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.
The tour in Japan is going very well. Already four concerts have been made. The last one in Bunkamura, Tokyo.
It was a success!
Here is the short video made by Mrs. Lenora, at the end of the concert.
The boys are expected by the Japanese fans, for a last autograph and they are always very available and nice.
Piero, Ignazio and Gianluca, also advertised the movie NOTTE MAGICA de IL VOLO, which will be released in Japanese cinemas in July, and then posed for a photo shoot, wearing Japanese fashion clothes.
What to say, they are always nice to see !!!
They could really be professional photo models.
They also made a video to promote the new video “A CHI MI DICE”.
There is also another bit of good news.
The album MUSICA de IL VOLO has entered the second place in the daily ranking of the best-selling records in Japan (Original Confidence Daily International Music Charts).
Italian pride abroad.
And then they were interviewed, and here is a summary of this interview.
The tenth anniversary concert tour starts in Japan!
I was shuddered by Il Volo’s voice!
“Notte Stellata (Starry Night)” that Yuzuru Hanyu chose for the music of the Pyeongchang Olympics and received great acclaim. The young trio of Italian origin, Il Volo, is the owner of an incredibly sweet and clean singing voice that gently embraces the heart of the listener.
Piero, Ignazio, Gianluca ……, three members found talent in the Italian audition program at the age of 14 and 15, formed a boundless trio that sings from Italian folk songs to operas and pops, caused a boom all over the world.
In commemoration of the tenth anniversary of the formation, it is an interview with them during the tour of the concert in Japan that is coming at this time.
I have heard of love and passion for music, feelings for friends and future activities.
Piero Barone, born 24 June 1993, from Sicily. Sing the air of the opera in a dramatic volume, reminiscent of R. Pavarotti from the apogee. A smart and cool leader who also has a sense of laughter
PIERO = Since we started, we have also sung opera classics and original folk songs, but Il Volo’s main goal is to let many know about the charm of Italian music.
Gianluca Ginoble, born 11 February 1995, from Abruzzo. A handsome boy with an ordered appearance just like a sculpture. Sing in a romantic way with a shiny and deep velvet voice and capture the heart of the listener.
GIANLUCA= What is at the base of our music are the traditional melodies of Italy, and the passion to convey that charm has not changed at all.
Ignazio Boschetto, born 4 October 1994, from Bologna. From the soulful and sparkling cry to the parts he delicately sings, the ability to sing freely. He’s hot. A humorous speech is a fun mood maker.
IGNAZIO= Italians love music a lot, but we all grew up, especially among music lovers. Everyone was influenced by grandfather and dad, and grew up listening to Italian folk songs and works.
There is a reputation for their appeal that attracts women all over the world. They are also very popular as a star in South America, and it is also a promise that the scene where women who fall in love with them throw colorful gifts (sometimes even bras!) On stage!
The Japan Tour audience, which started May 13th, was not only feminine, but also colorful. A large public and people from adolescents and twenties to grandfather and grandparents, the three of Il Volo will be united in a warm atmosphere. The venue is just the classics room like the Tokyo Bunka Kaikan Grand Hall, Arie in the name of the work, the light Italian folk songs resound with applause, to every part of the song, “Bravo.”
Il Volo also greeted the public, sometimes serving a kiss.
For my age generation, they are almost the age of my children, but for the dynamic singing voice and the appearance I knew at the show, there is also a lot of sensuality for adults! The heart is beating fast and the romantic concentration in the blood seems to increase.
GIANLUCA = It was impressive to come to Japan that your ways are wonderfully good. I am impressed by how you listen to our music calmly, very carefully and impatiently! It would be nice if the South American and European public were with everyone in Japan (laughs). I will learn Japanese at my next visit to Japan, so I will be able to exchange more words with the public, so please look ahead.
IGNAZIO = I’m happy to be able to do a concert at Japan. Arigatou Gozaimasu! I look forward to performing in Osaka this time. Everyone who comes to the concert, let’s meet up at the “Okini!” (If I had gone to Osaka, I would like to say “Okini”, Inazio practiced repeatedly.)
In 2016 an open-air concert was held in Florence entitled “Il Volo with Placido Domingo NOTTE MAGICA – Dedicated to the three great tenors”. The model becomes a film and will be released from 19 July in Japan. Even those who could not come on this tour can enjoy their beautiful singing voices in the cinema. What kind of movie is it?
GIANLUCA = The concert took place in Piazza Santa Croce in Florence. Spend a summer evening with us in a fantastic illuminated square …. I think you can enjoy such a romantic moment. It would be nice if you could look at the theater!
PIERO = Even on the fifth anniversary of the training, they asked me, “What do you think of Il Volo after five years?”
And I replied: “I would like to celebrate the tenth anniversary with these three people”. Now, what I can say is this: “I really want to sing with them, for 50 years more.”
Guys, this Japanese tour, is taking place in the best way. We are so happy for your success, because you deserve it. I would say that your tenth anniversary is taking place in the best way. But the goals are still many. We are always here to support you!
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.
Saturday April 13, IL VOLO was hosted by AMICI, the Canale 5 program that looks for new talent in dance and music.
Here are the boys in the backstage who warn that they will soon enter the live broadcast.
Piero, Ignazio and Gianluca had to duet with a boy and a girl, aspiring singers of the white team.
All together, they performed a piece of “MERAVIGLIOSA CREATURA” and one of “LONTANO DAGLI OCCHI, LONTANO DAL CUORE”.
Then, at the end of the evening, IL VOLO, performed “A CHI MI DICE”, which just two days ago came out as a new single.
Here is the union of both performances.
At the end of the first performance Maria De Filippi (presenter of the program) says that the boys of IL VOLO are “in shape” and also says that when he sings Piero, it seems that he closes his mouth and instead his voice is loud!
What is your opinion about the two singers who duet with IL VOLO?
Here are some photos of the evening.
Perfect, guys, this event is gone too.
I don’t know where you get all the energy, but you are always fantastic.
A few days ago it was announced that IL VOLO would be a guest of VERISSIMO, on Channel 5, an entertainment program conducted by Silvia Toffanin.
And here they are, beautiful and likeable as usual, indeed, more than usual, Piero, Ignazio and Gianluca at VERISSIMO.
Silvia = Today is really a fantastic episode, we are about to attend another event, they have chosen VERISSIMO to celebrate their 10 years of career, they are Ignazio, Gianluca and Piero: IL VOLO.
P+I+G = Hello
Silvia= Welcome (kisses and hugs), these applauses for you.
Piero= But they are many.
Silvia= There are so many. Please make yourselves comfortable.
Ignazio= Here we are.
Silvia= Here we are, I did it !!
Piero= We never came here.
Silvia= You never came here, and I discovered some incredible things about you.
Some of you didn’t want to go to school and watched the news at 7 am.(Piero)
Piero= How do you know these things?
Silvia= Someone escaped from the stage, because he no longer remembered the words of the song when he was 11 …
Gianluca= That’s me.
Silvia= Yes, that’s you.
Piero= Can we leave?
Ignazio= (in a deep voice) And what information do you have about me, Miss?
Silvia= I have evidence and documents, we will tell all about you, we will celebrate your world career, really, because you are the Italian representatives of music, you are loved everywhere, Brazil, China, Japan, America …… where? everywhere!
Piero= Now, let’s not exaggerate.
Silvia = But it’s true! (applause) How many languages do you speak?
Ignatius= Four.
Piero = One (at a time).
Ignazio= Quattro (four) – English, Italian, Spanish and Sicilian (laughter). Sicilian is a language!
Gianluca= I am the only Abruzzi in the middle of two Sicilians, so you can imagine what happens …..
Silvia= So in addition to singing lessons, you can also take English, Spanish lessons …..
Gianluca= We have learned traveling, it is the only way to learn to speak it well, probably.
Silvia= (small exchange of Spanish words)
Piero= There is a lady who is watching us, who does not understand ….
Silvia= Let’s talk in Italian, let’s start right from the beginning (addressed to Ignazio) since you were a baby ….
Piero= No, he was two babies (spreading his arms to show the size……..laughter and applause)
Silvia= You understand, we see them all strutting, in reality they are very nice ….. then, he was two babies and you had glasses, already as a child.
Piero= No, it’s that television was born thanks to me. Because when I was born, I had two ears like that (holding hands open, next to the ears, as if they were antennas), I took all the channels, in my house we never paid the TV license.
Silvia= So, are you ready to start our journey?
Gianluca= We can’t wait.
Silvia= Go, let’s start.
(begins a video that covers the career of the boys, with a voice that describes)
Voice = “Destiny always finds you”, has convinced Piero, Ignazio and Gianluca, who for all, will become IL VOLO. That fate of artists who would lead them, on stages all over the world. It was written in their DNA, from an early age.
Two Sicilians, Piero and Ignazio, and an Abruzzese, Gianluca, grew up in the countryside and the sea, in their provincial villages, with humble families behind them, very tied to traditional values.
In their eyes, they hope to one day become, like their great music idols, for Piero, Domingo and Pavarotti, for Ignazio, Stevie Wonder and Pino Daniele, for Gianluca, Sinatra and Bocelli. (You see the video with Bocelli telling Gianluca, “If in the book of destiny, it says that you will be a great singer, this is the right way to get there.”)
Piero, sings on the sofa at home, with his grandfather Pietro, Gianluca performs in the church choir, Ignazio, instead he stays all day in front of the karaoke given to him by his father. For each of those kids, music becomes an indispensable passion.
There is no doubt, Piero, Ignazio and Gianluca, who still walk different paths, have talent to sell.
(plays a phone) “Hello? Hello, we selected your son for the TV program TI LASCIO UNA CANZONE, can you come to Rome for the audition?”
It is 2009 when each of them receives this call and immediately afterwards, thanks to an intuition of Roberto Cenci who already imagines them as a trio, they will find themselves for the first time really singing together “O SOLE MIO”.
From that debut, is born: IL TRIO, and destinies are redesigned together by a single talent. (long applause)
Piero= Were we quite unlucky? (He means in the sense of an image, that they weren’t really the best aesthetically speaking.)
Ignazio= I would like to ask a question. Why in the shots, were there always Piero and Gianluca, and I alone? Did I fill the frame by myself? (laughs)
Gianluca= I don’t deny that I was moved.
Silvia= You’re moved .
Gianluca= Yes, because he said a word, which is THE TALENT.
Because unfortunately, sometimes, there are people who are talented, but are not lucky enough to be able to express it, meeting the right people.
We met, there, so everything happened so fast, therefore, we are privileged.
All we want to do though, even if we go against the tide, surely singing a different music, from what our peers sing, is that we want to be an example to young people, to our peers, that is, to try to …… (applause , Gianluca is visibly moved) … ….. try to always be yourself, to believe in your dreams, but above all, it means that perhaps, going against the current at times, can win, and we do everything to try to get there in people’s hearts.
Silvia= And you, you are a very positive example, a good story, yours.
Piero= Look, we don’t do anything in particular, many people tell us “But you are successful abroad, you do so much abroad.” In reality our success is due to the music we sing, the music that is part of the our tradition, of the Italian tradition, and that is what the foreigners of Italy love.
Silvia= You have started to have contact with music, more or less all of them around the age of three, thanks to the grandparents and thanks to a father.
You thanks to grandfather. (Piero).
Piero= Yes, thanks to my grandfather. Little did you say we grew up in the mountains and the sea, I grew up in the countryside with my grandfather, because during the summer season, I used to spend it there.
Ignazio= In a big city.
Piero= A small village, Naro, in the province of Agrigento, to which I am really attached (sorry, he clears its throat).
My grandfather is a blind person, and he discovered my voice, he wrote songs. Then, thanks to the patience of my father, who never gave up … I met them (Ignazio and Gianluca …. Piero has a hoarse voice).
Ignazio= Do you need a little water or are you okay? (applause and laughter)
Ignazio= I discovered by myself what I liked to do, I was born in Bologna, from a Sicilian family …
Piero= You hear the accent that you are from Bologna …. (laughter)
Silvia= You are the one who has the most tattoos of all, or am I wrong?
Ignazio= Why do you think this? (he tries to cover his ankles, which are tattooed)
Silvia= Is it true?
Ignazio= Yes, I’m a bit of a rebellious soul, I’m a little rock and roll.
Silvia= Did you write “BORN TO ROCK” on your body?
Ignazio= Yes.
Silvia= Where?
Ignazio= Would you like to know it !!! (laughter), I wrote it here, on the arm.
Silvia = So you alone, you approached the music.
Ignazio= Yes, because, I explained to you that my family has Sicilian origins, I was born in Bologna, I stayed in the bedroom with the keyboard they had given to my sister, and on that keyboard there was the musical base of “La donna è mobile”and I was in the room singing this opera, inventing the words about Pavarotti.
Silvia= And how did your “La donna è mobile” go by Pavarotti?
Ignazio= (humming) “And Pavarotti, who was sweating, and slipping, in the handkerchief” …. (applause)
Piero= But I’ve never heard this version !!
Silvia= Today we only tell the truth, today new things come out. And you (Gianluca) are the one who left the stage at the age of 11, in a panic, because you didn’t remember the song anymore ….
Gianluca= Yes, because I sang in a choir, I didn’t remember the song, I didn’t remember the text and I ran away. We were in the center of Roseto, on the seafront, there was a lot of people, we were performing with the choir, I was singing with a little girl, I forget the text, I look at her, I start to cry and run away, and I go to hug my mother, who was practically in the crowd. She turned red, I remember very well. I was always a little instinctive, but …….
Ignazio= ….. even a gentleman, who left the girl alone on stage !!!! (laughs)
Piero= It also happened to us to forget the words. In a concert in Locarno, it was the opening of the summer tour, we had to sing “TOUS LES VISAGES DE L’AMOUR”, a French song by C. Aznavour. We haven’t been singing this song for about a year.
He starts (Ignazio, and mentions his part in French)
He continues (Gianluca) with his text and then I ….. Tous les visages de l’amour ….. Tous les visages de l’ amour …. Tous les visages de l’amour…. (everyone laughs) .They start laughing and I said “Help me, sing you.”, we sang 3.15 minutes of song, always saying the title: “Tous les visage de l’amour” …. we all forgot the words !!
Ignazio= No, you forgot the words. He (referring to Gianluca) forgets the words and what does he do? It is not that he is silent or remembers the words …. he says “Ignazio” (and makes the gesture of passing the microphone) ….. to me ???
Gianluca= Now I want to say that there is an artist that I have always appreciated, besides Bocelli, who has been my idol since I was a child, and then we also had the honor of singing with him, right here in Milan. This artist is Alex Baroni (Italian singer, unfortunately died in an accident with his motorbike). His story moves me every time, I remember as a child, I recorded a record at home, with friends, and I always sang his songs: “Cambiare”, “La voce della Luna”, “Onde”, I was 11- 12 years old, I sang his songs, even in the choir, there were some solo parts, and I always sang the songs of Alex Baroni, and every time moved me, even listening to my “white” voice, from when I was little and I sang his songs.
So I wanted to say this thing.
Piero= Great artist.
Silvia= You are the most shy of all, or you have been the shyest.
Gianluca = I still am, I am moved when I do certain interviews ……. apart from that it is a pleasure to be here, because I follow you, we follow you, you manage to get into people’s hearts with these interviews, I want congratulate you, really.
Piero + Ignazio = (they mime the execution of the Love Story music ….. how to say in a joking tone, that Gianluca is making a kind of declaration of love)
Silvia= Okay, we’re leaving ….. they don’t deserve us.
Silvia= Come on, sorry, Gianluca wants to be nice …..
(Piero and Ignazio, continue to make fun of Gianluca’s attitude ….)
Piero= Silvia every time I look at you on Saturday ……
Silvia= Stop it.
Ignazio(with a deep voice) Silvia, your gaze penetrates my mind and makes me feel surreal emotions ….. (Silvia laughs amused) …. I must say that I was struck by how intelligent you are ….
Gianluca= Do you understand what I have to bear?
Silvia= But how can you survive?
Ignazio = No, how can we survive !!
Gianluca= The romantic soul, they don’t understand it.
Silvia= They don’t understand it.
Then 2009, because we are here to celebrate your 10 years, dear Ignazio, 10 years of career flown ….
Ignazio= Fly … why are we IL VOLO (THE FLIGHT)?
Silvia= I made the joke without realizing it, (laughter) no oh well, it’s wonderful this joke I made.
Gianluca = Here it ends badly.
Ignazio = How much do we still have? Half an hour? Let’s do an hour.
Silvia= So, your career has flown in 10 years, and it all started in 2009 with the program TI LASCIO UNA CANZONE, with Antonella Clerici and the first song you sang is O SOLE MIO, you want to sing a piece for us ?
Gianluca= But we wanted to make you “GRANDE AMORE”?
Silvia= “GRANDE AMORE” is the one with which you won by returning to that stage, Sanremo 2015.
Piero= Yes, exactly.
Silvia= Which one do you want to give us?
Piero= A piece of “GRANDE AMORE” ….. (they sing, the refrain of GRANDE AMORE)
Silvia= Beautiful, what voices !! (applause)
Silvia= It was 2009, exactly 10 years ago, you called yourself THE TRIO.
Piero = But we didn’t even know what we called ourselves.
Gianluca= Before we were THE TRYO, then IL TRIO, in fact we went to Sanremo in 2010, the presenter was Antonella Clerici and IL TRIO was written there.
Ignazio = In fact, we had changed name, because in America THE TRYO has a pronunciation that in Italy ….. is not the case.
Silvia = And so you became IL VOLO.
Gianluca= Actually few people know it, but it was also to recall VOLARE, which as a word is famous throughout the world, therefore IL VOLO, VOLARE, a metaphorical name.
Piero= The reality is that our first contract was with an American record company, Universal, and they wanted a short and simple name to remember, but above all in Italian, so in the beginning we thought LA SCALA.
Gianluca= No, LA SCALA no.
Ignazio = LA SCALA anti-fire …
Gianluca= Ladies and gentlemen, LA SCALA …
Silvia = And in any case IL VOLO was born.
Success has been resounding.
Voice = No goal is so far away when you have the strength to pursue your dreams.
They start singing together in 2010, going on stage like THE TRYO, but those three boys, with an extraordinary talent, will soon become a phenomenon with a prophetic name, IL VOLO.
IL VOLO, they are also immediately called by the great Quincy Jones, to record, with over 80 international artists, the song “WE ARE THE WORLD” for Haiti, and immediately afterwards their first international tour kicks off.
They sing in the Senate of the Republic, in front of Pope Francis, even in the evocative Basilica of Assisi. They play duets with the greats, from Placido Domingo to Anastasia, from Laura Pausini to Andrea Bocelli. After the success of the 2013 South-American tour, two years later they finally get on the Sanremo stage, and with the track of “GRANDE AMORE”, they win.
The success is unstoppable and after the victory, the albums Sanremo “GRANDE AMORE” and “L’AMORE SI MUOVE”, are published all over the world, in a few days, they will reach the top of all the international rankings.
The three boys, raised with an artistic awareness that consecrates them among the most beautiful voices of Italian music, bring the NOTTE MAGICA tour to the world, a tribute to the three tenors, Pavarotti, Domingo and Carreras. They have recently given birth to their sixth album, MUSICA, along with the song “MUSICA CHE RESTA”, arriving on the podium at Sanremo 2019.
Today they are preparing to celebrate their 10-year career with a new tour in Italy and abroad, ready, as always, to fly.
Silvia= This year you have returned to Sanremo. You arrived third, with a beautiful song, written between the authors, also by Gianna Nannini and unfortunately, I don’t know if you feel like talking about it, but I think it is right to say it, the last night, some journalists from the press room, while it was decreeing the winner, they really used words, I don’t even know how to say them, because they really made a bad figure, even compared to the whole category, using expressions, horrendous and unrepeatable insults, the video runs on the internet, we’ll never do it see why it’s really a terrible thing to you. I find it a shameful thing, because journalists are there to judge and not to do these insults.
Piero= Silvia, we, after two days, expressed our opinion. Obviously we read and appreciate all the criticisms, also because the compliments are pleasing, but the criticisms make you grow. We, but I believe any artist, any person, do not tolerate offenses, because there is a clear difference between criticism and offense, if you do not like the musical genre that we propose, listen to another song, listen to another artist, we we do not oblige you to listen, but you respect what we do. Those three or four people, because they were few, have offended the whole category, and we respect to the work of the journalist, they are people capable of what they do, thanks to them the music criticism goes on, thank goodness there is music criticism, but of the incompetent, they must not allow themselves to offend the category of journalists. (applause)
Silvia= So Gianluca, we can say that you have grown a little quickly, you have not known the adolescence of your peers. You became very famous at 14-15 years old.
Gianluca= We lived an anomalous life, we didn’t even expect such a thing. We had to give up things, but we learned languages, we discovered the world and, in any case, travel, it opens the mind. But I always come back home, my friends I’ve never abandoned them, and every time you come back to Montepagano it’s nice that they are always there. Finding the right people, who are always there for you, willing to do anything, family, friends, girl, so I’m happy because ……
Ignazio= Girl or girls?
Silvia= Girl said. He said girl.
Gianluca= It got out of my mouth.
Silvia= Did he say it on purpose Piero?
Piero= I don’t know …..
Gianluca= I also have to tell you that she looks like you ….
(applause….Piero and Ignazio pretend to make a serenade of love)
Silvia = What is the name of this girl.
Gianluca= Now you want to know too much.
Piero= Aureliana
Silvia = Aureliana?
Ignazio= Gertruda.
Silvia = But is it Italian?
Gianluca= Yes, of course.
Piero = If he returns home and the girl is there, of course she is Italian.
Silvia = She is from Abruzzo (Silvia tells Ignazio)
Ignazio= I know it, you don’t know it. (laughs)
Silvia= Your eyes shine when you talk about her.
Gianluca= It’s nice, isn’t it? Being able to sing for someone, and think of someone.
Silvia = So do you sing for her?
Piero= He sings for her, we (Piero and Ignazio) sing for you (for the audience ….. applause)
Silvia= He sings for his girlfriend and also for the audience.
Gianluca= Absolutely, you saw what happened, in an instant I lost a band of audience.
Piero= Fortunately we are three. At IL VOLO concerts ….
Ignazio= At our concerts, not IL VOLO ……
Piero= At our concerts, I find audiences of all ages. Some people catch a slice of the public, some another. Gianluca has more girls, I have mothers …..
Silvia = And you? (addressed to Ignazio)
Ignazio= Wait, I go to rest homes.
Silvia= Grandmothers, you are for grandmothers.
Piero= Why you must know, the most adult people, are the most affectionate and Ignazio greet him like this. (he takes Ignatius’s cheeks and shakes them)
Ignazio= How aggressive you are.
Silvia= So we discovered that among you, there is a girlfriend.
Gianluca = It escaped me, I didn’t want to say it, sometimes they advise not to say everything, in the entertainment world.
Ignazio= They say that engaged people are the most courted, you know?
Gianluca= It will be so, I don’t know.
Ignazio= Inverse psychology.
Silvia= Are you a psychologist today?
Then, for all the grandmothers, for all the mothers, for all your fans, let’s see that IL VOLO, has participated, practically ……
Piero= I worry when you talk like that …
Silvia= You have been to Good Morning America, to American Idol, you have opened 12 Barbra Streisand concerts, you have been in the most important programs of the US and not only that, right? And then I’ll show you this video.
Voice = 2011, IL VOLO conquering America.
They will be the first Italian singers to sign a contract directly with an American record company. First in Miami, then in Los Angeles, they are hosted by the most important TV programs, such as American Idol, which makes them known to the general public. Among the international stars who notice them, there’s Britney Spears who after seeing them on the show, throws a tweet where she writes all her appreciation for the young tenors.
“We would like to embrace, one by one, all the people in front of us, and who have made us become what we are today”.
Their hybrid style, between lyric and pop sounds, conquers the world and in 2012, even Barbra Streisand, calls them on her tour.
They have also recently been chosen to represent Italy at the Friendship Gala between Italy and China.
Three boys, who besides their worldwide success, have kept the simplicity of their soul of timid and simple children, linked to their families.
Always ready to read new scores and live new melodies, because as they say “Music is magic, which can never end.”
(long applause and standing ovation)
Silvia= For you, even. Everyone standing. How beautiful!
Piero= Seeing these images …..
Ignazio= Lady Piero is talking, she can’t call me …. (everyone laughs)
Piero= Seeing all these images, we would like to say something important. All this is not just our merit, our team is behind us, the merit also goes to the record company, but above all to a person who has been with us for 10 years and we can call him our mentor, it’s our manager Michele Torpedine, thanks to him, we managed to do this.
Silvia= You are very humble, and it is a beautiful thing about you, that you have kept humility, you are really sweet, right Ignazio? I think I made a mistake, because you didn’t open Barbra’s concerts, you really sang with her, in her concerts. Have you met the older ones, from Lady Gaga, Barbra Streisand, Quincy Jones, who is it that fascinated you the most?
Piero= Barbra …. no, personally Placido Domingo, sorry.
Gianluca = Have you thought about it?
Piero= I grew up listening to the Three Tenors, to be close to Placido Domindo, I think it was the greatest emotion of my life, besides the one with Pope Francis.
Gianluca = You must know that we, we have three different personalities, three different voices, also thanks to this CD just come out, which is MUSICA, that we can convey what are our single vocalisms, and we are really happy.
For example there is a cover of “A CHI MI DICE”, maybe no one expects it, we made a beautiful version.
Silvia= By Tiziano Ferro.
Gianluca= Yes, of Tiziano Ferro, who also published a post, saying he was very happy with this.
Ignazio= And like magic, here is the CD.
Silvia= Here is the CD, how did you know that ???
MUSICA this is the CD that will take you everywhere and this is Titian’s post “IL VOLO will sing my song ‘A CHI MI DICE’. I’m happy to see my song go around the world again.”
Piero= We give you a dedication.
Silvia = Give me a dedication.
(Begins a series of sentences on which Piero, Ignazio and Gianluca do not agree and so decide to write “A Silvia” which is the beginning of a famous Italian poem).
Silvia= This CD will go around the world.
Gianluca= You are officially invited to a concert, wherever you want, even to more than one, if you want, you can always follow us.
Piero = In July we will sing in Rome, in Taormina, it will be a summer tour of 17 concerts and then there will also be a winter tour.
Gianluca= At the Verona Arena we will close the summer tour in September.
Silvia = This for Italy and then you will be for the world.
Gianluca= In May we will be in Japan.
Ignazio = Write “A Silvia, I enlighten with immense.”
Gianluca = We light up immense.
Piero= Write “To Silvia, with much esteem, IL VOLO.” is enough.
Silvia= Here … but sorry he wanted to be kind.
Piero= But she is married, has two children.
Ignazio= But what does it mean, if she is married you can’t give her a compliment?
Ignazio= A Silvia, the most splendid woman in the world.
Silvia = Enough.
Gianluca= You are special.
Silvia = Let’s finish singing?
Ignazio= We write “A Silvia” is a poem, she is a poem.
Silvia= That is sweet. What do you say, let’s close singing? I would have thought of a song, since you go around the world, I would have thought of the song “IL MONDO”.
Piero= So we close like this?
Ignazio= Are we closing? I just want to tell you one thing, can I? Come closer.
Sometimes for an artist, to show his inner side is very difficult, so from IL VOLO, I want to say thank you, because in this program, you give the opportunity to show the most intimate part of a person. So thank you for inviting us, it was an honor for us.
(collective and final embrace with “IL MONDO”)
Silvia= You are three fantastic guys, see you on tour and you deserve all the success.
Piero, Ignazio and Gianluca, in this interview you were wonderful.
We all know what kind of people you are, and in this program, you have given reconfirmation of this, but there was no need, because we all know that you are wonderful boys.
Silvia, you are a very sweet girl, who opened your heart and put our guys at ease.
On one thing Piero, I disagree with you, it is true, at the beginning you had the success thanks to the beautiful Italian melodies, but this, now is just an added value to your skill, because people are also in love with you, with your way of being, as only you can be, IL VOLO.
Daniela
Credit to owners of all photos and video.
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