And the time has come, for the Italian MUSIC AWARDS.
They will be held, as is well known, in Verona, in the beautiful Arena.
During this show, the singers who have had more CD sales or more people at the live concerts, the previous year, are rewarded.
There will be no prizes for IL VOLO, because as you all know, the year 2018 didn’t have new CDs and there were few live concerts.
But our guys were invited as guests, and to promote their work.
Here they are during the rehearsals.
And here in a funny video, where they say “THANK YOU” in many different languages. 😂
Even Torpedine has fun during the rehearsals .
Piero says:“Tonight we have an exceptional drummer, Torpedine. Torp”.
Here on their arrival, with some fans.
They also gave interviews, here is one for which you can use the translator function. Activate it.
This is another interview with Radio Italia(one of the few radios that always broadcast IL VOLO songs).
Man= From the Arena of Verona, ladies and gentlemen: IL VOLO.
Gian = Good pronunciation.
Woman= with a slightly American accent.
Man= They are international artists, guys, come on.
Ignazio= In my country say “U VOLO, more international than that.”
Man= How nice to meet you guys, how are you?
Ignazio= Well, happy to be back at the Arena, we will be back again in September on the 24th.
Man= Will be the final of a tour that?
Piero= Yes, from July we will sing, from north to south, in all the cities of Italy.
Man= Also, you just did a tour in Japan, where you were.
Piero= Yes, a month of concerts in Japan.
Woman = Furthermore, you are young, but you already have 10 years of career behind you.
Ignazio= In fact, look, to Piero, white hair has already grown. It has been 10 intense years, Piero always says that they have gone on the fly. They have passed quickly, intense, we have traveled a lot, but above all, it is a concentration of emotions, because getting to different cultures has always been our goal, and succeeding, after 10 years also in Japan, is something that makes us very proud, and repays us for all the sacrifices.
Piero= In Japan, we were lucky, because they praise a discipline that is ice skating. Their champion, won the gold medal at the Olympic Games on the ice last year, with our song. So, we’re second in the standings.
Man= Boys, it must be beautiful.
Woman = That is, he introduced you to Japan.
Piero= Do you know who is first in the standings?
Man= Who is first in the standings?
Ignazio= Bohemian Rapsody
Woman = But, what an honor, second only behind Bohemian Rapsody.
We thank Radio Italia, and for the interview and always spread the beautiful music of the boys.
The day was long and hot for the boys, but now we have arrived at the time of the show ………. here they are !!!!!
This is the video of the only song the boys sang, but before and after them, there were many singers and …… trust my judgment, the guys of IL VOLO are spectacular, their voices are unique. “I’ve heard so many singers who have sung so many false notes.”
Always in excellent shape, an amalgamation of perfect voices, and the high notes of Ignazio ………. excellent !!
Their live performances, however, never disappoint.
There are things that happen, so, by chance. Remember this beautiful fan-art from IL VOLO that I used for a post?
I found this beautiful image on the officialIL VOLO fanclub. I liked it immediately and so I asked who had made it, permission to be able to use it.
In this way I met Xinjie, a sweet Chinese girl who has lived in Rome for seven years. She is a graphic designer.
We have established friendship, started chatting and getting to know each other a little.
Looking through some photos of her Facebook profile, I found this beautiful photo.
Really a beautiful girl, but did you recognize the landscape in the background? It is just what you think: Capri.
I see Capri and I immediately think “A CHI MI DICE”and the beatifulIL VOLO’Svideo, and I write, a little amused: “But are you perhaps one of the three chosen girls to watch the video shoot?”
And she immediately replies “Yes, I am”.
You can imagine my amazement, of course I asked Xinjie many things about Piero, Ignazio and Gianluca and what she felt during that day.
She had no photos of that day, she had not been allowed to take pictures of it, but the photographer had taken pictures that would later be published.
These days the photos have come out and so I thought I’d do an interview with Xinjie and publish it for you.
Here she is among our boys. That is a nice picture. I’m happy for her, but the envy !!
D = How did you manage to be chosen to watch the video?
X = I replied to the email of the official IL VOLO fan club that asking those who wanted to assist, to send the request to watch the new video resume. It would have been shot in central-southern Italy and asked to make the whole day available. I sent the membership and after a few days, the staff contacted me on the phone telling me where I should go and that I had to keep the secret.
D = How long have you been following IL VOLO?
X= Since I came to Italy seven years ago. I came for study and work and I came alone. At the beginning it was very hard. One day I was looking for videos on you tube and by chance I heard “O SOLE MIO”, sung by Il Volo, it was immediately love, but I had no one with whom to share this interest and on radio and TV I heard little about them.
D = Who were the other two chosen girls?
X= The other girls came from Campania (Italian region with Naples as capital). They were 14 and 27 years old. But I have been more with Sara, the girl from the official Fanclub, she is very kind and pleasant.
D = Had you met Ignazio Piero and Gianluca before that day?
X= Only once, this year in Rome, at the Instore at the Discoteca Laziale.
D = How did they seem to you?
X= They are very beautiful. They are normal boys, but more kind and nice
D= So many people, say they are nasty and haughty boys, to you, how did they look?
X= They are the most sincere and nice guys I’ve met, real angels.
D = How long were you with them ?
X= It was supposed to be from about noon until 6:00 pm, unfortunately they arrived three hours late, because the video footage around the stacks was longer, but the wait was also nice.
D = What did you do when they arrived?
X= They were so hungry !!!! They had not had lunch, so we looked for a restaurant together for lunch. They asked us if they wanted to have lunch with them, but we had already had lunch so we said no. So we watched IL VOLO eat!
Then, when they finished lunch, Ignazio asked me: “Coffee? Ice cream?”, And I said “Yes”, so they got ice cream for us.
D = Were they embarrassed about your presence (as they were eating) or were they very natural?
X= Absolutely very natural.
D = Who was the most witty or who spoke the most?
X = Ignazio, but also Ignazio and Piero together.
D = Did it seem to you that between the three of them there really is an understanding as brothers?
X= They are really good friends.
D= After lunch, did you all go somewhere else or did you just stay at the restaurant?
X = We left but stayed close, they took some scene.
D = Don’t you mind that they didn’t record you in the video?
X= Absolutely not, I thought we were invited only to assist from afar and instead we were together with the boys.
D = You girls could take pictures?
X = No, it was not allowed.
D = But the photographer took some very nice pictures of all you and you Xinjie are really a beautiful girl.
X= Thank you.
D = Were you excited for that meeting?
X= Very much.
D = Have you been to a concert already?
X= No, never, this year I will go to Rome and then to Verona.
D= Do you want to hear them in concert?
X = Yes, at 10,000%, I can’t wait any longer. My Japanese friend who met IL VOLO only this year (thanks to me) went to the Tokyo concert before me, I was jealous !! Also for her it was the first concert and she said she was moved. She said that their voices were divine. She wanted to come to Verona this year, but it’s hard to take this vacation now, maybe she’ll come to Italy for their concert next year if they do it in Sicily.
D= What’s your favorite song?
X = In this CD is “VICINISSIMO”.
D= If you were to win a dinner with one of them, who would you like to go out with?
X= It’s a difficult question for me, because I can’t really choose. Fortunately I have already had a lunch with them in Capri !!
D= Yes, but they ate, and you three girls ate them, with your eyes !!!
X= But they also talked to me a lot. At one point, Ignazio and Piero (especially Ignazio) started talking to me with Sicilian words and then they explained to me. Then they tried to pronounce my name and they were good. Gianluca didn’t talk much, but when they said my name Gianluca said “Who is better? Me or him? (Ignazio)”, but they were good both, they did the right pronunciation. After lunch, Ignazio looks at me and says: “But you’re shy, don’t talk at all,” and Gianluca replied: “She is shy like me.”
D = Were you sorry when you said goodbye? Did they hug you?
X= They had to leave with the boat, yes, they hugged us. Then Piero, from the boat, greeted us calling all our names, even mine !!! Mine is hard to remember, I know, and I’m so moved.
D = After meeting them, do you think they deserve all the success they have or, in your opinion, are too valued or undervalued?
X= They deserve all possible success. They are really the best, most confident, good and positive guys ….. I can say that they are perfect guys.
D= Was it sad to leave them? If you were to go back, would you do this adventure again or is it not worth it?
X= I wanted to stay in that moment, I thought: “Ah, how I would like this moment to become eternity”. And then I realize that it has already become eternity, with the video that has been made. For me it was a divine day. It was my real “THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE”.
Thank you, Xinjie, for giving us all these nice details of your special day, we really appreciate it.
We are all very happy with this beautiful experience of yours and we wish you, with all our heart, to be able to have so many other meetings with Gianluca, Piero and Ignazio.
Surely they will remember you very well, you will have left your mark of beauty and kindness.
When good articles are published about our guys, we all enjoy it and this is a really nice article published by IL CORRIERE DELLA SERA in the section: The beauty of people – The interview. The article is by Maria Egizia Fiaschetti.
Il Volo: “We are antipathetic? Who insults is perhaps ashamed of his origins.”
Irritating, snooty, bimbiminchia (a really bad word that means so many bad things about the guys) …. The “tenorini” del Volo, have received so many criticisms – Piero Barone, Ignazio Boschetto and Gianluca Ginoble – up to the insults in the press room in Sanremo while they climbed on the podium, behind Ultimo and Mahmood, with “MUSICA CHE RESTA”.
More mud in 2015: from a hotel in Locarno they accuse them of having devastated a room. The manager of the structure denies, but the online shaming machine, the web lynching, has already been set in motion. Yet, looking at these three boys in their twenties with the face of those who have learned to manage success but not to the point of not caring about the attacks, one wonders what causes such dislike.
Why do they have it in for you?
Boschetto: “Many do not know us, but in Sanremo we had lunch with some journalists and they changed their minds. We tend to label a person, a bit like judging a book from the cover. We are aware that our music is not in step with what Ghali, Sfera Ebbasta, Frah Quintale do … perhaps we are unpleasant because we propose a genre that pleases, but is not fashionable”. Barone: “Our manager (Michele Torpedine) launched Andrea Bocelli and told us that, at the beginning, he also received the same criticisms”.
As the trappers advance, don’t you fear being anachronistic with your lyric pop?
Barone: “It is as if those who call us ancient are ashamed of their origins … At World Youth Day in Panama we sang the “Hail Mary, Mater Misericordiae” before Pope Francis and a million people. We respect any musical genre and we are happy for the trappers because we do not take anything away from them, nor we from them”. Ginoble: “We make popular national music which has now become a derogatory term, but is rooted in the most authentic traditions of our country”. Barone: “We are unique, we propose a genre in which none of our peers has tried. We do not enter the radio, and we suffer a little, but our strengths are others. We offer the most symphonic version abroad because we are the ones to bring the Italian tradition to the great American arenas after Modugno, Pavarotti and Bocelli”. Ginoble: “But the new album MUSICAis dedicated more to the Italian public thanks to Sanremo, where we proposed a song with contemporary sounds, less set. For our country we have chosen a modern repertoire, which is reflected in the vocal evolution: it is the proof that we are able to excite even with different things”.
You are still boys, but you find yourself already celebrating ten years of career: do you ever think that, after such an unstoppable rise, the public can lose interest in your music?
Barone: “We must know how to reinvent ourselves every day, but without losing our identity. Then, of course, we are mature enough to recognize our limitations. We can’t do reggaeton if we’re IL VOLO.” Ginoble: “It is one thing to manage the career of IL VOLO in other countries, another in Italy. Here you eat pasta every day, in America one evening out for dinner. Our music abroad is a bit like gastronomy, but not only do emigrants like it … (Gianluca says this, because critics have said that IL VOLO’s music abroad was heard only by emigrants = Daniela) Heads of state also come to our concerts, I would like to tell that journalist who, years ago, claimed that we sang in American pizzerias … maybe he doesn’t know that we performed at Radio City Music Hall.”
After ten years together, how can you keep the ego and the ambitions of soloists in check?
Barone: “Fortunately we all come from small towns with a few thousand inhabitants and this has helped us maintain maturity in the group. Then every now and then the spark escapes us, but … ” Ginoble:“The whims are there, especially in times of stress, but we have the strength to look at each other and admit mistakes.”
What are you fighting for?
Barone: “Today, for example, this individual (Ignazio) woke up at 11:30 am while we were already in a meeting at 9 am. He didn’t know anything, he says, but why doesn’t he care? He doesn’t have a secretary, I’m a colleague of his …”.
Have you ever had a fight before a concert?
Barone: “For that matter, even on stage, it happened last year in Taormina. Ignazio is a Juventus fan, who lost 4 to 1 in the Champions League final. To tease him I kept repeating: ‘Mamma mia, how hot it is today’.”
And he?
Boschetto: “I told him: ‘Out do what you want, but, on stage, don’t break the cabbasisi.’ (Sicilian dialect word, the meaning of the sentence is “do not break the balls” – Daniela)
Do you recognize yourself in the image of ancient boys?
Barone: “We are very responsible and disciplined. Gym, healthy food … This generation, on the other hand, scares me. I am worried about the lyrics of certain songs, too explicit, which do not convey positive examples. Once the messages were ‘I’m not worthy of you’ by Gianni Morandi, ‘red roses for you’ by Massimo Ranieri … I don’t say we should go back to that language, but neither boast of not using condoms or taking drugs.”
The transgression, however, has always characterized a certain way of making music.
Ginoble: “The artists of the Sixties and Seventies based their career on transgression, it was a lifestyle. Today it is a fashion. Vasco’s reckless life is true, he had it ….” (Vasco is an Italian singer – Daniela)
Boschetto:“Getting close to hard drugs scares me, I get anxious just thinking about it.”
Are fans writing to tell you about their problems?
Boschetto: “Yes, I remember a girl in Argentina full of scars, she cut herself. She said to me: ‘Thanks to you I don’t do these things anymore.’ Today, they almost instigate you to do it ….” Barone: “It strikes me that many teenagers, when we take a selfie, stay out of the frame, we only see the eye … I ask: ‘Why don’t you enter the picture?’ They answer: ‘No, I’m ugly.’ They fear the judgment of others.”
Yet on social media it’s all a show off.
Barone: “Social media is the spectacle of nothing.”
The old-fashioned air, the antithesis of the beautiful and the damned, does it work?
Ginoble: “At the age of 15 they were already knocking at our hotel rooms in three, four. We watched from the peephole and, if they were not to our liking, we asked the reception to call security ….”
Did you do it even with the prettiest?
Ginoble:“Do you think that three teenagers who are a little unlucky, who find themselves performing all over the world from the country, have had problems getting them in?”
In short, gentlemen or conqueros?
Barone: “The only important story I had was recently closed, it lasted seven months …”.
Why did you leave?
Barone: “I don’t talk about this, but I can say that I’m looking for a simple, dynamic, sporty girl … one that when I call her from the other side of the world and ask her what she’s doing, don’t answer me: ‘I’m bored.’” Ginoble (the only one of the three with a girlfriend): “The woman to marry must be elegant, sensitive, intelligent.”
Like your Francesca?
Barone: “At every meeting he makes video calls, in fact why don’t you call her now?” Silence. A hint of blush, while showing a picture of a bunch of flowers on the phone.
Is that your gift?
Ginoble: “Yes, for our anniversary, on the 13th of the month, we got together in July.” Boschetto: “We are still at the ‘mesiversary’ (month anniversary) … I, on the other hand, have always been afraid of a relationship, if I am not one hundred percent convinced I prefer to stay one step back. I’m not the type who uses women in a relationship, I always put the feeling.”
The next commitments?
Boschetto: “In May the tour in Japan. In summer we will be all over Italy, then in Europe, the United States and South America until 2020.”
Finally a nice interview in a newspaper.
Yes, I must say that something has changed in the critics, towards IL VOLO, after the bad episodes of Sanremo.
Our boys have not changed, but the negative attitude that many journalists had towards them in an absurd way has changed.
Today, April 24th, here in Italy, there will be an interview at IL VOLO on radiovision , or rather two, one on radio RTL 102.5 and one on Radio Zeta.
Let’s start with the direct RTL 102.5.
The program is called The Flight, nothing more appropriate !!
Preparations before the live broadcast:
Start the direct, activate the subtitles.
In the musical interludes the boys have fun.
Here Ignazio is giving the time signal, saying that:
“Even in all the remote villages of Sicily, such as Marsala, Ventrischi and Naro (Naro is called by Piero), it is 4:00 pm!” 😂 😂 😂
The interview was pleasant and they let us hear several songs from the new CD and others already well known.
But now it’s time for RADIO ZETA.
Here is the direct, there are no subtitles, so I translate for you.
Speaker= Wonderful boys, “A CHI MI DICE”, Il Volo. It’s 16.05, I welcome Gianluca, Ignazio and Piero, the boys from IL VOLO, are here, ladies and gentlemen .
How are you?
Piero= Well, very well.
Speaker= I remind you 266 of the digital terrestrial channel.
Look there how beautiful you are, we are on radiovision and also on instagram.
Today the listeners are unleashed, there are so many questions, I have chosen some, so soon I will propose them to you.
Ok, guys?
Piero= I like it.
Speaker= We have just heard live this beautiful song “A CHI MI DICE”, so I would immediately salute Tiziano Ferro.
Piero= Hello Tiziano.
Ignazio= Hello Tiziano
Speaker= Tiziano Ferro who wrote this text in Italian, he loves you very much, and so we also talk about your new CD MUSICA, your new album.
Piero= Our new album.
Speaker= I have to ask you something very nice, how exciting is it, to inaugurate your new album here on Barbra Streisand’s birthday?
Piero= Why, is Barbra Streisand’s birthday today?
Speaker= Of course.
Piero= And do you know what happened on April 24th ten years ago?
Speaker= What happened?
Piero= April 24th 2009, Il VOLO, sings together for the first time, “O Sole Mio”! Do you think it’s a case?
Ignazio= I feel like crying! (jokes)
Speaker= You have already figured out what the atmosphere will be this afternoon. Today is the birthday of this great protagonist, of this woman, who brought you with her, for 13 tour dates. There is a beautiful song that reminds her.
Piero= “PEOPLE”
Ignazio= “PEOPLE”, it’s like a tribute to her, anyway. It is one of the songs that impressed us the most when we were on tour with her and we couldn’t not sing it.
Speaker= You have duet with the older ones really, from Andrea Bocelli, to Placido Domingo, to Barbra Streisand, you have participated in a lot of important things in your life, you celebrate 10 years, I would like to know …….. the thing which has not really changed among you, in 10 years, what is it?
Ignazio= Hunger. (laughs)
Certainly the desire to share music, in fact the album is called MUSICA. The desire for music has never passed, also because we live every day of music, and it is the only thing that understands us and that is closer to us than all, music, also because I think there is a music or a song for every mood and for every occasion.
Speaker= How nice …. from MUSICA, let’s go back to the stage of the Ariston, “MUSICA CHE RESTA” Il Volo. (starts video of “MUSICA CHE RESTA”)
Speaker= Boys, here is Il VOLO, Ignazio, Piero and Gianluca.
Gianluca, are you there? (Gianluca does not speak because he does not have a microphone.)
Gianluca= Yes, here I am.
Someone asks a question.
Speaker= Now we answer him. About this direct instagram, which is becoming more and more lively and interesting …. Ignazio you were very good because you have already quickly remembered the dates of your tour …..
Ignazio= Can I still remember you quickly? (start reading tour dates)
Speaker= Let’s go back to the questions that the fans sent you, we have many questions, I chose two at random.
Erica, asks: Among all your albums, what is the song you like the most?
Piero= Personally, from the last album “VICINISSIMO”.
Speaker= Ignazio?
Ignazio= It’s difficult, I don’t know, it’s like asking a mother who has fifty children, which is your favorite?
Piero= But a mother with fifty children does not exist ….
Speaker= Or anyway a song you are most fond of …. Gianluca?
Gianluca= For me it is “PEOPLE”.
Ignazio= But of this CD? I really like of this CD, “A CHI MI DICE”.
Speaker= And now this question from Laura: “Will there be surprises, in the lineup, in the next tour?”
Ignazio= Come to the concert and you will see it. Yes, there will be some surprises, we do singles every year and then we also sing in duet, and there will be new singles, new songs ….
Piero= Whoever comes to our concerts, he knows very well, that in every concert, we are instinctive, we don’t create a lineup, speeches are always improvised, so every concert is always a surprise. (you can hear the first notes of “Grande Amore” and Piero asks if he can introduce the song): “Gentlemen, you are listening to ‘Grande Amore’”.
Speaker= They are indomitable, Il Volo here, we are with the IL VOLO guys, it’s 4:17 pm, Gianluca put you in the center so you have the microphone all for you and we can finally chat with Gianluca too.
Gianluca= Here I am, I’m there too.
Speaker= So, MUSICA, an album that really represents you well, because all your musical tastes are represented, and then with this cooler pop sound, thanks to Michele Canova, what was it like working with Michele?
Gianluca= Michele certainly gave a more contemporary touch to our vocals and sounds, even if then, it is clear, that maintaining our classicism all over the world, is what wins, because it is what they appreciate of Italy and of the Italian spirit. A bit like Bocelli, these great singers who take Italian music around the world, is the elegance of Italianness that makes us special, especially abroad. But it is clear, that sometimes, daring, doing experiments is not always good.
Speaker= About “bel canto”, highly appreciated all over the world, our Italy, in this CD there are great tributes, There is a Tribute to Sergio Endrigo, “LONTANO DAGLI OCCHI” ….. there is “LA VOCE DEL SILENZIO”, a great tribute to Paolo Limiti …….. now I ask you the question ….. are there any songs that you have sung and that cause you emotion? I have your own song that moves me a lot and then I tell you.
Gianluca= Of our repertoire, surely the tribute to Charlie Chaplin: “SMILE”.
But in this CD, I am very excited, apart from the unpublished works that are beautiful, “PEOPLE”, moves me a lot.
Piero= There is a song that I really care about a lot, which is “LA VOCE DEL SILENZIO”. It excites me so much, because every time we sing it, I think back to my 12/13 years, before getting to know them, because the three of us before we met, took part in regional festivals, and I always sang “LA VOCE DEL SILENZIO”.
Speaker= Wonderful. Great tribute to Paolo Limiti (writer of the song).
Ignazio, meanwhile, think about it and then you will also tell me your song that excites you the most, now we announce the unpublished “VICINISSIMO”.
Il Volo, “VICINISSIMO”, from MUSICA, released on February 22nd, we are presenting it to Radio Zeta, we are with Piero, Ignazio and Gianluca.
Ignazio, then tell me the song you are most attached to. Gianluca said his, Piero said his, now tell me yours.
Ignazio= Honestly, I don’t know …. “A CHI MI DICE”. But instead, of you to us our song that moves you the most.
Speaker= Mine is “CANZONE PER TE”. by Sergio Endrigo and Roberto Carlos (authors).
So, in May you leave for Japan, how long will you stay in Japan?
Ignazio= Two weeks.
Piero= We return on May 23rd.
Speaker= Then officially start with the tour on June 16th from the “capital of culture” Matera, officially opens the celebrations with the IL VOLO concert. Then chase IL VOLO, on June 16th they will be in Matera, then there will be many other dates ….. until September 24th.
Speaker= On your social pages, then, there is everything. There are also some beautiful images that tell of you.
Ignazio= There are also photos of Piero, naked, if you want you can go and see.
Piero= There is also a fanclub, you need to know that we care so much about the fanclub, it’s like entering a house full of friends, people who share the same passion. Our fanclub is like our second family. We always do something with them, for example, we shot the video of the last single, “A CHI MI DICE”, which will be released in a few weeks, and we called three girls who assisted the video …..
Ignazio= It’s not like we called them personally, they won a kind of contest
Piero= Yes, they won a contest, and so they took part in the video shoot.
Speaker= How nice. So they are 100% protagonists and live with you this adventure.
Ignazio= We had lunch together, ate ice cream together …..
Speaker= A quick question, who answers me? What did you try to sing in front of Pope Francis?
Piero= It was an emotion that cannot be explained, but the nice thing about a group is that you have two people next to you who are feeling your own emotions, and that moment was a magical moment, personally I am very Catholic, and then to find myself in front of the Madonna of Fatima, Pope Francis, a million people who were listening …
Ignazio= next to me ….
Piero= Him beside ….. imagine !!
Speaker= Guys, I am happy to have had you here, I leave you the latter seconds to say hello to you from Radio Zeta.
Piero= Friends of Radio Zeta, we are IL VOLO.
Ignazio= We want to send a big greeting to all our friends starting from A to ZETA
Gianluca= From the ZETA to the A, a hug to everyone and thanks for having listened to us.
Piero= See you on tour and don’t miss MUSICA.
Speaker= Thanks to IL VOLO, Grazie mille!
In the Radio Zeta backstage, the boys answered this question:
“How do you expect to be in 20 years?”
Piero= In twenty years we will be … him without hair (Gianluca), I without a beard and he without a belly (Ignazio)
Ignazio = Maybe !!!
Gianluca= Famous.
Ignazio= Under a sofa.
Piero= With a potato chip …
Ignazio= But what a potato chip ???
Piero= With a girl !!!
Ignazio= But you said potato chip …..
Well, even this radio adventure ended, as always the guys tried to be fun.
Their interviews were interspersed with many of their videos and songs, not just the latest album.
I must say that it was nice to see the videos of “GRANDE AMORE”, “L’AMORE SI MUOVE” and “PER TE CI SARÒ”.
On April 25th, in Italy it is a national holiday- Italy’s Liberation Day (Festa della liberazione), but on Friday the 26th there is already a new adventure for you, the tireless Piero, Ignazio and Gianluca.
Often in the periods when there are so many interviews, many repeat the usual questions, so it happens that once you read an interview, you don’t find anything new in the next one. But I found this interesting interview that dates back to 2016 when the GRANDE AMORE Tourbegan which developed between Italy, Europe and America.
It is a very interesting interview that concerns the fine-tuning of the concert, it is very long and technical, so I have translated only the non-technical parts. I liked the opinion that is sometimes expressed on the boys and the final opinion on the entire show released at the end of the interview, by the journalist.
The interview was done for the Sound & Lite newspaper.
They call this “Pòpera” this resurgence of opera in the field of popular music and is a phenomenon that, in our humble opinion, returns a little faith in the ability of the general public to discern a true capacity for musical performance … because, taste apart, the talent and work necessary to develop virtuosity with the lyric voice as an instrument are undeniable. So far, in this latest return of classical singing, the foreign public has been more receptive than the Italian.
IL VOLO became the first Italian group in history to directly sign a record deal in America, before that in Italy.
Since the release of the first album, this trio has been almost constantly on tour in North America, South America, Europe and Italy.
In 2012, in addition to a tour in Latin America and the Il Volo Takes Flight tour in the United States, the group also acted as shoulder on the American dates of a very rare (and very successful) tour by Barbra Streisand, which cemented their fame in the American pop. Since then, every year we saw at least two Il Volo tours on at least two continents. Having been taken away in America at the very beginning of their career and despite a large number of concerts in Italy, until the beginning of last year with the almost fortuitous victory of “Grande Amore” at the Sanremo Festival and with the consequent representation of Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest (third place, but with the prize of the press), Il Volo was still rather unknown in our country.
2015, on the other hand, marked the true return to the homeland, with their new album Sanremo Grande Amorewhich earned a triple platinum record, and a very successful summer tour, culminating in a big event at the Arena di Verona in September , re-transmitted in prime time on RAI 1. Well … better late than never: welcome home, guys!
We crossed this tour more or less halfway, on a date at the Unipol Arena in Bologna, where we found the production manager, Eliana Dalila Biondi.
“I have been working for Michele Torpedine since 2011, says Eliana. In 2013, during a tour in South America, he asked me to follow the production; I am Argentine and, as a matter of language, I was the right person for the role. In that case we did a tour with local productions, 28 dates in 50 days …
This year, instead, it was decided to take the step, organizing the tour in the arenas. We have prepared this project together with Francesco de Cave (lights and show-design) for a world tour, which starts from Italy and then goes to the United States and then back to Europe.”
With the whole production?
In Italy and the United States with the entire production, while in Europe with local production materials, even if we bring the direction, anyway with us.
Is this production a big leap forward compared to last summer?
Yes, also because that of this summer’s fundamentally focused on natural scenery: Taormina and other picturesque places where there was no need for much. The guys really don’t need much … they do the show.
The boys already seem very good at keeping the stage with professionalism!
They are very confident of their abilities, in the positive sense, so they are never arrogant. They’ve been doing this job since they were 14, so they grew up on music and stages. They have that security dictated by experience. On stage they create a very nice atmosphere, thanks to their jokes and complicity with the public: they are things created over time and in many live performances.
How many are you on tour?
About sixty, and if we add the orchestra of as many as 34 elements in each city … we arrive at a beautiful number.
Are the orchestras different at each stage?
Unlike last summer, where there was always the same orchestra, this year due to a calendar issue we chose to take local orchestras.
Logistically, for orchestral music rehearsals, how do you do it?
There is a lot of work that is done upstream. All the material of the repertoire is collected, and our musical director sends it in advance to the orchestras who do the tests independently. Then there were also rehearsals with the Maestro who, whenever possible, anticipated the production to be able to listen and guide the orchestras before the concert … maybe even the morning of the show or, even, in the case of back-to-back long, a few hours before the concert!
I ask Alessio Guerrieri, stage director, if it is difficult to manage, such as artists, Piero, Ignazio and Gianluca.
Absolutely not. Indeed: they are very good. They are not used to doing great tests … in fact when Francesco De Cave arrived, who was new to the production and was planning the show, he asked me: “But how will we explain a show to him in two days?” I reassured him by telling him that he had to do only the lineup and explain the dynamics of the show: the artists would do exactly what was required of them, and every time. In fact they come from a lyrical musical setting and training, so they have a completely different kind of discipline. Since they have to do a precise warm-up routine, they have to eat and do everything according to a fixed schedule. If the show is at 9pm, for example, you know they have to eat at 6pm, and they do the same things every day. They are very square and this is our luck. It is also important as a form of respect. If they give me the time of the show, I send the orchestra at 8:55 pm and the artists are on stage at 9:00 pm. To date we have never started a minute late. They are very professional and attentive to these things. And I assure you that it is not at all obvious.
How much does the show depend on the orchestra? (We asked the sound engineer of the hall.)
Very much of course for classic songs. They are songs that the singers sing singularly (in fact they don’t always sing in three, but they also make duets and solo pieces) mostly on classical works that almost completely depend on the orchestra and the piano.
We also ask the lighting operator for an opinion.
“In the show there is a good balance between the most static scenes, used on classic, beautiful, colored pieces, developed in depth along with the video, and the more dynamic ones of the pop songs, in which we also push a lot, because we have projectors able to move the scene a lot.
The pieces of the solos, which are almost all purely lyrical, are in fact illuminated with very static and intimate, almost theatrical scenes. When there are the pieces in trio, plus pop, there is a director behind them and the director has also coordinated and agreed the movements of the artists on stage.
Paradoxically, says the engineer, despite their young age, they have several years of experience on stage. The presence is there, and the public greatly appreciates it. Everywhere we did the full: it is a confirmation of the fact that they are also strong in Italy.”
The show
Despite my personal tastes, I respect the musical talent of any kind without reservation and I appreciate a majestic performance of any kind. I didn’t know Il Volo before and when I was told what kind of concert it would be, I was very afraid of having to suffer the evening.
Instead it is a really pleasant concert. It was taken for granted that the boys were good at singing, but the lineup includes so many songs with an almost universal familiarity that the interest never drops – even during the moments of speech, in which the artists show total control of the stage and the audience . I am amazed by the audience, made up equally of teenage girls and elderly men out for an annual evening, often with the two categories combined in groups of grandparents with their grandchildren: universal appeal!
The mix is very well done, with an orchestra that even seems to come from recorded tracks (called as a compliment!) and a very sensitive hand in following the dynamics of that type of voice taken with handheld microphones. The sound in the room is very beautiful, especially in the platea (the central and lower part of the theater). We believe that a couple of delays would not have done any harm to offer a greater direct / reflection relationship at the back of the room.
The visual spectacle is truly remarkable. The effect of the video that comes out and incorporates the orchestra is really effective. The inevitable central staircase to the Broadway, with skyline in LED, immediately imposes the tone of the show, but it is anything but a static set design. Even the light design is very flexible: sometimes it offers bandstand show lighting, with colorful or white scenes combined with graphics and lights, in others it looks like a pop or rock music show with backlight. Congratulations.
Even if it was news, a little technical and related to the tour already happened, I hope this interested you.
I was pleased to read the admiration there is towards our kids, from the technical team that supports them on their travels.
It is a very important thing and makes us understand the harmony in the team, also due to the seriousness of Piero, Ignazio and Gianluca, guys sometimes jokers, but also real professionals.
Daniela
Credit to owners of all photos.
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