to those who touch her! And instead, a few years earlier, mom had started working in a pizzeria and, not even the time to leave the hospital, she rightly started working again. What could I do?
Most of the time Ignazio stayed with Sabrina, his nanny, who was the girlfriend of the pizza maker who worked with his mom. But there were days when Ignazio was allowed to go to work with his mom. Since Ignazio never wanted to lose sight of his mother again, he would stand by the fridge where the drinks were held and, from there he had a perfect view of the cash desk. At the time, his mother did not work in the kitchen. She was now managing the pizzeria, so most of the time she was at the cash desk or answering the phone. And Ignazio never took his eyes off her. He was so happy that he could talk to her, and he did a good job of selling drinks to the customers.
So, let’s take a look at the situation. Ignazio’s mother is home, the pizzeria has become Ignazio’s second home, he certainly was good at selling drinks and everything seemed to finally be the best it could be.
Ignazio concludes, “at school, then, as I told you, I was part of the choir, and I was more passionate about my music. In short, finally a little tranquility. How long has it lasted? Four years, more or less.”
In July 2004 we were on the road again.
So here we are, it’s 2004, Ignazio is 10 years old, and his life is about to take a major turn. La Forza del destino!
So now we will leave Ignazio’s Story but not before I give you an update on Bosky TV.
In our community which Ignazio formed we believe “Together is Better.”
The video has English subtitles so you will understand all that is said by Ignazio! Basically he says, “Thanks to our community that we have created so recently, we have been able to contribute to the aid of people affected by a terrible tragedy.”
So here is Ignazio again asking for your help for the victims of the earthquake!
This is why I love this guy! Only Ignazio would take time out of his tour and busy schedule to help people who have been hit by a most devasting earthquake! He is truly blessed by God! The Lord said, “Love your neighbor!” For Ignazio the world is his neighbor. He tries to help everyone! I thank you God for putting him on this earth!
If you want to help people affected by this terrible tragedy, you can do it through this foundation https://www.fondazionepek.it/ PEREZ-KOSKOWSKA P&K FOUNDATION
“SOLIDARITY DOESN’T SHAKE, HELP US TO HELP!” Current account in the name of: Fondazione Perez-Koskowska ets Banca di Bologna IBAN: IT94 E088 8337 0600 4000 0403 993 Reason: Colletta Earthquake Turkey and Syria 2023
Or you can contribute in the following places. Watch the video to understand how this is done.
Join me next week as I go back Through the Fields of My Mind and open the door to a new adventure! Next time we will explore Piero’s beginnings
If you would like to share a story with me, please email: susan.flightcrew@yahoo.com
To read more Il Volo stories visit us at www.ilvoloflightcrw.com
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!
Credit to owners of Photos and videos
Come in and share the love of life, friends and Il Volo!
