Il Volo has been present on Italian television programs and beyond and therefore I am preparing to give you a summary.
November 27, Il Volo is a guest in an episode of the show on Canale 5THIS IS ME, hosted by the talented Silvia Toffanin.
This program is an invitation to young people who have attended the show AMICI(a talent show like Saranno Famosi) and who have been successful. Years later, these guys revisit their first debuts in music and then duet with some guests. Needless to say, the broadcast started at 9:30 pm and Il Volo performed at 0:10 am, two and a half hours of waiting to see them sing with Sarah (student of Amici) to the tune of Capolavoro which I now propose to you.
Nice performance, I liked Sarah Toscano too, but what a long wait just for one song.
Piero had the opportunity to announce that on the evening of December 24th there will be their concert recorded in Agrigento.
Silvia Toffanin who greatly admires our young men said that Ignazio got married this summer and Ignazio complimented her.
Sarah posted these words: “I sang with Il Volo and I was very nervous. They immediately put me at ease, they were really nice towards me so it was really beautiful.”
Small detail, the following day the audience figures were published, which are very popular here in Italy, THIS IS ME was the most followed program of the evening and of all the Italian channels.
The peak audience took place in two moments, at 9:58pm and at 0:10am (the moment Il Volo performed).
As I announced, the three concerts in Verona held in May would have been repeated on 7, 14 and 21 December, but due to a change in programme, Canale 5 announced only a couple of days ago that the first repeat of the concert was on Saturday 30 November.
So, on Saturday evening I had the immense pleasure of seeing the first concert held in the Arena in Verona in May (I was present at the second concert).
What can I tell you? I was glued to the television from 9:30pm until 1am listening and seeing Piero, Ignazio and Gianluca sing beautiful songs of which I want to show you these videos:
LEI, the beautiful song by Charles Aznavour “SHE”. How sweet, how wonderful!!
by Piero I want to offer you this beautiful tarantella by Rossini: LA DANZA.
by Ignazio here is the beautiful Italian song TI SENTO
by Gianluca the beautiful ALWAYS ON MY MIND
While in Italy I was watching the repeat concert in Verona, at the same time Kirsten from Denmark messaged me telling me that she was watching German television where there was a Christmas show and among the various guests there was also Il Volo.
In the program “Das Adventsfest der 100.000 Lichter”, Il Volo began by singing “Rockin Around The Christmas Tree”
But that’s not all, at the same time in some parts of the States, PBS was broadcasting the Christmas special recorded in Agrigento, and therefore Il Volo was present on three televisions around the world, how wonderful, what emotion, what pride!! ❤️❤️❤️
But since you really liked the vocal coach’s review last time, I propose another one that I recently found on YouTube and it was fantastic to see the reaction of those who don’t know Il Volo at all!!
Regarding the song Hallelujah and the saying “no one is a prophet in his own country” I want to tell you this.
You know that Halleluiah is now a song that Il Volo always offers in its concerts. After one performance, the video of the song they performed very well was published on YouTube. I read all the comments but one, made by an Italian man, really annoyed me a lot, he downgraded Il Volo saying that they didn’t sing that song well and that they should have listened to the one performed by Pentatonix who were much better than Il Volo and that Il Volo didn’t it was nothing compared to Pentatonix. I was furious and responded in kind by writing that Scott from Pentatonix was a friend and admirer of Il Volo, to the point that he had performed the song in LA with them and I attached the video. Furthermore, remembering that the next day Scott had thanked Il Volo on his Facebook page, saying that they were special people as well as very good singers, I also attached his statement!!!
What a joy to shut his mouth like this to this stupid man!! 🤬🤬
And also watch this video, it’s really nice to see these reactions!!
I have nothing else to add but I await your opinions and if anyone has already seen the PBS special tell me your impressions.
The G7 on Tourism was held in Florence on 13 and 15 November.
Tourism Minister Daniela Santanchè chaired the work sessions, which saw the participation of ministers and heads of delegation from Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States of America and the European Union and some nations and outreach organizations – Saudi Arabi , Brazil, India, Egypt, OECD and UN Tourism.
After the introductory event, the two days of work began at 8:30 am on Thursday 14th, with the ceremony in which Minister Santanchè welcomes the ministers of the G7 and the outreach countries. The work sessions covered: tourism and socio-economic development opportunities; human capital – work, inclusion and skills; digitalization and artificial intelligence.
Palazzo Gondi
At the end of the first day of work, a visit to the village of Monteriggioni and Abbadia Isola was planned, where the ministers arrived on board a historic train. The day ended with a performance by Il Volo at Palazzo Gondi. The G7 ended on Friday morning, with the closing press conference of Minister Santanchè in the Sala delle Reali Poste of the Uffizi Gallery.
Il Volo with Eugenio Giani president of the Tuscany region.
And here is the moment in which the Minister of Tourism Daniela Santalchè presents IL Volo:
“They are an Italian excellence. I have to thank them because they are ambassadors of Italy to the world. Here they are, (applause) I was simply saying that you are an Italian pride….”
Very few videos of the event that concern the performance of Il Volo, only a few fragments that I propose to you.
It wasn’t a real concert but a final performance at the end of dinner, it seems that Il Volo sang three songs:
Unfortunately this is all I can offer you for the presence of Il Volo at the G7 TURISMO, but in any case I would say that as always Piero, Ignazio and Gianluca made the Italian name shine on an important occasion.
But now we come to the important news that was published by PBS in recent days.
How wonderful, PBS is sponsoring the event, I’m happy for you that you will be able to see that concert soon!!
Please check your local listings for the airing dates in your area.
We in Italy, I don’t think we will have access to view it, so I await your comments!!!
And finally, there is a moment of rest for our young men who have had an endless series of commitments.
Through the photos published, they are telling us that they are well and that they are in a period of relaxation.
The photos of Piero comes from Turin, where together with his brother Francesco, he is attending the ATP Tennis finals and will certainly support Sinner!!
Gianluca publishes a beautiful photo of a truly relaxing place in the mountains, perhaps Abruzzo? Will he be alone or in good company? If he wants, he will let us know!!
Our Ignazio is certainly in sweet company with his beautiful wife Michelle and in the company of Arturo, everything expresses sweetness!!
That’s all for now.
I’m really happy that soon you will be able to see the PBS concert in the Valley of the Temples, surely the concert dates will be published afterwards!
And I’m even happier to see our young men relaxing and taking time for themselves.
Piero, Gianluca and Ignazio, enjoy your time, because there will be many future commitments and we are waiting for you with open arms!!
As you all know, on 31 August and 1 September the two Il Volo television concerts were held in Agrigento and will be broadcast, the first at Christmas on Canale 5 and the second broadcast by the PBS television network.
As I had already announced to you, a friend had sent the request to participate via fan club and obtained the confirmation letter, so she left Canada for Sicily.
Thus began Judith’s journey (not without problems), and when I asked her to write her impressions of the two evening and this was her response:
“I’ll do my best to take some photos and make notes on anything that might interest you. I tend to get lost in my own musical world, but at least one is a show in English. I’ll be able to understand.”
“I take a flight from Chicago to Munich and then to Palermo, then a train or car as close as possible to my hotel in San Leone (near Agrigento) and then I try to get to the concerts. I have a friend who will take me to the concerts from my hotel.”
Already on the plane Judith wrote me beautiful words that are the story of many of us, words that come from the heart and that you absolutely must read. ❤️
“I have no idea what time it is. Outside the plane window it is dark and inside most are asleep and the lights are low. Thinking about it, it’s incredible what some of us, actually many of us, do for an Il Volo concert or to support what we have come to know and love in these few years of Il Volo. Many of us fly all night through strange airports and cities, strange towns and train stations, strange streets and trust strange taxi drivers to take us to strange hotels, whose language we don’t speak, all to enjoy those two hours of music, fun, passion and friends. Some can afford it and some can’t, but those moments of joy listening to the voices of the “kids” make us dream listening to their beautiful voices that take us elsewhere, somewhere deep in our hearts and dreams. My eyes are closed, lost in those moments of beauty. For me, all the frustrations and uncertainty of unknown long-distance destinations absolutely fill my heart when the lights go down, the music starts and Gianluca, Piero and Ignazio take the stage!”
It wasn’t easy for Judith, who arrived in San Leone (a hamlet of Agrigento on the sea) in the evening, in the dark and immediately realized that her accommodation was far from everything, not only from the Valley of the Temples where the concerts were held, but also from the beautiful walk by the sea of San Leone, and from all the shops and restaurants and she hadn’t eaten anything yet and the hunger was making itself felt.
After eating a couple of Sicilian cannoli which Judith found really good, she managed to sleep at night and wait for the first concert on August 31st, the Christmas-themed one which will be broadcast by Canale 5 at Christmas.
“Judith with her friends, ready for the concert, so much elegance.”
August 31st Christmas concert for Canale 5
Last night was very strange. It was a difficult location, but the stage was set up beautifully. What a fantastic location. I can’t tell you much about the show, we and the fan club group were sitting on the far right. Where we couldn’t see the stage, we couldn’t see the orchestra. All were tall, built on a high platform, here are a couple of photos so you can understand better.
There were guards patrolling everywhere to make sure we didn’t take out our cell phones or cameras, and they were diligent every time I took out my phone to take a photo.
The people in the fan clubs weren’t sitting in a good position and the stage sets were built so high with the barrier around it and from where we were sitting, there wasn’t a good view of the whole thing.
We couldn’t see the orchestra or the two big Christmas trees.
A very confusing night for everyone, there weren’t many people, maybe 800. I don’t know and since there was such a small entrance when they finally opened the small door to let us in (it was closed until 7:45 and it was very hot), for getting 800 people in took a long time. To get to the stage the road was really narrow. There was a shuttle that you could pay for to travel a little distance, if you wore high heels you were straight away in trouble. The road (plus a wide path) was made up of rocks of all sizes, nothing asphalted and it was very, very difficult and, of course, holding each other’s arms to be able to walk, and, after a long walk up the hill, when we arrived, there were so many barriers of cameras and lighting crews that it was not possible to see a lot around. We managed to move in the rows more up, but from the photos you can see that we were under the stage and under everyone. But we were in the corner of the stage where the boys were performing, thank goodness!
The boys weren’t wearing Christmas clothes, they were dressed in dark suits, perhaps black, with some sequins on the jackets, very elegant. No one person had winter clothes, there was a lot of elegance, but no winter clothes, one lady had a fur hat. There were two large trees, as you can see from the photos, and may have had other decorations too, but we couldn’t see them. And it was a Christmas show in theory it was filmed outdoors. It was an interesting location for the Christmas show because you could see it was a hot, warm night and the wind was blowing, but people were still in sleeves and how they would rig that Christmas show is beyond me, some people still wore sleeveless t-shirts and tops.
The concert started on time and the guys, as always, were at the top. They were professional as always, they were friendly, they communicated, they told jokes, they sang their songs better than anyone ever could. Of course the songs were mostly Christmas themed. The orchestra was good, the little known songs were great and the first half or more of the show was very good. There were a lot of standing ovations, a lot of applause and a lot of appreciation for their music.
At a certain point between one song and another there began to be huge gaps and the boys were waiting, walking back and forth, then Ignazio said something that I didn’t understand, and he went to the back of the stage, Gianluca told him I went behind to talk to him. Finally they returned to the front and said to the master: Master, as if we were ready, let’s go.
Everything after that was calmer, the music was wonderful as always.
Come to think of it, some of these gaps in the music may have been due to the TV show’s film crew blocking everything.
I learned a little lesson and I don’t think I’ll ever go to a TV-produced concert again. Too many things can go wrong and it’s not about the music. It’s about the show. I think Morricone’s concert in Verona was the best production I have ever seen. It was very well produced, organized, very well planned, excellent music, singing dancers, everything. It was the best on every level.
The guys were fantastic and their voices were exceptional: Gianluca singing “Music of the Night” was a spectacle!
I think as I watch Gianluca more and more, he’s a passionate old soul. He is so kind he is so empathetic and supportive. I actually watched him a lot last night because I could only see them and nothing else in the corner of the stage, and he constantly watches Piero and Ignazio for their reactions when things aren’t going well, he seems to protect them and care about their mood. He supports them.
I remember that at the beginning of the meeting and greetings with them, Gianluca held my hand because I was nervous and he smiled. He listens, watches and cares deeply. I know that every time I approach him in the meet and greet he looks me in the eyes calmly as if he sees me and he does this with everyone. He’s a good man. ❤️
September 1 concert for PBS
I’m sorry for my limited photos, but both PBS and the Italian TV crew were relentless and aggressive in preventing us from filming. I’m sorry I couldn’t capture more.
I wanted to tell you that I think tonight’s concert was fantastic, exceptional. For me there wasn’t enough English, only when filming the PBS parts. However, their voices, their arrangements, their passion, the delivery and their energy were amazing.
Ignazio sang “Memories”, the favorite representation of his vocal range, and everyone seemed to enjoy it.
Gianluca showed his, again a powerful, rich voice, singing “Music of the Night” from Phantom of the Opera, as well as an Elvis Presley favorite that I can’t remember right now.
I would like to have the titles of the songs or their program to help you understand better, but I don’t have this information, sorry.
In truth, the musical choices were a combination of a little bit of pop, but a little bit of opera, a little bit of their Belcanto. In every song they sang, they gave everything. For the Italian press to belittle them is simply unfathomable. They did an English version of their latest song and I’d say overall the night was … unlike the highly organised, highly successful and musically stunning first night. They also introduced new songs that I had never heard before, but they were very positive and definitely a crowd pleaser. I definitely want to listen to the new songs again, definitely! 🥰
Piero Ignazio and Gianluca wore dark suits, but the jackets had no glitter.
People were still elegant but with more colors and less formal and women had abandoned their heels, given the early evening. 😣 The Christmas trees and Christmas decorations were obviously no longer there. 😉
The concert started on time and the energy and anticipation was palpable throughout the audience. Once again the songs were a mix of bel canto, pop opera and classical, with songs from their previous concerts.
However, the introduction of the new songs was electric. Their choices were exceptional and for many moments during the show there was not a cough or a sound except for each magnificent voice that filled the sky and the stars. That night was magical. After every song the audience went crazy, but no one got up and I don’t know why. During the concert, the songs were projected onto a screen at the end of each row of seats and during some English-language presentations for PBS, the words were written on the screen (like the teleprompter).
A funny moment, Gianluca was reading the script on screen for the PBS audience and came across an English word that he couldn’t pronounce. He kept trying to say it.
The word was “transcend.” Nobody helped him and in the end I shouted the word and Gianluca repeated it correctly.
After I gave Gianluca the correct pronunciation, Piero shouted: “Who are you?”
Ignazio said: “But it’s her!” (he didn’t remember my name).
Piero replied: “But who are you? I can’t see anything with this light.”
Ignazio: “Canada” (they know me as the redhead from Canada), and my friend shouted: “Giuditta!”
The kids recognized me because the lights were now on me!!
It was a very fun time.
Another strange thing, later, towards the end of the show, one of the PBS film crew members came to my row and seemed to be pointing the camera at me and recording, I don’t know why. That remains to be seen, I guess. Maybe I’ll be at the cinema soon!
The first evening I had two women next to me, two women from Sweden, the second evening two women from Japan.
When the three guys weren’t announcing their songs or speaking to the PBS audience, they were constantly interacting with the audience, in Italian, of course, which was great. There was a lot of laughter, a lot of applause, a lot of feeling part of the Il Volo family.
All three boys were kind and playful that night, and it was one of their best concerts. It didn’t last long. The concert ended at 11.00 pm, it surprised me.
Just when we thought it was all over, the boys came back on stage and sang Masterpiece in English, a first for me and their fans!!! ❤️
The staff let us out around 11, although it wasn’t over for PBS or the film crew who may have had to repeat some songs because they called back the guys and the orchestra that remained after we all left.
Thank you, Judith, for the nice review of your participation in the two concerts. You were very thorough and your photos are beautiful, considering that you were certainly not in a good position and that the security was inflexible.
I’ve been to the Valley of the Temples and reading your words made me feel like I was there with you.
The setting was certainly unique and fantastic and I hope that the television representation lives up to this Christmas event.
I also think that the crews were different for the two events and perhaps for this reason the second concert went better. We will see the final results on TV.
Thanks again for your writing, Judith!!🥰
Now you of Flight Crew must know that these two concerts had a lot of problems from the usual Italian press. Many articles have reported misrepresented or exaggerated news, but I will talk about this in detail in the next post.🤬
Meanwhile, I conclude this nice review with some beautiful photos taken by some people present at the concerts.
Let me tell you about the day I fell in Love. Not with one guy but with three. I turned on my TV and there they were three handsome teenagers stepping on the stage at the Detroit Opera House. I had seen them before on American Idol and Good Morning America but, on this day, I would lose my heart to them.
Every note they sang went straight to my heart! Just amazing! Ever song they sang was wonderful but when they sang El Reloj something happened to me! I knew no other group would ever take their place in my life or my heart. They totally reached me with that song! For me I wanted the CLOCK to stop at that moment in time!
Why this song? They sing so many beautiful songs. What was it that captured me that night? It wasn’t so much about the song as it was about the voices. It was how natural the delivery was. Teenagers with such maturity! Such strength in their voices. Voices that flowed through the air! It was the simplicity of this song and how they delivered it that captured me.
Their voices form a symphony. Gianluca’s voice vibrates and expands to realms I’ve never heard before. Ignazio’s voice makes your heart stop as you journey along his notes that lead to absolute ecstasy. Piero’s voice fills all your senses and brings you to such heights that you have to stop and breathe.
If you want to present a voice, in this case three voices, this is the way you do it. They were together for such a short period of time and yet they were perfect! And it went beyond the voices. It was their personalities, their presentation, their interaction with the audience. They were young but they had it all. They won the people with their voices but, they totally captured them with their charm and personality.
PBS introduced Il Volo to America. You can say Piero, Ignazio and Gianluca grew up on PBS. From their first concert on October 27, 2011 at the Detroit Opera House, they won the admiration of the American people and stole their hearts. PBS has been with the guys for every important event in their lives. You might say it is The Marriage of PBS and Il Volo.
When they began, they introduced America to a new style of music. Operatic pop! A very different kind of music for teenagers. Their aim was to show young people how good this music is. They won over the children, parents and grandparents. They were an immediate sensation. America fell in love with them. But where did it all begin for them. Let’s listen to what the guys had to say about how they were discovered.
Piero will take us back to his grandfather, Pietro Ognibene’s, back yard where he is swinging on a swing that hung from a mulberry tree. His grandfather was sitting on the veranda, as he usually did, at this time of day. His grandfather has been blind for many years and so he always had a tape recorder with him which he used to record music and poetry. Piero’s grandfather is also a singer. On this day he was recording a little Sicilian song which Piero said his grandfather wrote. So, let’s listen to what Piero had to say…
I was swinging on the swing, I was about four or five years old, I was really, very small. I listened to him a little and at a certain point, when he stopped singing, I started: E lu suli, talia, talia, talia. Sopra ‘sta pedra luci ci duna. What can I tell you? It just came out like that.
His grandfather turned off the recorder and called his wife. Rina came out on the terrace and he asked her, “Unni è Piero?” (Where is Piero?)
She replied, “In Altalena” (He is on the swing)
Pietro asked, “Ma cu cantava? Iddu?” (But who was singing? He?)
She replied, “Eh, si.” (yes)
He told Rina to call him.
So, Piero got up and went to his grandfather. Pietro lifted him up and put him on the table next to the recorder and told him to “sing the song again.” Piero sang the song exactly as his grandfather sang it. And so it begins….
Ignazio’s discovery would come about because of Nina’s pianola.
Ignazio remembers, When I was three or four years old – I played with the piano my parents had given my sister, Nina. My mother says I was one years old when I played. Nina taught me to play Happy Birthday with one finger.
Nina’s famous pianola gave Ignazio a passion for music.
Ignazio continues,I do not remember the first day of school, but I certainly did not take long to get noticed. If you’re thinking of scenes of me being put in the middle of the class to sing, forget it. I had a passion for music but, I had an even greater passion for pranks. I tell you, since I started talking and walking, mine was an escalation of agitation.
But as Ignazio explains, this agitation passed and the most important event in his life began to take shape…
With the passage of time, I found something good to do at school, that is, an activity that was able to hold my interest enough to prevent me from slipping into some disaster. I joined the school choir. I always liked to sing, to be ‘in the middle’ of the music. And more and more passionately I began to understand how to make better use of Nina’s famous pianola. I learned how to start the musical bases and flip through them. And that’s when I discovered La Donna È Mobile. I liked it so much that I sang with the base and invented words. I don’t remember the words but, it certainly was a song about Pavarotti. Having seen Pavarotti on TV, I knew he always had a big handkerchief so I would invent text and sing on the air La Donna È Mobile.
It seems at three years old Ignazio was already composing wonderful music!
As we all know eventually, Piero and Ignazio performed La Donna È Mobile.
Gianluca tells us that his life was different from Ignazio but, in many ways like Piero’s.
My life as a child seems so far away. I remember very little of my childhood! I’m not like Ignazio I was born and raised in Montepagano. I was traveling only with dreams. What made me dream? Music naturally. Dad and mom realized that I had something special in my voice when I started to sing at the age of three or four years.
My parents tell me when I was three years old, I sang ’O Sole Mio’ in the town square in front of all the elderly gentlemen friends of my grandfather who, sitting around the bar table, were listening to this little boy with such a particular voice.
Each boy has now been set on the road to PBS so where did they go from here?
Over the years, each boy approached his musical education in a different way.
After his discovery in the garden, Piero embarked on a classical music education. He began piano lessons at the age of 8. At 10 years old he joined the Little Singers of the Philharmonic Association – Santa Cecilia of Agrigento. And then he began the competitions around Sicily.
In Marsala, Ignazio sang with his first singing teacher Lilliana Andreanò. He continued his singing lessons moving on to other teachers as he progressed. He took three years of piano lessons. He also participated in competitions around Sicily. Even after moving on to other teachers, Ignazio continued his relationship with Lilliana Andreanò. She advised him every step of the way right up to his audition at Ti Lascio Una Canzone which she convinced him to do.
Gianluca, unlike Piero and Ignazio, never had a singing lesson or piano lesson. He joined the Piccolo Choir of Roses. At one of their events, he was discovered.
As you know they all won on Ti Lascio una Canzone. But their biggest win was becoming Il Volo.
After American Idol, they did many shows but the one show that really set them “in flight” in America, was the PBS special “Il Volo Takes Flight.”
Their concert was shown on PBS stations across the US and Canada.
There’s no question that PBS played a major role in the career of Il Volo in America.
Most recently, in their first Raiuno live for TV concert in Verona, we noticed that the guys had matured in body and mind and their voices have gone to another level of magnificence!
We watched them grow but this is different. There’s a beautiful presence about them now. A certain elegance! After fifteen years they haven’t waned, they’ve increased in strength and intensity! There is a certain power in their voices that grabs you from the first note of the concert to the last.
Each guy has grown into his voice and is showing a maturity and style the likes of which men who are approaching the end of their careers can only have imagined! Fifteen years of a lifetime! I use that expression a lot because each year is like a lifetime with them. They never seem to stop. Like in their last Latin American Tour. Not only were there concerts but there were also late-night recording sessions. Thanks to the genius of Ignazio who turned his hotel rooms into recording studios. And when the tour was over, it still wasn’t over. It’s called bringing your work home. There were still the recordings to deal with. Yes, it’s a lifetime full of wonders. One can hardly imagine what goes on. The tour takes on a life of its own. It’s an experience which most entertainers will never know. Or should I say “have the honor of knowing.” For our guys, work is honor!
I’ve worked in this industry, and I’ve seen young people achieve fame and throw it all away on foolishness! Many have achieved fame but what they do with it makes the difference. These men have shared the fruits of their fame. They didn’t take their fame and run with, they cherished it and used it to help others. They could have gone home to their families until the next tour but no they shared their good fortune. This is what makes them so great. This is what makes them incredible. For this reason, these entertainers are loved by their fans in the most incredible way!
Over the last year I have met with many fans at the various concerts I attended. I asked the fans what it is that they love about the guys on a more personal level. Many said their openness and generosity with the fans. They consider them like family. Some said they are the son they never had or the grandson they admire. Much like the fans who write to me each week. There is a beauty about the relationship between the fans and Il Volo. Il Volo is family!
The fans were the ones who got them through it all when they were young, and they never forget to say thank you! They attribute their fame not to their talent but to the fans who come back time after time, year after year to be with them. No, the fans are not followers in a sense that most fans are! No, they are family that always want to be there for their boys!
It wasn’t always easy for the guys but when they had a goal, they went for it! I remember Ignazio saying in a video when they first came to New York. “This is Radio City! We hope, I hope, everyone hopes to go there to do a big concert for the American people.”
What a dream! Who could possibly have thought that three Italian teenagers could have achieved this dream and stepped on to the stage at Radio City Music Hall and brought us all to absolute ecstasy with their voices!
Most entertainers want to perform at Radio City once in their lifetime! It’s a dream, it’s every entertainer’s dream! Our guys have done it year after year to sold out audiences! And every time is better than the last.
But now I’m getting ahead of myself. Let me just say, all that followed in America was possible because of their concert on PBS. The Marriage of PBS and Il Volo was a marriage made in heaven.
Now let me turn my attention to a member of the Il Volo family who we are really missing today.
Vito Boschetto
Three years ago we all heard the news about the sudden passing of Ignazio’s father, Vito Boschetto. Each of us stopped to think about Ignazio and, how he must be feeling. There were no words we could expressed to comfort the family. We just kept them all in our hearts and in our prayers!
Over the years, as we watched Ignazio grow into a fine young man, we grew to understand that it was his parents’ guidance that made him who he is. They are a very proud family. Hard working people. This is a trait we see in Ignazio.
They gave Ignazio such exceptional values that it only made sense he would become the good, kind and compassionate person he is.
When Ignazio speaks about his family he speaks with a passion. The deep bond this family has is exceptional. Even as a very young child Ignazio said his family shared everything. No matter what happened it was discussed with the whole family. Ignazio has said that he admires his parents for their openness with him and Nina.
I write about Ignazio so often that I feel a special closeness to him and, today my heart aches for him. But Ignazio said something recently that touched my heart and the hearts of others. He said his mother told him, “Amore non finisce mai!” (Love never ends!) And this is true. Even when we are separated from the one’s we love that love doesn’t go away. It stays with you forever. It remains in our hearts.
In the past, Ignazio has said about his parents. Is it the same if the images that I will never forget are …. the memories of my parents? It’s not that I’m crazy or strange, it’s right that my story would never have existed without my parents …. Of sacrifices they have made many and, big for me and for my sister but, more so for me. I do not spend days when I do not think about how proud I am of them. He said this when his father was still with them.
Vito Boschetto was a man who worked very hard for his family. He was a mason, a brick layer. He worked at this job right up to the last days of his life.
Vito we all miss you at the concerts and by Ignazio’s side. There is a big void but the love lives on because amore non finisce mai. Our hearts are with your family today!
For your Listening pleasure, I leave you with the PBS/Rai concert in Verona.
Join me next week as I go back Through the Fields of My Mind and bring to you the next exciting adventure of Il Volo.
Capolavoro is available on all digital platforms including Spotify and Amazon Music
Who Wants to Live Forever is available on all digital platforms including Spotify and Amazon Music
If you would like to share a story with me, please email: susan.flightcrew@yahoo.com
Not sure how many of you were able to watch this last week, but I wanted to give my two cents worth! 🙂
I have to say, that I think they actually did a pretty good job of it. Of course, there wasn’t enough of our guys singing, in the whole 1.5 hour show, I think we maybe got about 45 min of them singing – maybe!
But overall, I think it was good. They did a simulated interview session, back and forth and of course lots of pledge time. Not sure how they do it, but it is in English. Even though we translated it all and some of us have downloaded the entire concert, it is nice to hear it in English. 🙂
I think, perhaps, all of our bugging them helped them finally pronounce their names right. They came really, really close to saying Ignazio’s name almost right! 🙂 It only took them 12 years!
I really thought it would air twice this month, but it was the only time it is scheduled for Aug or Sep. I imagine it will be on again for the Nov/Dec season.
I did want to let you know that you can order the DPTV Passport for $5 a month and should be able to stream the concerts and other programs. And give you the links to purchase the CD, DVDS, etc. LINKS ARE BELOW:
And, yes, I will probably order the whole “kit and kaboodle!” 🙂
Jana
Hello folks –
Just a really quick post on this – not sure if this will be going national quite yet, but if you are in the Detroit viewing area, PBS will be presenting the Ennio Morricone concert this Thursday at 9p EST (DST). If it’s not on in your area, call your local PBS station to find out when it might be aired.
Likely most have already seen it on this site and have seen and read the translations from Jo Ann and Daniela. I am hoping they did a nice interview in Italy with them and this show will give us some insight to possible future concerts and CD/DVDs. I know they said they were working on the CD, so we may be able to order it for Christmas. I literally recall about 6 years ago now, ordering the CD/DVD from them and having to go in circles trying to get it delivered to my correct address, because I was moving! What a nightmare that was!
The guys obviously did not come to the USA this time to promote it from Detroit PBS and they did not ask for any volunteers, or Chris and I would have been there! 🙂
