Tag Archives: Japan

General news

RADIO INTERVIEWS by Daniela

65 Comments
On December 13, just returned from the U.S., Il Volo was a guest in Milan on Radio 102.5, this radio also broadcasts on a television channel and therefore there is the video of the interview.
Before starting the translation, I propose the arrival of the boys at Radio 102.5, as you can see, Ignazio arrives with Michelle 😍 and Piero with Torpedine.
The show is called THE FLIGHT (not on purpose 😁) and the two presenters are La Zac (woman) and Matteo Campese (man).
The part dedicated to Il Volo lasted an hour but was interrupted by various songs from Il Volo. 
M.CAMPESE= Not only on the wave, they have arrived in the studio: Il Volo ladies and gentlemen.
IGNAZIO= Hello, hello everyone.
GIANLUCA= Hello everyone.
PIERO= Hi, explain to me why you who work on radio all have a voice like that (you mean deep, persuasive).
GIANLUCA= It’s a setting that works.
LA ZAC= But it’s not true, it used to be like that, Piero.
M.CAMPESE= But you actually say that you’re a singer.
PIERO= It’s like….vroom…
M.CAMPESE= Yes, because once upon a time we wanted to be pilots and we have wheel friction!
GIANLUCA= Hi everyone, it’s nice to be back, we’re really happy, after a long time, to return to: The Flight.
LA ZAC= We were talking before, we were imagining your passports, how many times did you have to renew them, because there were no more pages to put the stamps on?
IGNAZIO= If I’m not mistaken, I’m on my fourth, fourth passport.
M.CAMPESE= Do you keep them? No, you can’t?
IGNAZIO= Yes, you can, just cancel them.
GIANLUCA= We’ll play cards then, it’s a new game.
LA ZAC= What country are you missing, so to speak.
GIANLUCA= I would like to go to India, or Iceland, or Alaska, they are places we have never been.
PIERO= I would like to go to Sardinia.
M.CAMPESE= Easy!
GIANLUCA= You don’t need a passport there.
IGNAZIO= By the way, you gave me some news the other day, without your knowledge.
M.CAMPESE= Tell me.
IGNAZIO= Your Instagram published a video of a restaurant in Bologna.
LA ZAC= Yes.
IGNAZIO= That’s the restaurant where I went.
M.CAMPESE= That is, when you had a quarter of an hour free you rushed over there?
IGNAZIO= It’s near my house.
M.CAMPESE= Ok.
IGNAZIO= And so every now and then I had sushi there, those quick things….you published that video…
LA ZAC= That of fish made outdoors?
IGNAZIO= My stomach was bad for half a day! (laughter)
LA ZAC= Anyway, let me introduce you to Ignazio, the married man.
IGNAZIO= Hi, what do you mean….
LA ZAC= Okay come on, that’s an achievement, we’ve literally seen you grow, professionally but also humanly and see someone getting married…….
GIANLUCA= Sleep the signs of time passing for everyone!
LA ZAC= That’s right.
GIANLUCA= When you reach that age where you get married and you are no longer a fifteen year old, a twenty year old.
M.CAMPESE= Who sang at your wedding?
IGNAZIO= Me.
GIANLUCA= To our ??? Of the three of us? When we get married we get married alone, not as a threesome.
IGNAZIO= I sang at my wedding.
In truth it wasn’t one of those weddings where you feel obligated to sing.
PIERO= No, you just set up a stage that looked like the one at the super bowl.
IGNAZIO= There was the band, but really, whoever wanted went on stage and did what they wanted. Think my sister sang too. We had fun.
LA ZAC= Well, Il Volo is with us today, send your messages. Soon we will give you a series of dates and information, we’ll talk about it shortly, but in the meantime FRAMMENTI DI UNIVERSO, Il Volo!

LA ZAC= The voices of Il Volo that magically intersect (Ignazio screams saying ABRACADABRA and everyone laughs) I knew it, I try to make a good presentation and Ignazio as usual….
M.CAMPESE= But why ABRACADABRA?
IGNAZIO= Because she said magic voices. (laughter)
LA ZAC= Then in your concerts there is always this atmosphere that lends itself to this type of presentation, but that’s enough, I won’t say anything more! You continue.
IGNAZIO= We are very happy with this album, because it is an album for everyone, it is Il Volo as perhaps you don’t expect it or as you expect it.
I personally am really happy because it’s that side that I liked people to be able to notice and see.
LA ZAC= Piero is showing your side.
IGNAZIO= Ah, ok, the side. I’m also very happy especially with TRA LE ONDE, which we left there, and so I suffered a bit, waiting for the right moment to arrive…
GIANLUCA= TRA LE ONDE is the new single you listened to a little while ago.
LA ZAC= Yes.
M.CAMPESE= The whole journey actually started from Sanremo for this latest album.
PIERO= We returned to Sanremo after 5 years, from 2019, we decided to participate in the festival by highlighting humility and modesty and we titled the song CAPOLAVORO (MASTERPIECE, he jokes)
M.CAMPESE= Rightly so.
IGNAZIO= Obviously inspired by our colleague and friend Gianluca Ginoble!
PIERO= The song was dedicated to him (Ignazio and Piero are joking, meaning that Gianluca is a masterpiece).
Jokes aside, it all started from Sanremo, then after Sanremo the world tour began from Nagoya in Japan, it was April 25th, and on April 25th 2009 we sang together for the first time, in the program where we met.
M.CAMPESE= Was it 2009? So 15 years this year of an honored career!
PIERO= Yes, almost 16 years, we are celebrating this milestone with a demanding tour, 150 dates in a year and a half, so we are really happy.
M.CAMPESE= How old were you in 2009?
IGNAZIO= We were 15 years younger. (laughter)
PIERO= 14 (Gianluca) 15 (Ignazio) 16 (Piero)
M.CAMPESE= Did you recognize the narrative of a slightly sacrificed childhood or not?
IGNAZIO= But, sacrificed……it depends on your point of view…
M.CAMPESE= Let’s skip beyond the pleasantries…
PIERO= Do you mean if we missed some stages?
M.CAMPESE= Yes, that.
IGNAZIO= Exactly, it’s exactly that because maybe you missed the whole phase where you say…can you say bad words??
M.CAMPESE= Yes, you must.
IGNAZIO= Where you do shit with friends…
LA ZAC= Piero turned off his microphone!!
IGNAZIO= …..but we got to know the world….
PIERO= You met me!
IGNAZIO= Yes, what an ass! (laughter)
LA ZAC= You got it, it’s going to be such a fun hour.
IGNAZIO= We have learned many things about the world that perhaps we would not have known.
PIERO= He’s the one speaking, you must know that he doesn’t know anything in the world, ……
IGNAZIO= I met the hotels.
PIERO=….because he travels… and always stays in the hotel, while Gianluca and I go around, see monuments, various things, he always stays in the room.
IGNAZIO= You have 10 more seconds to denigrate me, go! (laughter) Go.
LA ZAC= Well friends, stay with us, more incredible surprises with Il Volo in The Flight.

LA ZAC= Until the end, rightly so, MASTERPIECE, Il Volo on RTL 102.5.
IGNAZIO= You should have said “CAPOLAVOLO”
LA ZAC= Gianluca you have something.
GIANLUCA= I want to say that this song was an important step in our career, especially in Italy, but also around the world it was much appreciated and getting back into the game after 5 years and proposing a project of unreleased songs, the first album of unreleased songs after 15 years of career, in short our fans, like everyone else, know that we have based our career for 80% on a repertoire of “covers” (already known songs) taking inspiration from the great songs of the past and re-proposing them, certainly for those who already have them knew, but also for the younger ones that we had never heard some songs from the past.
So from GRANDE AMORE our construction of unreleased songs began, and then finally, after this project, we can say that we are really satisfied with this new adventure, with CAPOLAVORO, with this album, with the new single TRA LE ONDE, because we are expressing a part of us that perhaps most people didn’t know, so we are satisfied.
LA ZAC= Well your career is made up of many pieces, you have truly conquered every corner of the globe and you have added different things each time. There’s also an appointment with Christmas, we’re there now, right?
PIERO= Now on December 24th, Christmas Eve, Christmas Eve, you will see this concert that we created at the Valley of the Temples in Agrigento. In 2025 Agrigento will be the Italian capital of culture and we created this concert. I must say that we are satisfied because it was really complex to hold the event there, but now we have had the opportunity to see the initial images of the concert and it is impressive to see the Valley of the Temples in that way.
M.CAMPESE= With your repertoire it is a little easier to access those places that are the right setting.
IGNAZIO= Yes absolutely.
PIERO= It’s also the reason why we had the opportunity to sing in more exclusive places, like perhaps the Kiyomizu Dera Temple in Kyoto or inside the Tower of David in Jerusalem two years ago for the Christmas concert.
IGNAZIO= But also singing for the Pope, as much as I adore Vasco Rossi (Italian rock songs) I listen to him every day, but I don’t see him singing in front of the Pope.
M.CAMPESE= I couldn’t wait. (he says this meaning that it would be a really strange thing – laughter)

GIANLUCA= Actually recently Blanco (Italian Hip-hop/rap singer) sang… (in St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican), so it is not only linked to our musical genre. Surely what we want to convey is that it is an experience to live, for example the Nessun Dorma, even if you don’t listen to classical music, it is an experience, something that must excite you, because it is not earthly as a melody, it is almost linked to an energy, I don’t know, universal! Do you understand that there are types of music and writing that truly embrace all ages, it’s almost not tied to a genre, it’s an experience like walking through the streets of Rome or Tuscany, you understand? It’s linked to that sensation there, to that emotion!
M.CAMPESE= True, but is there an absurd location that they proposed to you, like the first concert in space in history?
PIERO= The Kiyomizu Dera Temple. You must know that it is the oldest temple in the city of Kyoto and no one has ever held a concert there, because it is a temple overlooking a forest, so there is no audience there, and because they had to make a special to then broadcast in cinemas in Japan and therefore we recorded this concert without the audience, so it was the conductor or the orchestra who applauded. It was special and I also remember the heat and humidity of that evening, but it’s beautiful!
M.CAMPESE= ….and you can’t forget the overhang either…
PIERO= But it was dark, so you didn’t notice.
LA ZAC= While waiting for this festive event in Agrigento, I would say to get into the mood with the song Happy Christmas War is Over.

LA ZAC= This is the international version (they laugh because at the end of the song Ignazio was humming the song)

M.CAMPESE= Sorry but abroad, what is the Italian song that they ask you to sing the most?
PIERO= The one he was singing (Ignazio)
IGNAZIO= GELATO AL CIOCCOLATO (it is the title of a much sung Italian song).
No, no, you know one of the most coveted is always IL MONDO, it’s one of those songs that….
M.CAMPESE= Where you go, they ask you.
IGNAZIO= …..everyone sings it, our audience, wherever we are, always sing it. Like now we’ve finished the tour in Europe and IL MONDO was one of the last songs on the set list and everyone was singing it.
GIANLUCA= And most don’t speak Italian, so they know the text by heart.
PIERO= Actually, I agree with what Ignazio said, on the European tour IL MONDO was the third to last, then after two or three dates we realized that it was the most awaited and therefore we decided to end the concert with IL MONDO .
IGNAZIO= But then the nice thing, there are a lot of people who meet us and tell us:
“You know we started studying Italian for you. I speak a little Italian because I wanted to understand your songs, because I always listen to you and I want to learn Italian.”
That’s also one of the goals we’ve always had, to be an example, to encourage people to do something good with our songs, whether it’s listening to them, or singing them and learning Italian.
PIERO= The best thing we heard, we were in the U.S. last week…..
IGNAZIO= But did you put THE FLIGHT on because we are guests or is it the title of the program???
LA ZAC= Both!!
PIERO=…… we were in the U.S. in Chicago, a lady comes to us and asks us: “But do you sing PAVAROTTI in your concerts?”
Do you know what that lady meant? NESSUN DORMA was titled PAVAROTTI for her.
LA ZAC= How would the NESSUN DORMA Pavarotti version do?
IGNAZIO= Okay, MUSICA CHE RESTA!

LA ZAC = Now begins a tour called ALL FOR ONE AD ASTRA LIVE in the Palasport, from January 10th in Iesolo, then followed by Milan, Treviso, Florence, Bologna, Turin, Rome, Eboli, Bari and Messina, and then there is it’s the whole European session in autumn 2025, so, in short, the guys are always around.
M.CAMPESE= When they come back through Italy they withdraw 200, like in Monopoly and then they go.
Stay with us if you have any questions, see you soon with Il Volo in the studio at RTL 102.5.
In THE FLIGHT it is 3:48pm.
I imagine people stopping you on the street and out of nowhere asking you: “Excuse me, are you giving me a sharp note?”, coldly, like that!
IGNAZIO = On the fly (immediately)
PIERO= (turning to La Zac) Do you remember I told you about the airport?
LA ZAC= Ah it’s true: “Take a flight to Il Volo” (in Italian THE FLIGHT is IL VOLO – laughter)
IGNAZIO= No, come on, guys, please!!
M.CAMPESE= But it doesn’t happen that many times.
IGNAZIO= Always.
M.CAMPESE= Come on!
IGNAZIO= I swear, always!
M.CAMPESE= But isn’t it true, come on, in Italy?
IGNAZIO= Always, the best thing is that whoever says it also feels cool.  “On the fly with Il Volo ah ah ah”
PIERO= Matteo (Campese) always does this.
M.CAMPESE= Of course, I always do this.
IGNAZIO= Ok, and now what are we talking about?
LA ZAC= There are many things to say, and precisely because there are many we try to skim and say the most immediately important things.
PIERO= A little while ago you spoke about the Palasport. Will you come to Milan?
LA ZAC= Yes, I really think so.
GIANLUCA= Yes, Zac, also because we are returning to the Palasport where we will always play the important songs of these 15 years, but we will also play all the new songs from the new album AD ASTRA and then we are building things for the first time, also in the musical part different ones we’ve never done. So in the musical part there will be some interludes…..
PIERO= Don’t spoil anything….
GIANLUCA= Let’s not spoil but also the beginning, it will be a very exciting beginning, so it will be a show for everyone, not just for lovers of this musical genre.
IGNAZIO= Let’s say that the tour in the arenas will be more of a show in all respects, rather than a television concert.
GIANLUCA= And I would like to say that this summer we were on tour, but now we are going to propose a totally different type of show compared to what they saw this summer, furthermore in Palasport a different concept of tour is usually proposed compared to theaters or to summer outdoor seats. So we are very happy to be able to return to the Palasport.
LA ZAC= We remember: 10 January IESOLO, then Milan, Treviso, Florence, Bologna, Turin, Rome, Eboli, Bari and Messina, then maybe we will also give you the European dates, but then we said that there is also the appointment with this great concert from Agrigento for the holidays, so in short, we will have Il Volo available.
GIANLUCA= Yes, we’ll join you for dinner on the 24th.
PIERO= Christmas Eve.
LA ZAC= Good, good. And now SATURNO E VENERE.

M.CAMPESE= RTL 102.5 at 3:53pm, a lot of messages have arrived in the meantime at this time here, there is one asking if you are planning the release of a new book.
GIANLUCA= No.
PIERO= We are not Fabio Volo (writer)
GIANLUCA= I also wanted to say hello to IRAMA, Filippo (real name of Irama who sang Saturno e Venere with Il Volo), apart from the fact that he is a friend, and we are very happy to have made this contrast of musical genre, which then we are the first to have done it, it all started with MISERERE with Zucchero and Bocelli and then with Pavarotti and Friends which brought this series of vocal collaborations. And then it’s nice to be able to follow in the footsteps of our idols again and with Irama we are happy to have brought lyrical pop to everyone again after so many years, even with Irama it was a beautiful collaboration.
M.CAMPESE= (in the meantime Piero and Ignazio and La Zac were laughing and then Matteo asks why) What happened?
IGNAZIO= Nothing, you’re a curious guy.
He’s right (Gianluca), the beautiful thing is not to put barriers to music, it’s one of the most important things, not many people understand it and so we are happy that Filippo, Irama, has agreed to do a duet with us, especially here in Italy where perhaps our gender is always seen as something unusual for three thirty year old boys and we tend to avoid it, it was like this until we won Sanremo and we are following the path we are following, it is useless to deny the evidence, therefore for we are very grateful to Irama for this.
LA ZAC= Incidentally, just yesterday Matteo and I were remembering the time Barbra Streisand called you on stage: “Ignazio, Gianluca, Piero, Il Volo.”
PIERO= That was one of the best collaborations because in the end we were busy for 12 dates, about two months in the U.S. with her, we weren’t the opening act, we were an integral part of the show and we entered with the background of this song (he hums the tune), a very nice thing, and then the situation changed because we sang SMILE by Charlie Chaplin and when she entered , I remember it was 10 years ago now, she came in with this voice, I can’t describe that voice…
IGNAZIO= Magical!
PIERO= Magical! Ignazio found it and so I have to say that the tour with Barbra was a great school.
LA ZAC= It was also one of the first great goals of your career.
IGNAZIO= We leave you in AMONG THE WAVES.

LA ZAC= Il Volo on RTL 102.5.
GIANLUCA= I want to take a few seconds to thank all the authors, the producers who are truly the best in Italy at the moment, who we have relied on in this year and a half to be able to pull together and write this album, so I don’t all the names otherwise I’ll forget some but thank you so much for your support and for helping us express ourselves musically like we’ve never done.
M.CAMPESE= Thanks to you guys for this magical hour, it must be said!
IGNATIO= Abracadabra!!! (laughter)

LA ZAC= Thanks to Il Volo!! In January in Palasport.
PIERO= Happy holidays!
IGNAZIO= See you in the Palasport.
GIANLUCA= Bye everyone!
Ignazio, Piero and Gianluca have participated in several radio interviews in recent days, I won’t give you any other full translations, also because the questions are repeated, there aren’t even full videos, and therefore I will translate the best things for you, except for one of them, the interview with RAI RADIO 2 which is really very beautiful. Later, perhaps after the Christmas holidays, I will send you the entire translated interview because the questions and answers really deserve to be read!
The short video I propose below is part of the ISORADIO interview. Turn on subtitles!!
The next video is part of the RADIO NORBA interview.
In the short telephone interview they talk about the new tour, the new projects for the new single and the meaning of the lyrics of the new album. Then they talk about the Christmas concert, then remember the dates of the Palasport and wish them Christmas wishes!!
While I’m writing to you, I’m listening to the interview live on RAI RADIO 1, so I can’t keep up with these three who NEVER stop!!
Furthermore, just today on the weekly TV SORRISI E CANZONI TV there is a nice interview with Il Volo.
It will be a magical eve, the evening of December 24th on Canale 5. With the special Christmas Concert from the Valley of the Temples in Agrigento.

SO THE HOLIDAYS TAKE IL VOLO

Guys, the time difference is bothering you!
IGNAZIO= The Melt stops being melted and we become melted….
PIERO= We sleep on the plane and don’t feel tired.
GIANLUCA= We’ve already done 45 minutes of running.
When we reach them on a video call, in Italy it is 7pm and at their place it is 10am. The artists of the Il Volo trio, connected from the U.S., appear relaxed and relaxed. Piero Barone, Ignazio Boschetto and Gianluca Ginoble are in America because they participated as super guests in a special Andrea Bocelli event in California.

On the stage of the Kia Forum in Inglewood (Los Angeles) you sang IL GLADIATORE and O SOLE MIO in duet with Bocelli, with the audience in a frenzy.
GIANLUCA= When Andrea, who was next to Zucchero, announced our entrance on stage by saying “Make way for the young people” a roar could be heard.
IGNAZIO= Enormous affection.
PIERO= It means that, even if we are still guys, in 15 years of our career we have sown. But you never get used to certain emotions.
Now another magical night awaits you: on December 24th you will be the protagonists of the Canale 5 concert, Il Volo – Natale ag Agrigento.
PIERO= The opportunity to admire the Valley of the Temples as you have never seen it. It is a special moment: Agrigento will be the Italian Capital of Culture in 2025.
Will you perform with the orchestra and choirs?
GIANLUCA= Complete package: there will be 120 of us on stage.

Lineup of the evening?
IGNAZIO= If I’m not mistaken there will be 28 steps 😁
PIERO= Ignazio loves to joke, but in reality, as in any self-respecting concert of ours, there will be our successes, unreleased ones, hits like Capolavoro, but also all the great Christmas classics.
What is your favorite Christmas song?
GIANLUCA= White Christmas, in the 40s version of Bing Crosby, because it started Christmas songs as we understand them today.
PIERO= For me Feliz Navidad by José Feliciano
IGNAZIO= I say “Astro del ciel” , because I sang it as a child in school plays. What a beautiful Christmas atmosphere, with family lunches and all the gifts.
Do you three exchange Christmas presents every year?
PIERO= It’s not obligatory, because we think about it when it happens, without waiting for anniversaries.
GIANLUCA= Promise, we’ll make it this year.
IGNAZIO= Just don’t give me books that only you like and that I will never read.
PIERO= Ignazio, don’t do that, come on. This year is his first Christmas as a husband, you have to understand that.
Ignazio, tell me: how did you get on with the decorations? Have you delegated everything to your wife Michelle?
IGNAZIO= No, we made the tree together. In mid-November it was already decorated, because my wife is Venezuelan and the Christmas atmosphere starts earlier, on October 31st.
An essential Christmas Eve ritual?
PIERO= Dinner with relatives.
GIANLUCA= With bingo, cards, but not only: I like many unconventional board games.
IGNAZIO= Panettone with raisins and almonds.
If each of you were a character from the nativity scene, who would it be?
IGNAZIO= Right now the ox, maybe I should go on a diet a bit.
GIANLUCA= The little child who brings light to the other two.
PIERO= Then I am Saint Joseph who will give you a stick on your head. 😁
In the Canale 5 schedule, however, you are like the Three Wise Men. You have just hit the Auditel, even in reruns, with the TUTTI PER UNO concerts, three evenings at the Verona Arena. Does Mediaset already pamper you for other events?
IGNAZIO= With Pier Silvio Berlusconi (CEO of Mediaset) we have established an excellent relationship of trust and mutual respect.
PIERO= The conditions are there.
GIANLUCA= We have many ideas that we would like to realize.

Meanwhile, the 2025 agenda is filling up with commitments….
IGNAZIO= In January we return to Italy in the indoor stadiums, in March we then fly to America for the World Tour.
GIANLUCA= And in autumn we have added new dates in Europe and others will arrive soon.
Good resolutions for the new year?
PIERO= I would quote maestro Franco Battiato (Italian composer and singer) “Being the best version of us.”
What do you wish the readers of Sorrisi?
IGNAZIO= To spend the holidays in harmony with the family, not only at Christmas but every day of the year: this is the most important thing.
GIANLUCA= To put aside grudges, forgetting problems.
PIERO= To watch the concert on Canale 5 and sing with us!
And these two short videos have just been published, they concern the wishes sent by Il Volo during the presentation of the Mediaset schedules!

 

And with this for the moment we want to close by sending everyone our warmest wishes, from all the Flight Crew staff: ✨🎄

O HOLY NIGHT

May the weapons fall silent and peace triumph everywhere. ❤️❤️🙏❤️❤️✨

Daniela ❤️✨

 

Credit to owners of all photos and videos.

Tour News

IL VOLO TOUR 2024: JAPAN by Daniela

37 Comments

The start of the Il Volo tour in 2024 starts from the east: JAPAN.

Here are Gianluca, Ignazio and Piero at the airport together with maestro Rota, leaving for the Land of the Rising Sun.
The first concert is in Nagoya, on April 25th, but there is time for some promotion, so here they are on the TOKAI RADIO for an interview.
And here they are during concert rehearsals.
On the evening of the concert, unfortunately there are very few images and videos, and as you can see, the evening’s program includes very classic songs.

A comment from Japan at the end of the concert:
“The Nagoya show of Il Volo Japan Tour has ended.
The overwhelming singing voices of Il Volo echoed along with the orchestra’s performance….it was a truly wonderful performance.”
The next concert is scheduled for April 28th, so there is time to visit this beautiful country a little.
One evening for dinner.
A visit to Nara and the Buddha temple.
In the following video some moments of the trip to Nara.
In the taxi, Piero shows off 5 yen which is considered a lucky charm in Japan.
At the end of the video Piero has the train ticket to Nara in his glasses and he says: “I am going to Nara, sister of Naro (his town), cousin of the Nari and niece of the Naresi (inhabitants of Naro).” 😂😂😂
Only Ignazio can do certain things, to the embarrassment of Piero and Gianluca. 😂😂

APRIL 28  OSAKA

The rehearsals.
The concert.
The Osaka Symphony Orchestra, where the concert was held, posted this:
“Young Italian vocal unit Il Volo with a sparkling and powerful voice, and the warm gaze of the fans, the performance was full of enthusiasm. The conductor was the very cheerful Mr. Marcello Rota. 👍🏻 Thank you so much for coming. ♪”
A collage of songs from the concert. I think you can’t make videos in Japan, so they were taken without permission.

Click Here to view the collage video

Click Here to view this Facebook reel

 

Click Here to view this Facebook reel

April 30 TOKYO

I would say a great success with the public, I see Piero, Ignazio, Gianluca and also maestro Rota, visibly happy. 🥰

May 02 SAPPORO – The last concert

The tour in Japan is over and this nice article is published in Italy.
funweek article – Click Here

Il Volo conquers Japan:
“Music overcomes the barriers of language.”

Gianluca, Ignazio and Piero flew to the Land of the Rising Sun with their ‘World Tour’ which, which started on April 25th, made stops in Nagoya, Osaka, Tokyo and Sapporo.
The Japanese leg of the Il Volo World Tour has ended which saw Piero Barone, Ignazio Boschetto and Gianluca Ginoble return to perform in the Land of the Rising Sun. In fact, since last April 25th, the Italian trio has enchanted the Nagoya audience accompanied by a 54-piece orchestra conducted by Marcello Rota, before making a stop at the prestigious Symphony Hall in Osaka. And again, at the International Forum in Tokyo with the grand finale in Sapporo.
“We came here [to Japan] for the first time in 2017,” recalls Ginoble who, together with his colleagues, took the opportunity to visit the country. “And every time it’s as if it were the first. We always remain ourselves, singing our repertoire. And this shows that it still overcomes the barriers of language. [Japanese] is a culture that has always fascinated us.”
Barone then adds regarding its popularity in the Far East: “They discovered Il Volo thanks to a song we recorded in 2011, which was entitled Starry Night. So, we had the opportunity to listen to our repertoire and also add our unreleased songs such as Grande amore and Capolavoro. The reaction is incredible.”
Now, after Japan, Gianluca, Ignazio and Piero are expected in Italy with Tutti Per Uno, four special concert events at the Arena di Verona – 9 May (sold out), 11 May (sold out), 12 May (sold out ), 13 May. The first three evenings will subsequently be broadcast in prime time on Canale 5 and will see the participation of numerous important guests from the Italian music scene.
“It will be interesting for us to sing a repertoire of unreleased songs for the first time on tour,” explains Boschetto. “We are very happy to bring back to meet our fans and maybe even new people who started following us this year”. In fact, between June and September, the trio will be involved in twenty live dates in the most evocative venues in Italy while in autumn they will be the protagonists of a tour in the main European capitals. The World Tour will continue in 2025 in the USA, Canada and Latin America.
The Italian national news program RAI 1 also published the news:
During the TG1 report, we see our friends Yukio and Kumiko Kobayashi: hello friends, how nice to see you at the concert.
And now a summary of many beautiful moments spent in Japan.
During the visit to Nara, our boys were accompanied by Marco Ferrari, an Italian who acts as a guide in Japan. Marco had met Il Volo two years ago on tour in Japan and a beautiful friendship was born.☺️
Marco published this video with these words:
“The words of Gianluca Ginoble from Il Volo after the day spent with me in Nara. I am truly moved  what can I say, his words speak for themselves. ❤️”

Click Here to view the Facebook reel

MARCO= How was Nara?
GIANLUCA= I have to thank you because between one date and another, coming here for work we found some time to visit Nara. You are truly number 1, an incredible guide.
MARCO= Oh, thanks Gianluca.
GIANLUCA= It was wonderful. Japan is incredible, it’s a culture that always strikes me, every time it’s like it’s the first time.
MARCO= Thanks Gianluca. I wait for you again.
GIANLUCA= See you soon!
Some photos and videos of extra tour moments in Japan.🏯

Click Here to view the Facebook reel

 

Click Here to view the video

This concludes this beautiful Japanese tour.
Beautiful moments, in different cultures but united by music.
Lots of affection from the Japanese fans and just as much love and respect from Il Volo.
Piero, Ignazio and Gianluca have already returned to Italy, just enough time for a couple of days with the family and then off they go, straight to Verona, the Arena awaits them.
How many of you will be in Verona?
See you soon: Daniela 🤗

Credit to owners of all photos and videos.

Article or Video Translations, General news

IL VOLO TO THE KYOTO TEMPLE AND MORE by Daniela

58 Comments
January 12th, as already announced several times, the Il Volo concert which was held in the beautiful Kyoto temple was screened in various Japanese cinemas.
Il Volo itself sent a video message for this event, here it is..
IGNAZIO= Hello friends from Japan, we are Il Volo.
GIANLUCA= The film of the live concert at the UNESCO world heritage site, the Kiyomizu Dera temple in Kyoto, will be released soon.
PIERO= On this occasion we sang for peace in the world. Go to the cinema to see it.
GIANLUCA= We are waiting for you.
PIERO= Bye.

The video was thus commented on by Weekend-Cinema magazine.

Click here to view Weekend-Cinema article

“IL VOLO”, a new generation vocal unit inheriting the three lead tenors, performed a live dedication at Kiyomizu-dera, a world heritage site for the first time in Asia as part of the World Heritage Series, and has been praised nationally as “IL VOLO to Kiyomizu-dera ~Kyoto World Heritage Live~” Now open. A video message has arrived from Il Volo to the Japanese fans.
Il Volo formed a vocal unit on a popular Italian audition show and surprised many people with his rich singing voice at the young age of 14 or 15. Their one-night-only live performance at Kiyomizu-dera Temple, the Mount Otowa World Heritage Site, will be shown on screen, making them the first foreign artists to do so. Using 13 cameras, including a drone, the video captures footage that normally can’t be seen, such as a blend of the night view of the city where Kyoto Tower sits and the main temple towering over a cliff.
In commemoration of such a precious version of the live theater, a message came from Il Volo to Japanese fans. With the expectations of the live video of the theater, they said: “We sang with hope for world peace.”
The three wear pure white clothes live, but in the video of the message, we will also see them in a black dress!
“IL VOLO in Kiyomizu-dera ~Kyoto World Heritage Live~” will be held for the first time in the Asian area, and it will be the first time in Kiyomizu-dera’s 1250-year history that a foreign artist will be able to enjoy a – Live show premium evening only on a big screen. It will be held in Shinjuku Piccadilly and other locations nationwide. Now available to the public.
IL VOLO: Today our 2022 show at the Kiyomizu Temple will be screened in 15 Japanese cinemas.
Here’s the complete schedule:
12.1 – Sapporo Cinema Frontier, Hokkaidou
12.1 – MOVIX Sendai, Miyagi
12.1 – MOVIX Saitama, Saitama
12.1 – MOVIX Kashinoha, Chiba
12.1 – Shinjyuku Piccadilly, Tokyo
12.1 – MOBUIL, Kanagawa
12.1 – Midland Square Cinema, Aichi
12.1 – MOVIX Kyoto, Kyoto
12.1 – Osaka Stationcity Cinema, Osaka
12.1 – Namba Parks Cinema, Osaka
12.1 – Kino Cinema Koubekokusai, Hyougo
12.1 – Fukuokanakasutaiyou, Fukuoka
9.2 – Cinema Sunshine Numazu, Shizuoka
9.2 – Cinema sunshine Shigenobu, Ehime
9.2 – Tenmonkan Cinema Paradise, Kagoshima

In this photo another article published in a Japanese newspaper.

This is another interview published in Japanese. It is also very beautiful and I’ll give you the translation of it.

“The most intense experience in 15 years of activity” Il Volo’s interview arrives to commemorate the release of “IL VOLO in Kiyomizu-dera ~Kyoto World Heritage Live~”

“IL VOLO”, a new generation vocal group inheriting the three major tenors, held a dedicated live performance at Kiyomizu-dera, a world heritage site for the first time in Asia as part of the World Heritage Series, on January 12 as “IL VOLO in Kiyomizu-dera ~Kyoto World Heritage Live~ “Released nationwide from Sunday (Friday). An interview with Il Volo has arrived. Additionally, additional scene photos have been released, (I’ll share the photos separately -donalee) and special gifts for attendees have been decided.
Il Volo formed a vocal group on a popular Italian TV show, and surprised many people with their rich singing voices at the young age of 14 or 15. Their one-night-only live performance at Kiyomizu-dera Temple, the world heritage site of Mount Otowa, will be shown on the screen, making them the first foreign artists to do so. Utilizing 13 cameras, including a drone, the video captures footage that cannot normally be seen, such as the fusion of the night view of the city where Kyoto Tower stands and the main temple towering over a cliff.
Interviews have arrived from the three members of Il Volo. Regarding the concert at Kiyomizu-dera, they said, “What impressed us the most was the solemnity of Kiyomizu-dera. Also, the warm welcome we received from all the monks left a strong impression on us. It was the most powerful experience in our 15 years of activities to be able to perform bel canto (beautiful resonant voice), which is a musical culture of Japan, at a sacred temple that is a World Heritage Site.” They talked about the warm hospitality of the monks of Kiyomizu-dera Temple, a national treasure, and the solemnity they felt standing on stage.
Also, this Kiyomizudera live performance will be Il Volo’s third visit to Japan since their first visit in 2017. Regarding their impressions of Japanese fans, they said, “We often do various interviews, and we always talk about our Japanese fans. Japanese fans are a role model for fans in terms of how carefully and enthusiastically they listen during concerts. The spring 2024 concert in Japan will be full of wonderful surprises.But before that… We hope that everyone in Japan will enjoy our concert filmed at Kiyomizu-dera Temple in Kyoto last year at the movie theater.’’ We express our gratitude to our enthusiastic Japanese fans and expressed our hopes for our fourth concert in Japan in the spring.
At the end, they addressed the Japanese fans and said, “We talked about the strong impressions we received, but we hope that we can share with the audience the impressions we received during our live performances. I hope that you will be able to experience the feeling of excitement,” they said in the message, wanting to share the excitement they felt on stage.
The newly released photos show various scenes from the live performance, including the scene where the three members of Il Volo perform in beautiful harmony, the way the camera captures them, and Kiyomizu-dera Temple illuminated with colorful lighting.
In addition, special benefits for visitors have been decided. You will receive an original ticket holder with a print of a scene in which the three members of Il Volo are smiling with relief after successfully completing a concert as the first overseas artists in Kiyomizu-dera’s 1250-year history. It’s a useful size that can fit not only live concert tickets, but also movie and stage tickets, travel tickets, etc. Limited quantity.

And this one was published by The Hollywood Reporter Roma. 
You absolutely must read it, it was published in Italian on Christmas day and perhaps you missed it. It was written by Pino Gagliardi who asked very interesting questions about Japan, but also about Sanremo and the habits of Il Volo.
As always, the answers from Gianluca, Piero and Ignazio denote great maturity and also humility.

Click Here to view the The Hollywood Reporter Roma article

Il Volo: We will be in cinemas in Japan (and with an exclusive clip on THR Rome) before arriving in Sanremo with Capolavoro.

On January 12 and February 9, the 2022 concert in Kyoto will be broadcast in the cinemas of the Rising Sun, in the Kiyomizu-dera Temple, one of the most famous and evocative monuments in the country. They are the first to do so in 1250 years. “If we are successful in that country we owe it to a skating champion, their Carolina Kostner”
Piero Barone, Ignazio Boschetto and Gianluca Ginoble will celebrate 15 years of long friendship and music together on the Ariston stage, where they return to the competition for the third time after triumphing at the Festival in 2015 with Grande Amore – a song that won Il Volo the podium at the Eurovision Song Contest – and after having achieved third place in 2019 with Musica che resta. “The first time we won it, the second time we celebrated ten years and now we celebrate fifteen years” says the trio who will be competing at the 74th edition of the Sanremo Festival with the song Capolavoro.
However, the new year will open for Il Volo with another extraordinary and international event. On January 12 and February 9, the 2022 concert in Kyoto will be broadcast in cinemas across Japan, in the marvelous Kiyomizu-dera Temple, one of the most famous and evocative temples in all of Japan with a history of 1,250 years. It was a unique event in the world as no foreign artist had ever performed before on the stage built in the main hall. The Japanese public was so enthusiastic about the show of the three Italian artists that it decided to propose the experience of the show again in the cinemas of the main cities of Japan, from Tokyo to Osaka via Kyoto.
After Sanremo the trio will return to the Land of the Rising Sun with a series of new concerts in April before embarking on their World Tour around the world. In Italy, however, after the success of the two-evening event on Canale 5 last May at the Verona Arena, with many great guests belonging to different artistic worlds on the Italian and international scene, Il Volo will return to the Scaliger amphitheater with Tutti Per Uno (a project by Michele Torpedine) with three dates in May.
Where are you right now?
Gianluca Ginoble: I’m in Abruzzo.
Ignazio Boschetto: I’m in Bologna.
Piero Barone: I’m also in Bologna.
How did you end up singing at the oldest temple in Kyoto?
Piero Barone: You must know that in Japan everything was born a few years ago, compared to the United States and Latin America where we have been doing concerts since 2009. Five years ago this strong request arrived, because one of their ice skaters, their champion Yuzuru Hanyu – if we had to make a comparison we could say their Carolino Kostner – he won the ice skating Olympics to the tune of Notte stellata, a song sung by us, recorded in 2011 on our first album.
A piece that we have perhaps never sung live, except in the first concerts. We suddenly received many requests for live performances in Japan and also to be hosted on various television programs. From there our journey in Japan was born.
Haven’t you even been there on holiday?
Piero Barone: No, never! A whole new world for us because we didn’t know that culture. It had been described to us in different ways, but if you don’t go and experience it you can never understand what they are like and above all what their way of living life is – respect for everything and everyone.
Do you remember your first time?
Piero Barone: If I’m not mistaken in 2017. We did our first tour and our first guest appearances on Japanese television programs. In August two years ago we received this beautiful request from those who deal with the protection of the temples of the city of Kyoto. the city of a thousand temples.
They renovated and inaugurated, after a year, the oldest temple in the city: the Kiyomizu-dera. To inaugurate it they expressed the desire to have Il Volo singing inside the columns of that temple, but the characteristic of this sanctuary, which differentiates it from all others, is that it is located overlooking a forest. It was very humid. We arrived dressed in white to sing for no one, in the sense that we had no audience in front of us. It was also difficult to take it back, a particular experience.
Have you felt the spirituality of that place?

Gianluca Ginoble: Each of us experiences spirituality in a very personal way. We define ourselves as spiritual people, certainly not just children of our culture. Japan is such a different place, totally distant, Buddhism and Shinto are strong there. We have adapted to this culture and made it our own, trying to transmit what are also our musical and cultural traditions.
Because it is paradoxical to interpret a musical genre that is linked to our culture in a Buddhist temple. And that’s where the great contrast was successful. This shows that what we do overcomes the cultural barriers of language and music.
The practice of opera singing officially entered the representative list of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity a few days ago. Is it your credit too?
Gianluca Ginoble: We are very proud to bring a piece of our culture. Because then we have seen over time that this type of music is truly what is considered the true Italian spirit, the true tradition, like pizza, spaghetti, Ferrari. It is certainly opera singing that allows us to interpret a certain type of music in such a prestigious place. 
What type of repertoire did you choose for the occasion?
Ignazio Boschetto: In Japan we have always sung the most classical repertoire as a tribute to the three tenors. From there we continued in the wake of the most beautiful classic areas. The nice thing though is that at the end of the concert the last songs are Grande amore and L’amore si move and all the Japanese are there singing with us. And it’s great to see how our repertoire can vary from classical to even something more pop even in Japan.
Every year many opera singing students come to our conservatories from those countries.
Piero Barone: There is a strong attraction from the Asian world towards us and I believe it has always been there. Perhaps today many more young people are approaching this world. Clearly they come to study in Italy because perhaps we have one of the best methods for teaching this art and this way of singing.
There are also many of our compatriots who love this musical genre, opera, and who know what it requires and what studying an opera entails. That is, studying every day. Personally, I frequent opera circles, because in parallel with all this, for a personal thing, I am also preparing an opera journey, studying the arias of the operas.
In this musical genre you are the only ones to have broken into the mainstream.
Piero Barone: Perhaps we are one of the few cases in the musical panorama who sing this genre. For this reason we had many difficulties in the first years, from 2009 to 2015, until we arrived at the Sanremo Festival with Grande Amore. At that point we also managed to conquer the Italian market, because before obviously we were seen as those who sing songs like ‘O sole mio’, those of the Italian tradition abroad. Italy required something new from us, and thanks to Grande Amore the Italian market also opened up for us.
Gianluca Ginoble: This is the right interpretation, in the sense that it is a great truth that we have observed over time. If you sing Nessun Dorma, you won’t attract young people. If, however, you acquire prestige before singing Nessun Dorma, then you capture their attention, because you can convey that type of music first through the credibility of an unreleased song, and with that you arrive at the modernization of Bel Canto.
Thanks to an unreleased song you can attract young people and then you also make them listen to the more classic things. But if you don’t get there first with that, the young people unfortunately don’t arrive, and we see it in the audience who comes to see us, singing only the classical repertoire, which obviously only attracts the older audience.
Will you still use the Festival for this purpose?
Ignazio Boschetto: We already did it in 2017. Having won Sanremo with Grande Amore has brought us a lot of young people who find themselves at our concerts to listen, often for the first time, to Nessun Dorma.
Gianluca Ginoble: Exactly, and it’s really the only way, because opera anyway, and Piero can confirm this, requires a lot of sacrifice. How to learn to play an instrument, the piano, the guitar. Opera is the one that uses the instrument of the voice to the maximum. Surely you can’t get better results with little effort, unfortunately people no longer approach sacrifice. But we also want to be an example from this point of view.
Your Japanese concert will soon be broadcast in cinemas in the Land of the Rising Sun, will you go and promote it?
Piero Barone: No, we won’t go because we have already done a lot of promotion in the past few days with interviews via Zoom, we have been very busy here in Europe. We will go on a ten-day tour in April because we have four concerts as well as several hosted on television.
How are you preparing to face these concerts?
Piero Barone: The Japanese tour set is different from all the other concerts we usually do because we will have a significantly superior orchestra. The orchestral staff will be made up of many more musicians who will be trained by our great conductor, Marcello Rota, who knows what our requests are and knows us well.
Ignazio Boschetto: We will arrive two days early to rehearse our repertoire. Clearly the set list changes in each tour, but usually they are all songs that we rehearse in Italy.
Will you also include the new Sanremo song?
Piero Barone: Hoping it gets there too.
Ignazio Boschetto: Maybe we’ll do the symphonic version.
Ready for the Festival?
Gianluca Ginoble: We were born on that stage which for us on an emotional level is home. Coming back there nine years after the victory, five years after third place, doing it now as thirty-year-olds, is like showing a different version of us. A maturity that we want to show to the public, to our fans, and not only that, perhaps to an even wider audience. We will try to give our best, to truly convey a more mature Il Volo.
Piero Barone: We are going with a different spirit this year to Sanremo, with much more awareness, but we are also much more serene, because before we were always anxious. We are going in the spirit of celebrating these fifteen years, because for us it is a huge achievement.
Being still here is already an achievement, few realize that being a single artist is different from being a group, where there are different ideas, there are always moments of tension, because the ideas perhaps don’t match one another. ‘other. So even demonstrating this esteem that exists between all three is a good result.
Maturity will also involve a change of look, given that you have been dressed like adults practically since you were born.
Gianluca Ginoble: Do you mean that when we were sixteen we dressed like sixty-year-olds?
Ignazio Boschetto: We dressed like adults because it was Bel Canto that necessarily led us to be elegant and dress in a certain way.
Will you be classic this time too?
Gianluca Ginoble: It’s normal that our strength was initially seeing three kids our age with adult voices. That was the key that allowed us to reach so many people. Today we are thirty years old and there will certainly be an evolution, because always being the same, remaining in a comfort zone, does not lead to growth. A little risk is part of progress.
Ignazio Boschetto: I don’t know if others agree with me, but I think that when we were younger we had to maintain a certain distinction in what we did. Now there won’t necessarily be a change of look other than just showing what our three true personalities are.
Piero Barone: A bit like we did with Tutti Per Uno, which was a forerunner of a work that will lead to a new wave next year. We will always be Il Volo and we will never change. Because when we tried to do something too different it went very badly, because we lost our authenticity. So that will always remain, but we must always try to overcome ourselves.
You are the only ones who have been successful among those who emerged from Ti Lascio Una Canzone, the talent that launched you.
Piero Barone: We wish all people to live by and with music. Clearly this is a demanding job. And the most important thing, perhaps our greatest fortune, I believe was to meet people who still collaborate with us, good people, great professionals, like our manager Michele Torpedine, who work 24 hours a day on this project from first day.
We too have had quite particular, turbulent periods, but with seriousness and dedication, we have always overcome everything. There are those who are luckier and those who are less fortunate in meeting people who really care about your project. We also kept in touch with other contestants, we don’t talk much, but we see that other guys continue to sing too. This is really the most important thing, cultivating your passion. We wish everyone to live with music.
Gianluca Ginoble: We succeeded because there are three of us, because maybe if they hadn’t put us together we would never have made it, or maybe the process towards success would have been much slower.
You have to thank Roberto Cenci who invented the trio (Roberto Cenci was the director of TI LASCIO UNA CANZONE, he had the idea of uniting Piero, Ignazio and Gianluca, who had presented themselves individually for the programme)
Piero Barone: It was he who put us together. He was the producer of TI LASCIO UNA CANZONE. We made the auditions individually with him in November 2008 and chose us. Then we reminded him of the three small tenors and joined us.
Gianluca Ginoble: Let’s say that Roberto Cenci is the one who took the three matches and Michele Torpedine lit them. So they were both important and it is right to thank all the people who precisely made us what we are today.
You took part in the soundtrack of the film Hidden Moon composed by Luis Bacalov with the song Hidden Moon, would you like to continue with cinema?
Gianluca Ginoble: A beautiful memory. We recorded the song in 2013 on the second album where there were many unreleased songs. In Mexico it was a great success, where among other things there is a very beautiful Spanish version. Having one of our songs in a successful Italian film, why not? There are many artists like Laura Pausini who have already won the Golden Globe or Davide Donatello. We are very ambitious and will work hard to make these things happen one day.
Piero Barone: Also because today Italian cinema is highly esteemed abroad and is producing great results.
Do you have any cinematographic preferences?
Gianluca Ginoble: Paola Cortellesi’s latest film is very interesting. I really like Christopher Nolan. I loved Oppenheimer very much but also Interstellar, in short all his films.
Piero Barone: There is always tomorrow. Beautiful! It reminded me a lot of Roberto Benigni’s Life is Beautiful. I am a fan of Quentin Tarantino.
Ignazio Boschetto: I don’t go to the cinema often, I really like Italian cinema. I have a great passion for Edoardo Leo, who I like a lot as an actor. I like cult films like The Green Mile or The Truman Show, for me they are brilliant.
You sing in different languages, Italian aside, which was the easiest and which was the most difficult?
Piero Barone: Perhaps the one we did best is Spanish, we often sing it when we go on tour in South America or Spain. We always record the version of each recording project in Spanish. However, the one that has failed so far is French because during a concert we forgot the lyrics of a song.
Ignazio Barone: But it’s not that it turned out badly, it’s where we had a little more difficulty remembering the words of a French song. German was difficult for me. We recorded Silent Night in German. And for me that was the most difficult, especially for the pronunciation.
Gianluca Ginoble: I like singing in English more than in Italian.
Is it better to sing in Pompeii where you gave a concert in 2015 or in Kyoto?
Gianluca Ginoble: Sorry Italy, but definitely better in Kyoto. I would go and live in Japan. The culture is wonderful.
Ignazio Barone: I remain neutral.
Piero Barone: Pompeii for me! See this is the nice thing about being three.
This last interview was really very long, but I hope you enjoyed it, as I did.
I won’t go on too long, I just want to point out to you in the first video, dedicated to the Japanese public, our young men have a completely different look from what we saw for the communication of the Sanremo song. I want to say and underline that Il Volo will absolutely not lose its identity, but will adapt to the moment and the type of fans. They are multi-faceted chameleon singers, so they can allow this.
Daniela 🤗

 

Credit to owners of all photos and videos.

Album Reviews, Concert Photos/Reviews

IL VOLO: FESTIVAL INTERNACIONAL CHIHUAHUA AND MORE by Daniela

44 Comments
When Il Volo is in Mexico it is a jubilation, a party for everyone.
Every person has their own way of showing affection towards their favorites, and the Mexican people certainly do not lack a voice.
There is really a lot of enthusiasm and participation, as demonstrated by the sound check that you can see in these short videos.
Il Volo is the guest of honor at the final of FICH2023, the Festival Internacional Chihuahua. The event took place in Plaza De Angel in Chihuahua, a beautiful, completely free concert.
Here is the song list:

And here’s what the Festival Internacional Chihuahua published.
Majestic closing of the Festival Internacional Chihuahua and the FICUU with a concert by Il Volo.
Over 20 thousand people applauded the performance of the Italian trio who delighted the audience in Plaza de Angel.
From midday the followers of the famous group met in the square to reach the best sites and admire their idols, managing to exceed the figure of 20 thousand attendees at the event.
The musicians of the Orquesta Filarmónica del Estado de Chihuahua arrived on stage at 8.30 pm where, directed by maestro César Velázquez Hernández, they would accompany “Il Volo” in his interpretations.
The chords of “Ecstasy of Gold” were played when Gianluca Ginoble, Ignazio Boschetto and Piero Barone, members of the internationally renowned group, appeared on stage showing off their great vocal talent.
In front of the excited cries of the audience, at 9.40pm the music of mariachis resounded as they took to the stage singing the well-known theme song by José Alfredo Jimenez “Ella” followed by “Si ci dejan”, both melodies interpreted in perfect Spanish by the singers.
The concert closed with his greatest success “Grande Amore”, in front of a unison ovation from the audience who applauded such a wonderful interpretation standing up.
Thanks Chihuahua, see you next year!

There are many videos, but I have chosen some which, although not very clear, make us hear the beautiful and numerous songs in Spanish that were performed.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oReb5H7JD6k

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TszG7IYj5Dg&t=6s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rJzt7-CetE&t=29s.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqBVjdMHyzY

The moment in which a fan expecting a baby asks to read the letter in which the sex of the unborn child will be discovered… a little girl!!

 

 

Truly a beautiful event, furthermore it is certainly a positive recharge for Ignazio, Gianluca and Piero to have had the affection of so many people again and it confirms that their songs and their way of singing are really liked.
Before leaving for Mexico, Il Volo was also the protagonist of a private event in Taormina.

 

Do you remember a year ago, Il Volo in Japan had a performance at the Kiyomizu Temple behind closed doors. Now that event is a film and will be shown in 15 Japanese cinemas in January. 🥰

Dates for 4 concerts in Japan have also been published.
April 25 NAGOYA
April 28 OSAKA
April 30 TOKYO
May 2 SAPPORO

Ignazio has started broadcasting FlokiBar live again on Twitch bosky_tv. In the first live broadcast the topic concerned commenting on videos sent by “new singers” and Bruno Farinelli, drummer of Il Volo, was also present. 😁

Then there was the publication of “explosive” news given by three journalists, namely that IL VOLO will be present at Sanremo 2024 as competitors…….oh my God!! 😱
I honestly think it’s good news, but also very fearful, first of all I hope  that the votes take quality into account and that there aren’t the usual prejudices about our young men, who will surely now be able to respond properly, they’re no longer kids of the past, they are mature men and have certainly thought carefully about their possible participation, but I must tell you that the news is not official yet, so let’s see what happens. 🤔
Here is the video that gives the news of Il Volo’s participation in Sanremo.
LATEST NEWS, the new IL Volo per Natale EP was released today, Friday 3 November.

Our three loved ones dressed in red are beautiful. ❤️❤️❤️

There are only 4 songs:

HAPPY XMAS (War is over) 

AMAZING GRACE

O TANNENBAUM

FELIZ NAVIDAD

We will listen to these 4 Christmas songs with joy, and at a continuous pace! 🥰
……and let’s not forget that Piero, to rest a little, will participate in the New York Marathon on Sunday 5 November. Seems he will have the number 38750.
We wish Piero GOOD LUCK!! 💪👍 😘

What do I have to say?
So much beautiful and new news, there isn’t a moment’s pause as there is immediately something new and I’m sure that our men will have more surprises coming!!
See you soon: Daniela 🤗

 

Credit to owners of all photos and videos.

Article or Video Translations, Our Stories

INTERVIEW WITH IL VOLO IN JAPAN by Keisyuu

17 Comments
Today I come back to you with a nice interview.
It is not a simple Italian interview, far from it. In August 2022, Il Volo went to Japan for three concerts, this interview was released the day before the last concert, of course it’s all written in Japanese and I don’t know anything about this language, but our Chinese friend Xinjie, that you have already met here in Flight Crew in two posts : (https://ilvoloflightcrw.com/2019/06/03/capri-history-of-a-meeting/), (https://ilvoloflightcrw.com/2019/07/05/roma-my-first-concert-by-xinjie/) and that you see here in the photo together with Il Volo and two other fans in Capri.

Xinjie contacted me telling me that she translated an interview for a friend and then she thought that the same interview could be appreciated by all the readers of Flight Crew and all the fans of Il Volo, so she sent me the beautiful translation.
From now on, Xinjie will be our eastern correspondent, under the name of KEISYUU. ☺
Thank you on behalf of all, all fans will appreciate this read!! ☺😘
Daniela 🤗

INTERVIEW WITH IL VOLO IN JAPAN

Japanese fans are very polite and elegant. The strong love from everyone can be clearly felt even on stage. (Gianluca)
INTERVIEW: YUKO KATO

I interviewed them the morning before the show in Nagoya. This time, there was also a live recording at Kiyomizu Temple, and Il Volo stayed in Japan for a long time. They had plenty of time to enjoy Japan. What was troubling was the heat of summer in Japan, and even at Kiyomizu Temple, the makeup was ruined by the dripping sweat, and had to be fixed for each song. Because of that, the three got tired of the heat. Just before the interview, the location was changed to a hotel, therefore photography was not allowed.

On the other hand, they enjoyed Japanese cuisine. “Those boys would be happy every day if they eat sushi”, I was told so by people involved. But in addition to sushi, it seems that they have discovered new favorites such as okonomiyaki.

Well, much earlier than the interview time, Piero comes first. Next is Gianluca. And Ignazio is on the verge. Ignazio, who was greeted with a cold gaze from both of them, “Isn’t it just the correct time!? I’m not late,” he said, showing off his watch and making a big appeal. The two smiled wryly. Probably he’s always doing it.

— I heard that you recorded a live video at Kiyomizu Temple without audience,  I wanted to see it live.

Piero Barone: It was a great experience. We make music called bel canto, which is an Italian tradition, and thanks to bel canto, we can sing in many beautiful places. This is also true in Italy, and again we can sing in a very beautiful temple in Japan. Kiyomizu Temple is the most important temple in Kyoto and has a great history, so it was really an honor to sing in such a wonderful place. It’s a very small place, so we couldn’t let the audience in, but I hope you enjoy what we’ve done by watching the video. Personally, I feel that Japanese culture and Italian culture are very compatible. Anyway, it has become an unforgettable memory for a lifetime, and I will continue to talk about live performances at Kiyomizu Temple in the future.

— How did you feel about performing at a Buddhist temple? 

PIero: We respect all religions. In fact, before the performance, we asked the monk of the temple to offer a prayer. Honestly, I didn’t understand what was said.. ( bitter smile). But we also have a lot of respect for that.

— But the high temperature and humidity made it difficult for you, didn’t they? You spent nearly 4 hours in the heat, right?

Gianluca: No, it didn’t affect the singing. But it was hard for the hair! That was the only problem (laughs).

Everyone: (laughs).

Gianluca: Two years ago we gave a Christmas concert at St. Peter’s Basilica in front of the Pope, and it was very cold. It was harder back then. Personally, it’s much harder to sing in the cold than it is to sing in the heat.

Ignazio: By the way, the performance at Kiyomizu Temple started recording around 9pm and ended around 1am.

Gianluca: Everything was perfect for us. It is the first time that overseas artists perform at Kiyomizu Temple. It is truly an honor and I will never forget it.

— When is this video going to be distributed?

Piero: It will be in September. (Note: Published on September 18)

— We’ll look forward to it. By the way, I recently released “Grande Amore” featuring Japan’s Little Glee Monster. Whose idea was this?

Piero: It was originally an idea from the label, but we also like Little Glee Monster very much that we wanted to collaborate.

Ignazio: We’ve wanted to collaborate on Grande Amore with Japanese artists for a couple of years. And have already done the same thing with the Brazilian and German artists. When we told the Japanese label about it, they looked for different artists and we chose Little Glee Monster.

— Did you actually meet these girls?

Piero: No, unfortunately we didn’t. We invited them to our show, and they’re also on the tour right now.

— That’s a pity.

Ignazio: It’s the first tour after years, so that’s actually a good thing! Because of the pandemic, we spent our days without doing anything at home.


— The Tokyo and Osaka shows are over, how did the audience react?

Gianluca: It was fantastic, the Japanese fans have always given us so much love from the first day, it is exactly the “Grande Amore”. Japanese audiences are very different from audiences in other countries.

— Oh, really? How?

Gianluca: Japanese fans are very polite and elegant. They have the utmost respect for artists, and the strong love from everyone can be clearly felt even on stage. I feel that Japanese culture and traditions are very unique in all aspects, and it means so much to us that Japanese people show so much love for Italian artists on the other side of the world.

— You have prepared a special set list for Japan, right?

PIero: Oh, yes. We talked to the conductor and the orchestra and changed the set list a little bit. Japanese fans prefer classical and symphonic songs, so we sing songs that we don’t do in other countries. As a result, it became a very long set.

— There are 28 songs in all.

PIero: Yes, that’s a pretty long show. But that’s how we love to sing on stage. We love sharing our music with everyone and we always want to do something special for our fans in Japan.

— Singing 28 songs for 2 hours non-stop is amazing.

Ignazio: Every night.

Gianluca: Just like football players. Some players play non-stop for 90 minutes. Of course, we don’t miss our daily training, too. It’s our job, also our passion. This is our lifestyle.

— Can you tell me the highlights of the show?

Piero: Uhmm…For me it’s the first song. You get on stage and see all sorts of new faces, I like to see everyone’s facial expressions that shine brightly when I start singing the first song. We’ve had great reactions in Tokyo and Osaka, and I hope we get the same reactions here in Nagoya.

— I’ve read a few live reviews by fans, and some have said they were so emotional that they brought tears to their eyes.

Piero: I’m glad for that.

Ignazio: At the beginning of the show, I always say, “Tonight is going to be a night full of emotions. I want you to have a lot of fun, to be emotional, to cry, to laugh. “ That’s the right way. You can be emotional, you can have fun, and that’s the beauty of our music. We love what we do and we do it with passion. Of course it’s a business, but before that there’s a lot of passion and love for music.

Gianluca: We’re doing this music for the elderly who’ve been hearing bel canto and the Three Tenors, and for the younger generation who don’t know that. We want to follow those whom we respect and convey this genre to the future.

— Japanese young people don’t listen to classical music very much, so that’s the problem.

Gianluca: It’s the same in any country, it’s normal. This genre is not so commercial. Pop has always been commercial, while classical is not. Even in this way, the existence of The Three Tenors has prevailed in the world.

Piero: (Luciano) Pavarotti at the top of the list.

Ignazio: The younger generation grew up listening to commercial music from the time they were born, so it’s hard to let them listen to classical music. The music used in TikTok, Instagram, etc. is also easy to listen to. Like rap or electronics. So, there are a lot of young people who don’t know this kind of music, and they have to discover it by themselves. Of course, I’m not saying that you should only listen to this kind of music, but I think it’s best to listen to a variety of music, but I also want them to listen to this kind of music we do, and through that, I hope them can get a sense of comfort and feel a lot of emotion. I’m not saying it’s wrong to listen to commercial music.

Gianluca: Yeah, we listen to a lot of music ourselves. From Elton John to Elvis Presley, The Weekend, Michael Jackson…

Ignazio: Ariana Grande, Drake…

Gianluca: Yes, that’s right. We listen to everything. Music is a part of our life.

We’re currently working on a very big new project while touring (Piero)

— Do you (Piero) also listen to music other than opera? I can’t imagine…

PIero: Certainly. After all, I have the strongest passion for opera, but as a singer, I have to broaden my horizons while listening to other genres of music!

Gianluca: Can you imagine listening to only one genre in your life? You can also say that about food. It’s like that I go to Japan and look for Italian restaurants. If you only eat the same food, only listen to the same music, you can’t grow and can’t expand your horizons. You have to try a lot of things anyway. Regardless of the genre, you should enjoy good quality music and good food.

Ignazio: Because you may be the one who limits yourself the most. I have to get rid of it first.

— Ignazio, you’re interested in producing, aren’t you?

Ignazio: Yes, I am interested, and I hope to do it someday. I’m not ready to do it alone yet. We work with a lot of producers and we learn a lot from them.

— Gianluca, you’ve taken acting lessons, but are you interested in acting?

Gianluca: Even if you are a singer, if you study acting and stage, you can become a better performer on stage.

Piero: That’s for sure.

Gianluca: For me, I started studying acting to become a better artist and to have more confidence on stage. But if I continue to practice like this, I may be blessed with the opportunity to work as an actor someday.

— And you bought a piano 3 years ago to write songs, right?

Gianluca: Yes. I have a lot of goals and things I want to do. I’m still not very good at playing the piano…

Ignazio: You’ve gotten a lot better!

Gianluca: Ah yeah, compared to before. I will resume my lesson when I get home. I hope someday I can write a song myself.

— Piero, when I first met you, you seemed very shy, but now you seem to be full of confidence.

Piero: It depends on the day (laughs). Waking up good or bad, changes the mood of the day.

Gianluca: When he looks shy, he’s just sleepy.

Piero: (laughs).

— Every time I do an interview, you announce a new project, so do you have any upcoming projects?

Piero: The last thing we did was the Morricone’s album (Il Volo Sings Morricone in ‘21), but then we went on tour and now we are on tour and working on a really big new project. But it’s too early to tell the details.

— Can you tell a little?

Piero: I can’t tell you anything. It’s a project for next year.

— Is it a new album?

Ignazio: Well~~(laughs)?

PIero: It’s going to be a big project. But we are working on it now, and it’s still a very early staircase, so unfortunately we can’t say anything.

— This tour is like Greatest Hits, not a tour of Morricone…

PIero: It also includes Morricone’s songs.

Gianluca: There are 5 Morricone songs.

Ignazio: Yes yes. We can’t do all 28 songs of Morricone. We do that plus other songs.

— When will you return to Japan next time?

Ignazio: We’ll be back next year!

Gianluca: Before that, I’d like to come back for a personal vacation.

Piero: But this time, we have plenty of time to travel around Kyoto and Tokyo. We also went to the Shinsekai of Osaka. By the way, we are going back to Italy tomorrow night, but we will go to Nagoya Castle before that. We love to explore different places.

Gianluca: also to eat a lot of traditional foods. Such as okonomiyaki.

Ignazio: Daisuki, Nippon! (I love you, Japan!)

Recorded August 12 in Nagoya.