A pleasant interview with Gianluca Ginoble, made by the journalist: Luca Maggitti.
The occasion was the ABBA Immobiliare event, for the presentation of their construction project LUXURY ESTATE which will be carried out in Roseto degli Abruzzi.
A nice dinner on a summer evening with a touch of rain. The event was cheered by some guests, including our Gianluca.
The video begins with the performance of a good violinist with CON TE PARTIRÒ (Time to Say Goodbye) performed among the tables of the guests.
I translate for you.
LM = On stage with me, the winner of Sanremo 2015 with Il Volo: Gianluca Ginoble.
GG = Good evening
LM = These drops (drizzle), remind me of a passage from a book that says that Mexican nobles love to sleep outdoors with the drops of water that wet their sheets in the summer.
GG = The perfect soundtrack. The sound of nature.
LM = Singing in the rain.
GG = Singing in the rain. Wet evening, lucky evening (it’s an old Italian saying).
LM = You are truly an international artist, you have been on exceptional stages. A memory … when I saw you taking a selfie with Pope Francis in Panama, remind me how many there were, how many you were.
GG = Maybe it was one of the best experiences ….. but you know that I don’t like to always talk about myself. This is a special evening and first of all I want to greet everyone, even ABBA Immobiliare and all of you, I am really happy and honored to be here, and thanks for the affection you have shown me also in these last weeks where we have had the opportunity to be together.
LM = But they want to hear about you.
GG = Yes, of course, let’s say that during my artistic career, it is now 11 years that I “fly” with my colleagues.
LM = You have been on a world tour for 11 years without stopping, COVID has stopped you, otherwise you would be doing the eleventh year of touring.
GG = Unfortunately, Covid has stopped everyone, there is no alternative and in any case health is the most important thing.
Surely one of the most beautiful experiences was to sing for the Pope, one meter from Pope Francis, a Ave Maria Mater Misericordiae written especially for us. There were thousands of young people, it was WYD.
LM =Eight hundred thousand young people?
GG = You added three hundred thousand more …..
LM = But do you realize how many young people ….. and then you go there and say “Francis, let’s take a selfie?”
GG = It was nice, because the Pope is always very helpful, we had the opportunity to meet him also during the private audience, and that day we said “Can we take a selfie like young people do?” And he said “Sure.”
LM = Then I have an Argentine national volleyball guest and I keep you here, as you also speak Spanish and I don’t.
GG = Okay.
LM = You also sang for two Presidents of the Italian Republic, in the Senate there was Napolitano and in Trieste, for the unification of Italy there was Mattarella. Even in those cases, I imagine, a great satisfaction.
GG = Especially in the Senate I was very excited, I was 18/19 and it was something surreal, like the beginning of our career, from school desks, to travels around the world.
It was an honor for us, Napolitano, Grasso (President and Prime Minister), he was very prestigious, one of the things I will never forget.
LM = Another thing I remember, at least it struck me a lot and maybe it is something passed over in silence, when you went to do a sort of “Band Aid”, years later for Haiti, if I’m not mistaken, and you were invited by Quincy Jones himself. Quincy Jones isn’t recognized by many, but he produced Michael Jackson, he produced Thriller.
You were very young, and you had this man who, from the videos, hugged you …..
GG = There are great things very appreciated abroad, of our country, and they are good food and this type of music, which has its own light and illuminates the world for decades, also brought by Pavarotti and Bocelli. Thanks to this, we have attracted the attention of the great boss of international music like Quincy Jones, because we do nothing but bring, with our voices, the name of our music, of our country.
LM = It struck me a lot, even the fact that the former Roseto basketball coach, when he was in Atlanta, called me and said, “Is that boy really from Roseto?”. And then he came to greet you at meet & greet and he wrote me, “This is the music that everyone loves in the world.” and he is a Croatian.
(Atlanta 2016, Gianluca , Piero Ignazio and Neven Spahija, the Roseto coach)
The beautiful thing about Il Volo, I have always said, as a simple journalist, you are Il Volo in Japan, Il Volo in America …… that is … Vasco Rossi (a very famous pop singer in Italy) it is Vasco Rossi in Italy, but in France (France taken as an example of a neighboring country), no offense, he is nobody ….. you are Il Volo in the world, and this is an incredible thing.
When you go to South America they give the news on the national news. For you, who are always kind it seems normal, but sharing this with you, let me say to all: let’s do another round of applause !!
There is also another succulent anecdote, when you went with Bruno Vespa in New York and you met Woody Allen and you explain to him that you live in Montepagano, taking the wine route. Tell us.
GG = I sometimes think about it and it makes me laugh.
LM = Your spontaneity makes you do everything.
GG = Sicily is certainly much better known than Abruzzo, this is the reality. We were having dinner with Woody Allen and he asked us where we come from. The other two replied from Sicily and he said he had seen it several times, then I say from Abruzzo, he did not know where it was, then I add, near Rome, and then I say, “Do you know Montepulciano d’Abruzzo wine?” and he said, “Yes, great wine, I like it very much”. You understand, I had to go around through the wine to explain where Abruzzo is, because unfortunately he didn’t know it, but through the wine he understood.
LM = Yes, for many foreign people, Abruzzo is close to Rome, even if in fact it is not that close for us, indeed it is far from Rome, but to explain it is easier this way.
GG = In addition, the places of the Abruzzo mountains are more famous than those of the sea. But we have beautiful beaches here and there are people like you (Abba Immobiliare) who are investing in the territory of Roseto degli Abruzzi, which is a jewel and has nothing to envy from other beaches.
LM= Last thing I want to tell you, something that happened to me and your dad, Ercole. One day I was here at the Liberty having a coffee and I see four women who speak English. They were four of Gianluca admirers from Connecticut, Texas, Florida, and I would say Louisiana or Georgia, who had come here, had hired a driver, an interpreter, and wanted to see the places where Gianluca had grown up. If I hadn’t witnessed this, I wouldn’t have believed it. They asked me, “Do you really know Gianluca?” And I called Ercole and told him that I had seen women who were almost crying for Gianluca.
GG = Do you realize?
LM = The Texan woman, (Deborah, they are talking about you!) showed me the photo of the car with the personalized IL VOLO license plate, because there, paying for it is possible (in Italy it is not possible) and told me, “I am cured of depression, after the death of my husband, listening to the music of Il Volo” and hugged you and never left you. They came from America to see your house, then, luckily you were there, but for them, it was enough to see Gianluca’s house in Montepagano. What do you think of this?
GG = Sometimes I can hardly believe it, how life can radically change, however I was a child who dreamed of singing, but I never imagined that my life could change like this and get to the other side of the world and excite and also to heal people ….. the power of music, and it’s something that still excites me.
LM = In 2009, Massimo Ranieri (famous Italian singer) comes here to sing and the mayor tells me, I bring Gianluca to Ranieri and introduce him to him. You know him, and you tell him, “You will see that I will become a good singer.”
GG = But…… I can’t have said that.
LM = Then you also took the photo with your cell phone.
GG = It was 2007 and then in 2015 we sang together on RAI1 QUANDO L’AMORE DIVENTA POESIA and he showed that old photo on TV.
LM = What effect did it have on you?
GG = This shows that over the years anything can happen, as a child I came to see a singer in concert and a few years later, I sing on TV with him.
GG = Luca, but you know that I don’t like to talk only about me.
LM = But you are the star. In 2007, the first memory I have of you, at the age of 12, you go to sing twp songs for a poetry award at the Pia Marta oratory school and you sing IL MARE CALMO DELLA SERA, a very difficult piece.
GG = I remember, I was a little anomalous, a 12 year old boy singing Bocelli, my friends listened to something else. I also listened to other groups, but also classical music, so the children of my age saw me as a “different” child.
LM = And I remember, that this 12 year old is doing this very difficult song and in the end we all stood up.
GG = Then I still had the young voice, so it was easier to get to the high notes.
LM = It was an exceptional ride and it is still at the beginning because you are very young.
GG = I hope so, I’ve always enjoyed living with music.
LM = Last thing, you were international stars, but you missed Italy, first time in Sanremo and immediately victory, what effect did it have on you?
(Sanremo first night, how much emotion !!!)
GG = In fact we were more known and appreciated in other countries than at home, it was a sort of revenge, to show that we had a great desire to do and to be recognized in our country after years abroad, and for us to win Sanremo it was the most important thing, it gave us the real fame in Italy, that of being recognized on the street. But I must say that I am really happy and I hope to continue flying with my colleagues for many more years.
LM = The hope is also that you will always remain so available, ladies and gentlemen: GIANLUCA GINOBLE.
Gianluca Ginoble with Luca Maggitti.
This photo is published on Luca Maggitti’s Facebook page with this dedication:
If I can express a wish to friends, for 2019, it is to have the humility of Gianluca: an international star who – since I have known him … and I have known him since he was 12 years old and he was nobody – has never been haughty.
On the other hand, I know people who are haughty and don’t even have a shred of talent.
Bravo, Gianlù!
Luca Maggitti
(In the lower right corner of the photo is Gianluca’s first public performance, on May 25, 2007 at the Oratorio Piamarta.)
Did you like this interview?
Really a nice chat between friends who respect each other.
And you, Gianluca, always kind and helpful, we really like this aspect of your character. 😘
Daniela
Credit to owners of all photos and videos.
