It’s all a succession of news and I will try to make order.
Piero, Ignazio and Gianluca were in Verona, together with the mayor of Verona, they held the press conference for the presentation of the June 5th event in the Arena. I will summarize what was said by the mayor of Verona and the director of RAI1, the network that will broadcast the event.
MAYOR = “Welcome to Il Volo in our city. It is an important day because we are presenting this concert which has a number of important meanings.
The request by the Veneto Region on the possibility of giving concerts at the Verona Arena for 6,000 people was accepted.
The Arena is not only the symbol of Verona but of music, in an open theater, on an international level.
It is the date of a restart, a reopening and great music that can be enjoyed live. On June 5, you have the honor of restarting the music with the presence of thousands of people.
For the city of Verona it is an honor to host you and be the city where everything can start again.”
RAI 1 DIRECTOR = For the flagship network of the Public Service, it is an honor to go to this special evening which means a lot for the artistic world and for the country.
As soon as Ignazio, Piero and Gianluca came together with their agent to offer me this evening, I accepted it immediately.
Rai Uno wants to remember Morricone, who has done so much for our music and culture, and the thing that seemed interesting to me is that it was reinterpreted by three young people who represent.
The idea that they were born in a talent show and have climbed, achieving such great success all over the world, makes us proud. It is the world of hope, justice and public service that Rai represents.
It is nice to think that three artists like Il Volo want to pay homage to Morricone. I think they have a lot to tell, even beyond singing.
I asked them to perform on their repertoire songs as well (“‘O Sole Mio”, “Grande Amore”, etc.), to the Italian people to review how their virtuosity has changed. They are now adults, really for Rai Uno it is an honor and we will be alongside, with great joy, for this first normal event. We will give a taste of the arrival of Il Volo on Rai Uno, on 2 June, with the National Anthem, after Tg1. I believe that the identity of this trio is consistent with the identity that the flagship network must have.”
RAI 1 VICE DIRECTOR = “I just want to reiterate and underline the welcome to Il Volo on Rai Uno. Il Volo is strongly Rai Uno, it has the artistic and value characteristics of the channel’s entertainment.
From the Festival to today, it has punctuated and punctuated the Rai Uno schedule.
It is no coincidence that they have always had a leading role. An extraordinary adventure that started some time ago that gives us the opportunity to enjoy new stages like this one to pay tribute to Ennio Morricone with great singers from Il Volo.
Such an important story for Italian music and cinema, Ennio Morricone has won 10 David di Donatello and two Oscars.”
ARENA ARTISTIC DIRECTOR = “I’m excited I got to know Ennio Morricone very well. Being able to open the season of live and television events with this event has always been my hope. I thank Gianluca, Piero, Ignazio for their commitment and desire to return to the Arena.
We will give, to the three of them, a numbered statue representing a divinity with the Arena of Verona on his head.
I hope it is a good omen for the resumption of events at the Arena which, I hope, will never stop.”
Gianluca: “We are honored to be able to represent this rebirth. For us it is a great journey, a wonderful adventure, immersed in the notes of Morricone, one year after his death. Lately we believe we have had a personal growth that also involves an artistic maturity that we try to show to all of you. We were born as child prodigies, after 12 years of career we are satisfied with the work we are doing. We are really happy to be able to do it.”
PIERO: “Finally we can sing, after a year and a half we couldn’t take it anymore. Our work, I always say, is a dream job. We are incurable dreamers. Every wish is finally coming true. On June 5 we will give a message of hope, there is a great desire to get on that stage and see so many people working with us: from the technicians to the orchestra, to the many collaborators.”
IGNAZIO: “The Arena is one of the icons of our Italy, one of the few symbols like the Colosseum or Venice that are regularly remembered. The one on June 5 will be our only concert in 2021 . At every event we organize we make ourselves crazy: I think of the concert in homage to the three tenors with Placido Domingo with us on stage or when we sang a few meters from the Pope.”
Piero Ignazio and Gianluca then gave these answers to the press:
The aim is to make Ennio Morricone’s music and culture known even to the youngest.
“We like the surprise effect. It will be an evening dedicated to Ennio Morricone but there will also be songs from our repertoire that are part of the career. If you remember well: The Mission, Once Upon a Time in the West, New Cinema Paradiso … We hope to be up to it.
The evening will also be broadcast by PBS, the American network.
“For a better result of the audio we decided to record the CD in the studio, not live. We have the pleasure of collaborating with the Sinfonietta, Ennio Morricone’s orchestra. It is a studio album. We decided to anticipate this concert even though the album will be released later.
Our tour will start in March 18, 2022 from New York.”
(Il Volo with the mayor)
“We changed the location from Rome to Verona, because the Arena is the largest open-air amphitheater. In Rome, it would have been more difficult to manage this situation. In St. Peter’s Square we sang for Christmas, with Christmas songs. In San Pietro there were no conditions to ensure safety.”
“During the pandemic, we tried not to passively experience this bad time. We have always tried to be productive. It was a difficult time for everyone. We canceled the world tour but we are very optimistic, determined and ambitious by nature. The strength to believe in one’s dreams and goals. We got to go back to the recording studio and dedicate ourselves to ourselves and our music. Everyone should try to mature and study from all points of view.”
“Perhaps this is the best project of our career,” says Gianluca Ginoble, at the end of the press conference.
Tickets will be on sale from Friday 14 May at 4 pm on the TicketOne circuit. Those who have a ticket for the 2022 tour will have the opportunity to buy the ticket at a special price.
What can I say, a beautiful conference and many beautiful and deserved words for our beloved trio Il Volo.
You read that right, the tour will start on March 18 in NY, surely it will be in Radio City Music Hall.
The greeting of our boys:
PIERO = Hello to all the friends of Arenalive.it.
GIAN = We give you the great news, the appointment in Verona on June 5th, both here in presence and on TV. It will be a great event, a contribution to Morricone.
IGNAZIO = They have already said everything, I greet you, and we are waiting for you.
REPORTER = Is this event more of a burden or more of an honor?
IGNAZIO = In reality it is a bit of everything, for responsibility it is an honor and pride.
PRIDEbecause Morricone’s music is a heritage of Italy, it is part of our culture and it is an honor for us to spread his music through our voices, and to bring his melodies all over the world.
HONOR because we do it in a very particular historical moment, where, until recently, it was uncertain to sing again in front of an audience and now, thanks also to the work of the mayor of Verona and many other people, we are able to sing in the Arena with the presence of 6000 people, so it is a great hope that soon they will be back on tour.
REPORTER = You said something extraordinary in a press conference, which is the most important occasion of your career.
GIAN = Yes, because for us it shows a certain artistic maturity, we are always looking to surpass ourselves. In our career, born as child prodigies, it is clear that to acquire a certain credibility, it takes time, with patience you reach everything and we work hard for this.
REPORTER = What kind of signal will come out of this show in the Arena?
PIERO = More than anything else we have always had the strength not to be disheartened.
It will be a concert of hope, there has always been talk of “we will make it” and when we will return to normal and therefore we must start and all the ideas are materializing. Finally we will be on stage, finally we sing.
REPORTER= There is expectation on the part of the public, but also on your part for this concert.
GIAN = For us who do it, we are very happy, I also imagine people who really want to go back to see a live concert, so it will be a great shared happiness.
This, on the other hand, is the promo video for the concert on June 5th.
GIAN = A beautiful adventure begins, a beautiful journey.
PRESENTER = Il Volo celebrates the great master ENNIO MORRICONE
PIERO = Silence because they are recording.
PRESENTER = In an event evening, on the notes of his unforgettable music.
IGNAZIO = I must say that they are all different and all beautiful.
(the song the boys mention is taken from the Cinema Paradiso soundtrack)
PIERO = We are close to the finish line.
PRESENTER = Il Volo, a tribute to Ennio Morricone, coming soon on RAI 1.
I have no more words, but only many positive thoughts.
When I hear our boys talking, I always denote a great composure and maturity, certainly not so common to many other artists.
They are “great” and they want to prove it with their wonderful commitments, which they inevitably carry out with great honor.
Now I have only one fixed thought ….. to be able to get tickets for June 5th !!!
Some stories just write themselves and the author stands by with pen in hand, looks down at the paper and says yes, yes that’s exactly what I wanted to say! And you can’t even remember writing it but it’s there and it’s so spot on! Life writes its own stories! Certainly, life wrote this one about three teenage boys. Teenagers! Think of your kid outside playing basketball or soccer. Could you imagine that he would walk off the court and into the limelight? I’m thinking your fondest hope would be that he would clean up his room.
How do you explain three amazing voices coming together on the same stage, at the same time? I have only one explanation. La Forza del Destino! It was fate! It was a plan! It was God’s plan!
Watching the guys recording these last few weeks brought back fond memories of the beginning. Before Sanremo, before Barbara Streisand, before Notte Magica! In the real beginning….
In the beginning there were three guys named Piero, Ignazio and Gianluca. They were ordinary guys!
Piero loved his motorbike! “When I arrived at the roundabout in the center of the city, voom, I did a wheelie with the motorbike.”
Ignazio loved to play soccer. “My main project when I went to school was to get home and spend the afternoon playing football.”
Gianluca, also, loved to play soccer! “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.”
So, yes, they were ordinary kids but, they all had something special. They had a special gift from God. Their voice!
What was it that made them different? What was it about this baritone and two tenors that was different from other tenors or baritones? First and foremost, the delivery of these three voices was equal. The crispness and clarity in each voice was defined. They were alike but they were different. They were balanced! Roberto Cenci recognized these exceptional qualities and understood that they could blend into one beautiful voice so, he decided to put the three voices together. The result was they were an immediate sensation and they caused important people in the industry to stop and listen!
Each one separately was captivating, together, they were a gift that God gave to humanity!
The first meeting!
We have to keep in mind that in the beginning the guys were underage so any negotiations and plans for their future was handled by their parents. It was only after the parents first meeting with among others, Michele Torpedine, that the guys were informed that plans were being made for them. After this meeting the parents met again a month later and signed a contract for the guys to record with Universal.
I think Piero put it best when he said, “The day before, I went to my uncle’s workshop and the next day I signed a millionaire contract with an American label.”
The behind-the-scenes video of the guys recording “Tous les visages de l’amour” and, the recent recording of the Ennio Morricone album inspired me to write this article.
Let’s start by listening to Piero talk about their first meeting with Michele Torpedine.
“The day began well, calm, and quiet. I was having lunch at the hotel restaurant and a gentleman with a sand-colored raincoat and graying hair arrived. I heard footsteps behind me and a ‘Hello, Piero’ with this deep voice. You recognize Michele’s voice anywhere. You know, when I speak of that meeting, it reminds me of things I’ve seen in an American movie. It was from this that we started, three fifteen-sixteen-year-old idiots, and Torpedine, who had already become an icon for me. So, he sits with us and we start talking. After lunch, we got ready for rehearsal.
And, so, it begins!
Being teenagers there was always going to be some antics going on.
Gianluca recalls, “We were three children at the park playing. Ignazio, to name one, poured Coca-Cola on the floor in the dressing room and it ended up on Michele’s jacket. Michele turns and says, “Barbara look,” I still remember it, with a face looking like “Oh my God!”
Piero recalls, “And after the Coca-Cola there were plums. Our first meeting with Michele ends with plums flying from one dressing room to the other and Michele comes out with white hair, indeed no, because he already had white hair. No, he comes out with straight hair saying, ‘Are you three, crazy?’
In practice we threw plums from the door of our dressing room, to the one next to us. We had a mess that night.
What has changed from that day to today? Nothing. On tour, in the television broadcast rooms and sometimes even in the recording room, one of our favorite activities is the fruit launch. The best are the grapes (but we also use cherries). Ignazio throws them from a distance and, I have to take it on the fly and catch it in my mouth. It doesn’t matter if the Pope or Bono is in the dressing room next to us, it doesn’t impress us.”
Listen to what the guys had to say about the beginning of their career.
Piero: “At the beginning it was really a dream, even if I do not like repeating it, because you find yourself traveling the world and doing it, from one day to the next. However, I repeat, always without realizing the importance of the thing, without fully understanding what was happening.”
Ignazio: “So, a dream that Piero, in the clouds, has forgotten to say is the most important thing: it was the first time that Italian singers signed a contract directly with an American record company. But it was not that we signed the contract, the big thing was done, but it had yet to start!”
Gianluca: “Piero forgot to mention that ours was the first contract signed directly by Italian singers with an American label, but Ignazio forgot to mention that the first recording studio in which we entered all three together for our great adventure was called the Forum and it was in Rome.”
The first time in the studio!
Ignazio continues: “For us today there are seven takes to sing. At that time there were thirty or forty. You will say, what language does he speak? English, Spanish and, also a little Italian. So, a take is the recording of the single phrase that each of us sings when we record a song. We continue to redo it until we get the best version. In 2009, our first recording, took almost two days to record a song, until it was good. I remember that I made the absolute record of takes in “Smile,” I repeated my part for fifty-seven times.”
Piero: “…It was nice because it was the first experience. We did not sing well because we had no technique, so it was as Ignazio said. We did a take sixty or seventy times.
At that time, we arrived in the studio and we found everything ready. The songs to sing, the subdivisions, the arrangement, this and the other things. After the third album, we did everything together, we created everything with Celso Valli, our producer.
Those first times we did not have this freedom, everything was prepared for us because we did not have the skills to do it.
Now we have them (the skills) and we share the parts, we know each other better and, in the studio, we help each other. It is also nice to see that each of us now has his way to enter the recording room. Gianluca and I sing with the light on in the recording room. Ignazio, on the other hand, enters and the first thing he does is turn off the light. They are small details, but they mean that we have grown and, we have our own way of working.
Between the three of us, we have split up the roles. If there is a problem with the mixer, Ignazio works on it with the producer to fix it. Gianluca is the one who listens to the songs from morning to night and offers: ‘Guys, I discovered this songwriter,’ ‘Guys, I discovered this artist, what do you think?’ I like the managerial part. I like managing, I like to contact people, I like to propose new things to Michele, ‘Why do we not do that?’ ‘Why do we not try to do that?’ ‘How can we get to this person?’ I like us to put our heads together and think of how we can improve. We have a complete professional balance. We have grown physically, but also professionally. Even if we have a new producer, we do not know, we do not have any problems. We know how to talk to him and tell him what we want. This is the most important aspect: being at the same level.”
After this it was off to America for the guys.
Speaking of America! One year ago, we were enjoying the concerts in America! I saw the guys at Radio City Music Hall! Then the world turned upside down!
Pandemic!
What in the world was going on?Literally in the World!
We started hearing about a pandemic. And it seemed the worst of it was in Italy. The guys began to worry. And then, no it was time to leave. Leave now or get stuck in America! It was time! They turned off the lights and went home!
(First message from Il Volo on the Covid situation, sent when they were still on tour in America)
They canceled their last three performances and the next thing we knew they were on their way home. But being true to form, like good children, they checked in with us as soon as they got home and told us they were safe and, they needed to be with their families now.
As you know the guys went into quarantine and stayed there for three and a half months.
Then the quarantine was over and, they left their houses. And something amazing started to happen!
The one thing they wanted more than anything was to get back to work. Well, they did have the commitment with Dolce & Gabbana which gave us a spectacular Sunday event. And there was the concert in Monte Carlo but, something was missing.
At Verona, they showed us what was missing!
But let’s step back a minute!
On the Friday afternoon before the performance, we watched the guys at sound check give a performance to the people who were scattered around the Verona Arena that would rival most concerts. And then later in the evening they returned to the Arena for light check.
Ignazio and Gianluca were making videos with their phones, while Piero was wandering around.
Ignazio get’s Piero’s attention.
Ignazio: “What are you doing?”
Piero shakes his head and asks. “What are you looking at?”
Ignazio (points): “The light that is there.”
Gianluca: “It’s Beautiful.”
Ignazio: “The gorgeous light. Gorgeous! Gorgeous!”
Of course, Piero pulled out his phone and started to video.
But what was it about the lights that got Ignazio’s attention? Well, they were as Ignazio said, “La Luce Stupenda!” “The lights were gorgeous,” but I think he was thinking about the last lights that he saw on stage.
That Saturday night when the guys were entering the Arena before the show they were stopped and asked this question by a woman reporter:
Reporter: “You are International entertainers therefore you know how much the live dimension is missing. But above all you have defined the stage as your natural element. So, how is it for you to return to a live performance tonight?”
Ignazio: “It’s like giving candy to a baby. We are happy because we missed it. We missed it to die for but not only for our personal thing but because this is to me the music slowly restarting with safety measures. But we are restarting it all with Italian music. It’s like I am starting again to grow up on stage and hope that it can be a message of hope for the groups, in the cities, in the emerging local areas who want to start making music. We have to continue making music and we hope for full concerts and full live by 2021.”
It was an absolutely beautiful statement that said it all! What I liked best about this statement was Ignazio saying “It’s like I am restarting it all with Italian music. I’m starting again to grow up on stage…” What did he mean? This time he is starting in Italy not America. He finally feels like he is at home! Bravo Ignazio! You are home.
When the guys arrived on stage, they had a message for the world and all the people in the industry:
Ignazio: “2020 will be remembered as the year where the world would be constrained to be turned off.”
Gianluca: “For the music employees the verb “turn off” means the end of the show, when the curtains close and it is the waiting moment for the next show, but this time the waiting lasted more than expected, the silence was unavoidable.”
Piero: “Now, the world is getting ready to start again! Now the moment has arrived to raise the curtain! Now, we will turn on the music!”
This beautiful statement was followed by the performance of the evening. Their choice of “Nessun Dorma” sent an even stronger message. It’s says we may have to perform under these new world conditions, but we don’t have to change who we are or why we’re here. In this ancient Arena we look to the past while following the path to the future.
Click on the photo below to view IL VOLO’s performance of “Nessun Dorma”.
From their first note the whole arena lit up. Their voices were clean and crisp. Their presence was illuminating. Their notes rose above the Arena into the night sky to let the world know music is back! The final note of their song sent the final message. All three voices rose in unison and their voices sent forth a note that took our breaths away! It said We Have Returned! “Turn on the Lights!”
What is so amazing about this is, over the months since they had left quarantine, they had almost single handedly brought back the music industry in Italy. All the work they’ve done since they left quarantine has been to move things forward in Italy. This includes their most important project the concert in Tribute to Ennio Morricone and the recording of their new album by the same name.
Seeing them back in the recording studio, these last few weeks, has been a joy. Listening to them sing “Your Love,” at Sanremo, even under trying circumstances, gave us hope for the future. This preview gave us a look into the new album which we are all anxiously awaiting. But above all, the guys have Hit the Restart Button! They have played a major part in the restart of the music industry In Italy!
Join me next week as I go back Through the Fields of My Mind and open the door to a new adventure!
Il Volo, in these days has returned to continue their work. The rehearsals for the Morricone event must continue.
Piero, Ignazio and Gianluca have reunited in Milan, where they can also work in the recording studio.
A jump to Sony ….
and at work in the recording studio.
Together with Saturnino (musician and composer) perhaps for some collaboration?
Dinner in hotel.
(dinners are allowed at this time in Italy, only if you are a guest in a hotel)
I want to try to explain this little skit to you:
An aperitif was poured to the boys and Piero welcomes it as if it were a romance and sings:
Piero = Morelli, what a generous wine, I swallowed too many glasses (and raises the glass together with Gianluca)
Gianluca = Gian tonic (he gave his name to the aperitif)
Piero = (still singing) I go out in the open (because in the evening in Italy, at this moment, you can drink an aperitif but only outdoors)
Ignazio = (after hearing Piero and Gian with opera tones, he speaks in Sicilian) Damn, Morelli I’ll drink the Gian tonic !! laughs
Morelli = Damn, you’re in a bad way tonight !!
A few moments of leisure with the owners Morelli and great chef La Mantia.
Repost from Morelli hotel:“Thanks Il Volo for letting us fly with your wonderful voices.”
Morelli (with glasses) is the owner of the hotel, La Mantia is a famous chef who, due to the pandemic, has closed his restaurant in MIlan, and his friend Morelli has made available to him the use of the kitchen of his hotel.
And now a nice moment for American friends !!
Our tireless Gianluca delights us with two short videos:
from the hotel terrace with a panoramic view of Milan
and in the beautiful Piazza Duomo in Milan (our original video preview was blocked, please click on the link below)
Guys, seeing you so smiling fills us with joy and makes us face the days better.
As for the reopening of the concert season at the Verona Arena, there are still many difficulties, because since April 26 the government has allowed the reopening of the theaters but with a maximum of 1,000 people. The mayor of Verona wrote and published a long letter to the parliamentarians of the Veneto (his region) asking them to intervene on this and save the Arena season. I remind you, that the Arena contains about 20 thousand people and making shows with 1,000 people is really senseless, also there is always the curfew at 22.00 (10:00 pm).
Here is an excerpt from the mayor’s letter:
“I bring to your attention, both in my capacity as Mayor and President of the Arena di Verona Foundation, the problem of the ‘opening’ of the Arena Amphitheater and its ‘capacity’ in anticipation of the start of the next opera and extra-opera season In fact, the draft of the Law Decree relating to the ‘reopenings’ starting from next April 26 provides for a capacity of the theaters not exceeding 50% of the maximum authorized. (1,000 people).
It is clear that with these limitations it will be necessary to review the entire Arena programming for the summer of 2021 which foresees for the extra lyric, as the first event on June 5, 2021, the performance of Il Volo broadcast also by an important American television station with more than 90 million viewers, while the premiere of the opera season with Verdi’s ‘Aida’ was set for 19 June 2021.
About a month after the start of the Arena season (opera and extra opera), it is not possible to change the ambitious programming already prepared in every detail and on which the organizational machine has already started.
Therefore, I ask you to take an active part in all the appropriate locations, in order to allow the next Arena season to take place.”
We don’t want to disturb you during the recordings or rehearsals of the tribute concert, but keep in touch with us fans, seeing you is a joy and knowing that you are working for us too, makes us so happy.
As for the Morricone tribute concert, we sincerely hope that everything goes as hoped and that the audience (even if only 6,000 people) will be able to attend live.
The Flight Crew will keep its readers informed on the evolution of all this.
Sometimes whole days go by without anything new happening in our “Il Volo universe”, then suddenly in three days three news and videos that I cannot leave out.
I have already given you the news of the opening at the Arena on June 5th, now there are two beautiful new videos that I intend to translate for you, here is the first.
Michele Torpedine was interviewed this morning April 09, by Marzia Roncacci from TG 2 ITALIA. The title of the special program is “How the Good Singers are Born”.
MR = Here we are ready, good morning welcome back to TG2 Italia.
Today is Friday, we are closing the week, so we are all a little happier. We will keep you company until 11:00 am, today we have a really rich episode “piatto ricco, mi ci ficco”. (Italian way of saying that means: rich dish, I take it).
We want to talk about these characters, who may not often appear, who are behind the scenes, who are however discoverers of great talent, talented people, such as, if I tell you Bocelli, Giorgia, Zucchero, but also the guys from Il Volo: “The talent of Il Volo,” behind all these great characters, who make the history of Italian music, who is there?
There is Michele Torpedine, good morning.
MT = Good morning, Marzia.
MR = So: musician, Michele, right?
MT = Yes, it’s a big word, but it’s okay.
MR = How is a big word? You are very modest, come on.
MT = I’ve been playing for many years, but by musician, I mean something else, but it’s okay.
MR = Do you like it then: talent scout?
MT = Yes, very lucky, but I like it.
MR = I said these names of singers, which would seem almost impossible, instead you are the one who discovered them ….
MT = Because to see me, it doesn’t seem, in fact.
MR = It wouldn’t seem (they both laugh)
MT = Thank you, many are amazed when they see me and think “that’s all?”
MR = They say “Is that all here, Michele Torpedine?”
MT = One imagines that who knows what comes in, a huge, tall, double-breasted man …. and then in the end, I’m all here!
MR = Dear Michele, obviously we are joking, playing, because what we want to do and say today is also with a little irony. But Michele Torpedine really also has a great and beautiful story. In short, you come a little out of nowhere, Michele, you are born in Puglia and when very young you go to Bologna. A modest family and then you at some point you put the gear.
MT = You are very kind and modest …… you exaggerated! But we did it anyway. It is clear that it was hard at the beginning, like all families who come from the south and need to work immediately, maybe you miss school, study, you miss many things, and me and my brothers at 8/10 years we were already at work.
MR = The famous workforce, Michele, especially in the south.
MT = Workforce made up of children and families, however….
MR = But then we will see some photos of you that make us understand that when a person gives his all, and with your determination Michele ….
MT = The important thing is that they are not photos in a bathing suit, then everything is fine.
MR = But no, we don’t show the photos in a bathing suit, but we put the photos next to the President of the United States.
Listen Michele, great surprise for our audience, we talked about the three wonderful guys from Il Volo, here you are we see you embraced with them (in the photo) and we have one of the three with us, here he is ready . . . Piero Barone!
Good Morning!
MT= Good Morning Piero
Piero = Good morning, hello Marzia, hello Michele.
MR = Piero, I was now telling Michele that you are the man of surprises, did you give us this nice surprise this morning, did we get you out of bed?
MT = No, he is an early riser.
Piero = No, absolutely. Today you describe me as the man of surprises, but it is a program dedicated to Michele and it is right to make dedications to Michele. It is he who has been the biggest surprise of our life.
MR = Really, how nice! Listen Piero, one thing about dedications, if you wanted to make a quick dedication to our great Michele Torpedine, what would you say, in a nutshell?
MT = And here I want you, Piero!
Piero = Michele, to friends and people who do not know him personally, I always describe him as a skilled chess player, he knows how to wait and make the right move at the right time.
His greatest virtue is that of knowing how to teach his trade. But what many don’t know is that Michele is actually the real artist. He in us, makes his dreams come true.
MR = Mamma mia, how beautiful, what Piero says makes us reflect a lot.
MT = Piero is actually right, in fact, maybe I am a failed artist.
MR = But Piero said something wonderful, it is a little like a transposition, from Michele, everything he feels, that he dreams, his state of mind, he transmits, in this case to Il Volo, these three guys wonderful that on this, on their dreams, we go to see Il Volo in Sanremo, with GRANDE AMORE, how beautiful !! Let’s watch. (start of a short video of the first evening of Sanremo 2015).
MR = Piero Barone, what a thrill, this is a great victory you had on the stage of Sanremo, you, so international, what effect does it make you see yourself again?
Piero = I always have the chills to see that performance again and I remember those moments, as if it happened last night, because we had been traveling since 2009, we had concerts everywhere, except in Italy and this thing made us suffer a lot.
Now, thanks to Sanremo in 2015, we did the concerts here in Italy and this was a great victory.
MR = Listen, Piero, I remember a wonderful concert, where I had the opportunity to be the only journalist, the one in Florence. Michele Torpedine, you were there. You invited me, and I had the opportunity to get to know all three guys from Il Volo very well and they are very funny, needless to tell you what we have been able to do!
Having said that, in Florence, I remember, people in tears. Piero, how is it possible that you make people cry when you sing? However, yours is also a particular music, isn’t it Michele?
MT = Bel canto and opera win over everything else, always. You also win with whoever is doing piano bar at that moment there. The opera has its own charm, not surprisingly it has lasted for 300/400 years.
MR = You are right. Piero, what are your memories of Florence? I remember the stage was set up like an opera house, with large red curtains, even though it was outdoors. Stupendous.
Piero = Firenze was a tribute to the three tenors, with the participation of Maestro Placido Domingo, on stage to direct the orchestra and then to sing with us, and also the support of the Pavarotti foundation.
I want to say, but many know it, that the tribute to the three tenors, this event dedicated to the three tenors, is an idea born from Michele Torpedine.
We were in Taormina at the pool in 2015, actually a year earlier, and he came at 8:00 am, for breakfast, to tell us this idea.
MR = Exactly, at breakfast Michele you presented yourself with your idea that was born in the night, I imagine.
MT = I don’t remember the time, but I had prepared myself first because I didn’t want to make a bad impression, and then I didn’t know their reaction, I couldn’t imagine. To do such a repertoire, you have to be up to it, at least to be credible, and they did it in a month.
MR = Incredible, how nice that concert was.
Listen, Michele, what anecdotes you have linked to Piero, to the boys of Il Volo, I imagine so many, in so many years that you collaborate together.
MT = Remember … after almost 12 years, Piero help me, we could tell many things.
Piero = Michele, the first meeting.
MR = The first meeting, come on what happened?
MT = We can’t tell you some things, but the first meeting was wonderful, because we were in the RAI dressing rooms, during the Miss Italy in the world program, it seems to me, in Iesolo (beautiful seaside town).
I arrived there in this place, they were 13/14 years old, almost children, they destroyed a dressing room for the joy of meeting us, they were crazy, you don’t know how they left their RAI studios. A disaster, but it was a wonderful emotion to meet them.
MR = Piero, have you destroyed a dressing room? What behavior is this !!
Piero = We were very happy, the first experiences Michele was there, we saw him as a person on the covers of magazines and in the dedications of many singers.
MT = The great thing was seeing them after years, on stage with the myth of music that is Barbra Streisand. Seeing them with her, doing a 12 concert tour with her, was one thing …..
MR = Of course, I can say Michele that you, these guys, and other names that we will then obviously also talk about them, are truly a source of pride for our Italy all over the world.
Now you said …. seeing them very young, beautiful, good, even this very clean image of guys who have achieved this with commitment, is important. Seeing them with Barbra Streisand singing together doesn’t just happen every day.
MT = But then a duet with her, because it’s a different thing than opening concerts. They were guests on the show and she introduced them, which is wonderful.
MR = Beautiful, here they are. Piero, speaking of international experiences, Michele now remembered you with Barbra Streisand, who have duet with her, which is different than opening a concert, they are always emotions that make you fly, indeed, that make us fly, just like your name says, no?
Piero = These are relationships that are born and built along the way. Clearly if you show yourself what you really are, these characters, these legends, then they appreciate you. The tours are beautiful, even the performances made together, but the relationship that remains even afterwards with these artists is beautiful.
MR = Listen, Piero, and also Michele, how do you explain this great success of yours, of three young people, because you are now very well established, even abroad, it is not so easy, there are few known ones and they can be counted on tips of the fingers.
Piero = Our success is the echo, it is the resonance of the music we sing. As Pavarotti did in the past, bel canto is the winning weapon. Bel canto is the most popular Italian music in the world, and it is nice to see in any theater or arena in the world, even in Japan, when the public hears these melodies, written right here in Italy, they go into ecstasy. Our voices also contribute, it is clear, and to hear young people with these voices …. but it is clear that if we didn’t sing this kind of music, it would be much more difficult.
MR = How nice, Piero, I want to thank you very much for being with us at TG2 Italia, I hope to have you here soon, also with the other two colleagues of course maybe also with Michele.
MT = I think Piero should tell you what will happen in June.
MR = Piero, what will happen in June? Verona? I will be there, I will have a double mask, Piero what will happen in June?
MT = Let’s have Piero say it.
Piero = This lockdown helped us to reflect and work on the next project. We are recording and finalizing the voices of the new album that we will present on June 5th at the Verona Arena. It will be a tribute to the Oscar-winning master Ennio Morricone. We will sing the repertoire of master Morricone, with all the written melodies, among other things of songs that we did not know had already been written by the master. We are very excited about this project that fills us with so much responsibility, but responsibility is perfectly associated with adrenaline and we can’t wait to get on that stage.
MR = How beautiful, how beautiful, we can’t wait. Piero Barone, thank you! June 5th we said Verona!
MT = It will be live on RAI 1.
MR = Live on Rai 1 with the music of Morricone and with these wonderful singers, the three from Il Volo, who are truly a preciousness for the world and for our Italy. Thanks Piero, good job, really thanks.
MT = Bye Piero
MR = Bye Piero
Piero = Bye everyone, bye Michele, bye Marzia.
It was a good interview.
Piero said very nice things about Torpedine and full of gratitude.
Then confirmed by the words of Piero and Torpedine that on June 5 at the Arena, the tribute to Morricone.
Soon we will know something about the admitted audience.
There is a little agitation, but a lot of emotion, in just under two months we start “singing” again !!!
This is the first anniversary of my column with Il Volo Flight Crew. Through all the chaos, it’s been a wonderful year for me for many reasons! First and foremost, I had the great opportunity to write about three amazing young men and I got to meet you, the fans, and I had the opportunity to get acquainted with many of you!
Last year at this time, we were thinking this will be over in a few weeks! We know how that turned out! But it seems our greatest concern at the time, was for Italy. Many of you were writing on Facebook how concerned you were for the guys. My column was a direct result of your concerns.
I started by telling you the guys were at home and safe! And, thanks to the generosity of the guys, we were able to follow them on Facebook and Instagram almost daily! My suggestion was we should think about more positive things. So, the column began with us concentrating on where it all began and all the wonderful events in the lives of these young men and even sharing some recipes and interesting facts about the regions they live in.
On this first anniversary I have been invited to start a new column called,Through the Fields of My Mind.In this column, I will be a looking back on some of the memorable moments in the lives of our guys! I will write stories about some of the events that are now forgotten. We will look back while looking forward. I believe or I should say I hope, we are coming to the end of all the sadness in the world and, we are all looking forward to the concerts resuming!
While searching through old videos and newspaper articles I’ve come across some really beautiful pictures and stories that I know you will enjoy as much as I have enjoyed seeing and reading them. I look at the old pictures and I say is it possible that 12 years ago this all began with three teenagers who stole the hearts of the American people.
It seems like yesterday they walked out on that stage at the Detroit Opera House for their first PBS special and sang their way into our hearts. I remember as each one began to sing it took my breath away. All I could think was “If they’re this good now, what will they be like in 10 years?” You know the answer! “Even more amazing!”
The nice thing about all this is we got the opportunity to watch them grow into fine young men. We listened as they grew into their, absolutely, amazing voices. We took them into our hearts and our families. Many of you think of them as your sons and grandsons and refer to them as such even though you have never met them. Many fans have written to me to tell me how the guys helped them through some of the worst moments in their lives. The loss of a spouse or a child! Some said they helped them recover from major surgeries. And some even said, through their music, they helped them through long hospital stays. It was the best therapy anyone could receive. It’s no wonder they feel like they are a part of their families. In some cases, they are the only family that these people have and, our guys don’t even know how much their music has helped these people, especially, over the last year when many of the fans were home alone! But they certainly know how much they are loved by their fans!
I also invite you to share stories with me. Sometimes when I write an article, fans write to me and say, I was at that concert! If you have anything to contribute, I would be happy to read it. I can’t promise I can include everything because my space is limited but I would be happy to hear what you have to say! I have set up a special email for this column. You’re welcome to write to me at: susan.flightcrew@yahoo.com
Let me say one thing that will not be included in my column and which I will not answer questions about in emails. That is anything to do with their love lives. That includes, your opinion of their love lives. First off, I am not privy to any of this information and, if I was, I wouldn’t share it with you anyway. Their love lives are private, as they should be. So, for this one time only I will answer three questions:
Do they have love interests?They certainly do!
Are they flirtatious?All the time!
Do they love their women?Each and every one of them!
And that’s all you need to know and that is my final word on their love lives! If they want you to know anything about their lives, they will certainly share it with you. Actually, they have been very generous with their private lives. They post pictures of their families and events that they attend alone and with their families. They try as much as possible to keep you in the loop! This is something other entertainers don’t do for their fans.
I, along with my colleagues at Flight Crew, will try to keep you updated on all that is going on in Il Volo land. For now, we await the new album and look forward to the June 5th concert, at St. Peter’s Square, honoring the memory of Ennio Morricone.
See you all next week when we start our journey down memory lane passing Through the Fields of My Mind….
Credit to owners of all photos and video.
Come in and share the love of life, friends and Il Volo!
