Tag Archives: Turin

THE LAST THREE ITALIAN CONCERTS by Daniela

In this whirlwind of news, events and concerts in this month of December, there have also been the last three concerts of Il Volo in Italy.
I can only say that it was a success in all three cases.
These concerts have been postponed several times due to the pandemic and many tickets had already been bought since 2019.
Despite everything and despite the fear of contagion that still hangs over proximity of people in indoor places, people came and were truly satisfied.
At the last concert, Piero, Ignazio and Gianluca and all the Il Volo staff were so euphoric with the result, as if they had climbed a very high mountain.
Here is a small summary of the three concerts, where I will put different videos:

TURIN – December 15th

The snow, which had not yet reached Turin, saw fit to arrive in the afternoon of the day of the concert, creating inconvenience for those who had to reach the arena.
Because of this, the concert started over half an hour late in order for people to arrive. 😘
ECSTASY OF GOLD

This is a video shot by Ercole Ginoble, immediately after Ecstasy of Gold, where you see the whole audience and Gianluca who starts by saying :
“Hello Turin, welcome to this warm evening.” 😁
SE

NELLA FANTASIA

Piero, Ignazio and Gianluca wore elegant velvet jackets with leather lapels.
But after the formal part of the concert, the boys changed jackets, Piero and Ignazio wore very bright and special jackets, Gianluca, on the other hand, wears a simple blue jacket.
ALMENO TU NELL’UNIVERSO

We are very close to Christmas and therefore Christmas songs are also sung.
ADESTE FIDELES

AMAZING GRACE

Just a couple of days and here we are in Milan.

MILAN – December 17th

Everything repeats itself.
SE TELEFONANDO and CARUSO

Between one song and another, there is a “curtain” between the three boys. Ignazio tells Piero that he had a great inspiration that allowed him to write a beautiful song. He sits down at the piano and goes on to say that those things happen once in a while. Gianluca confirms that he has already heard the song and it’s really beautiful. Piero is amazed, but doesn’t know whether to trust him, but Ignazio is serious and therefore wants to make the whole audience hear the new song . He says: “Are you ready?”
Piero asks for the title of the song and Ignazio says “My cold winter,” and he starts playing………….brrrrr. (all gone, just a cold shiver) 😁😁😁
HALLELUJAH

E LUCEVAN LE STELLE (the stars were inserted later in the video)

JINGLE BELLS and HAPPY XMAS

VOLARE

This photo was posted by stylist Nick Cerioni who recommends clothing for boys and who gives the photo the following title:
IL VOLO ROCKSTARS 😁😁😁
In this concert Gianluca also convinced himself to wear an extravagant jacket.

ROME – December 23rd

Another replay
IL MONDO

YOUR SONG

IGNAZIO’S JACKET

Ignazio jokes a lot about this, saying that with that jacket he looked like one of the glittering lamps/disco balls that went around at the discos in the 70s. 😁
When Ignazio enters the stage, a chorus begins from the audience: “you are beautiful” and Ignazio immediately says that a chorus like this must be done to Gianluca,  to him they can say  “you are very good”. 😁😁😁
UN AMORE COSÌ GRANDE

HAPPY XMAS, WAR IS OVER

I would say that they were three important dates and that they confirmed Il Volo’s charisma and the great affection that the public has for them.
And let’s not forget that between one concert and another Piero, Ignazio and Gianluca also had four book signing instores, and exactly:
TURIN
MILAN
BOLOGNA
ROME
You have a resistance to fatigue, really remarkable guys.
That’s not all, because our friends Alessandra Composto and Kirsten Langer were present respectively: at the concert in Milan and in Rome and the two of them have already sent me their reviews.
So soon you will read the emotions of our friends.
Daniela 🤗

 

Credit to owners of all photos and videos.

MILAN BOOK SIGNING by Daniela

After a long wait, the book-signing event in Milan has arrived, in which I wanted to participate.
I had many expectations about this event, and some were met, but unfortunately not all, but first things first.
The meeting was in Milan in the Mondadori bookshop located in the beautiful Piazza Duomo.
Since I can’t go to any of the Italian winter concerts, i.e. Turin, Milan and Rome, I was hoping for a lot for this meeting, which was scheduled with a presentation of the book, some questions and answers and then the signing of the book.
Milan is close to Brescia, just over an hour by train, the meeting was at 5:30pm, so my husband and I left Brescia on the 1:30pm train.
As soon as we arrived in Milan, Piazza Duomo was revealed in all its beauty and sparklingly dressed for the upcoming Christmas.

The beautiful Galleria in Milan, sparkling with its beautiful Swarovski tree.

We immediately rushed to the Mondadori bookstore to buy the book, a necessary condition for having a pass for the event. I had already bought the book in Brescia and I brought it with me, with the intention of having it signed even that too.
The Mondadori bookshop cashier tells me that we have the pass for the second group, because the first passes for the first group were already sold out, and she tells me that the event for the second group will be after 6:00 pm, and there will be only the signing of the book, without being able to interact with questions to Il Volo. This annoyed me a little, I tried to protest, but the saleswoman told me that there were too many adhesions and they couldn’t do otherwise.
So I went up to the third floor, where there were already many fans in line and it was only 4:00 pm.

This photo was just the final and shortest part of the queue, back there it angled towards the longest part but which I couldn’t photograph from my seat.
I couldn’t queue, as my group was on the second floor, but I could at least talk to the people in line and say hello to some friends.
And so I was able to see and say hello to Judith from Canada, in great shape.

And then I also met Sophia, granddaughter of RoseMarie Paliobeis. Both Judith and Sophia will go to the concert at the Forum in Milan, how lucky!!

I also met Alessandra Composto , but we didn’t take the photo, sorry. 

A friend of mine, Cinzia, tells me she has a pass for the first group and offers it to me, I gratefully accept, so I’ll be at the first event, and I queue up, it’s very hot in the library but I’m happy to get in earlier.
But a person in charge of the library arrives who informs us that there will be no book presentation event, but due to scheduling problems, only the signing of the book!! Oh no, what a pity, I was really hoping to have a chat with Piero, Ignazio and Gianluca and instead there will only be a quick signing of the book.
It’s 17:30 and the doors of the room finally open, where Gianluca, Ignazio and Piero are already waiting, I’m at the back of the queue and I don’t see the room. the people in front of me start calling out the names of the boys.
I was hoping to have a little talk with them, but it doesn’t matter, I’m already happy to see them.
And finally after a long queue, I can enter the room and they are there at the back, here they are, finally!!
As I slowly approach, I continue to take pictures.

How beautiful they are, Ignazio is very cheerful, Piero and Gianluca are wearing surgical masks.
At one point I see that Gianluca stares into my eyes, I’m still distant, but I have the clear feeling that he stares at me and recognizes me, he sees that I’m taking pictures, lowers his mask and smiles.

In the mean time I arrive right in front of them, I put my coat on a chair, to be able to take better pictures, while I wait for my turn. But a man from the library tells me: “Madam, did you know that you can’t take pictures?” and so I put away my cell phone, but now it was my turn.

They tell me that I have to stay there next to Gianluca.
I hand over the books to sign, and while they sign, I manage to say:
“Congratulations guys for all your tour and all your events. The book is very nice”.
Gianluca = “Thank you”
Ignazio = “Have you read it?”
Me = “Of course you two (Gian and Igna) did a good introspection. (the photographer takes the picture)
Greetings from Flight Crew, (they smile at me and the photographer tells me to carry on).”

That’s all I managed to say…………shame, but that’s okay. I had the feeling that they were serene, Ignazio was laughing, I felt Piero less present because he was on the opposite side.
I didn’t want to take advantage of the time, because shortly before the library security man complained to a woman who was taking advantage of the boys’ time and ordered her to go ahead.
It’s already dark outside.

I have to rush to the train station, because just today there are strikes by means of travel and I risk not returning to Brescia.
I leave the library, one last shot of the beautiful Piazza Duomo in the evening and off to the station.

I’m tired but also satisfied.
While I’m on the return train, I check the photos I took, not bad, I like them.
Then I find a nice photo of the boys on Facebook, there on the third floor of the library, right in front of the balcony from which they performed in 2019.

And finally this nice summary video.
After a long wait, everything ended quickly.
Piero, Ignazio and Gianluca in these days have already done a book signing event in Turin, then the concert in Turin then this book signing event in Milan and the following day there was the concert in Milan (I will tell you about the three concerts in another post). The day after the concert in Milan they went to Montecarlo for a private event.

Then they will quickly return to Italy, because there is the book signing in Bologna and then the book signing in Rome and the concert in Rome, and then the final event in Jerusalem.
You guys are a force, I don’t know how you can handle this.
In any case I am happy to have seen you, even if only for a few moments, but to have seen you all smiling and serene.
A hug:💗💗💗
Daniela 🤗

 

Credit to owners of all photos and video.

MAGIC HOLIDAY CELEBRATION by Daniela

And here it is their presence at Disney World for the Christmas event.
They are fantastic, what voices, what an atmosphere!!
For those who haven’t seen them here is their video broadcast yesterday by ABC’s “Magical Holiday Celebration”, where they sing “Adeste Fideles”.
Thanks to Il Volo HN for playing the video.

How wonderful, it is a joy for the ears and for the eyes, the finish is fantastic, very long.
And as for their clothes, we have received this confirmation, Piero, Ignazio and Gianluca wore ARMANI.
And here they are in this short interview.
But there is also a preview, thanks to the video of Melannie A. Pagàn Lopez, who was present in the audience during the filming of the song “Happy Christmas, War is Over”. Thank you so much Melannie!!
This video of Il Volo will be part of the program that will be broadcast on Christmas day.
Wow, a longer version of this beautiful song, very beautiful and very heartfelt in this particular moment.
Our boys are always nice and beautiful !
There is also news on the concert that will be held in Bethlehem, here is the announcement from Canale 5.
If you have seen correctly, the event that will soon be on Canale 5 is called “Christmas in Jerusalem” and not Bethlehem, perhaps there has been a small change in the place, but we are still in Israel.
Bethlehem Cathedral which contains the Grotto of the Nativity.
And the photo of the arrival at the airport, posted by Maestro Grani, with the comment:  “Israel…….first time.”
The first instore for the book signing in Turin has been announced on December 14th, but I look forward to the announcement for Milan!!
I remind you that in December there will also be three concerts in Italy. In fact Piero has published the photo with him holding the newspaper where there is the photo of Il Volo announcing the concert in Rome!! Here it is.
How nice to see Piero, Ignazio and Gianluca having fun at Disney World, and in Israel Il Volo is thinking of something fantastic for us to see and hear.
And we can’t wait.
Daniela 🤗

Credit to owners of all photos and videos.

ESC 2022: AN IMPORTANT EVENING by Daniela

There was a lot of expectation for Il Volo’s participation in the Eurovision 2022 semifinal, especially after the news of Gianluca’s positivity at Covid had spread, which forced him to return home immediately and leave Ignazio and Piero alone , who with the production team and technology, allowed everything to happen, with Ignazio and Piero on stage and Gianluca from home. The result was excellent, as can be seen from the video below.
Please click the photo below to play the video.

You Are My Everything video

I would say it was a beautiful performance, they really found a solution to make the performance happen, the projection of Gianluca singing from home is remarkable and thanks to the technology and the production team everything was solved.
The new version of Grande Amore is excellent, it is not only sung in English, but also in Italian and this does not distort the original song, even the musical arrangement is a little more modern, but it is not alien to the first more classical version, in short , it seems to me an excellent result.
The voices of our Piero, Ignazio and Gianluca are always excellent, all at the top !! ❤❤❤
At the end of the performance Piero and Ignazio thank the Turin public and Ignazio greets Gianluca with …………. hello Gianlu !!!!
Demonstrating, as if there were the affection that always binds these three young men and heartening Gianluca that surely he will have been heartbroken by everything that had happened.
But let’s go back to the morning of May 11, when everything was still “normal”.
Piero Ignazio and Gianluca are on their way to Turin, where there will be rehearsals for all the artists and guests of the second evening of ESC.
Unaware of what was happening to them, the three headed to the Eurovision entrance where, to access, it is mandatory to take the test.
It is certainly not the first they do and they are calm because they are negative.
In fact, Ignazio and Piero are negative, but Gianluca is POSITIVE!!!! But he is fine, he has only a slight cold, everything seems impossible but it is so, unfortunately.
We can only imagine Gianluca’s desperation, certainly before leaving Montepagano, he had taken a test and it was negative and now he is POSITIVE.
Although there was certainly a lot of desperation, Gianluca could not do anything but lock himself in isolation in a room, waiting for a car to take him back to Montepagano, while Piero and Ignazio had nothing left but to find a solution together with their staff.

While the news was making the rounds of all the fans pages, the Il Volo team and the ESC production quickly thought of a solution.
Covid, has accustomed us to connections from home and therefore, it was immediately thought of being able to make a performance with Piero and Ignazio on stage and Gianluca from home.

Great thing, ESC could still have Il Volo!

The various interviews begin, naturally there are only Ignazio and Piero.

Naturally Ignazio and Piero try to play down the situation nicely, cheerfully answering the questions, but it is certain that their thoughts go to Gianluca and his misfortune of this case. ❤
Here is the news given by the RAI1 news program.
WOMAN = News of these hours, one of the components of Il Volo tested positive for Covid, he will perform anyway, he will do it digitally, our correspondent Leonardo Metalli met the other two.
LM = I seem to notice that Gianluca is missing, what happened?
IGNAZIO = Nothing, we couldn’t take it anymore and we got rid of it …😁😁
PIERO = We kicked him out, that’s enough!😁😁
LM = The truth!
PIERO = He tested positive at Covid, so he is in isolation, but fortunately in 2022 with technology, we will be able to tread the Eurovision stage in Italy.
MAN = The only version you haven’t made of Grande Amore, a little rock, a little symphonic …
IGNAZIO = Yes, a different version from the one before, in a slightly more rock style, naturally we will miss Gianluca on stage.❤
The voice will be there, that’s for sure.
We have it here Gianluca, in the little heart.❤
PIERO = He will watch us on TV, bye Gianluca ❤

This interview is also really nice, I translate for you.

WOMAN = IL VOLO!
PIERO = I often watch this program, it’s the one with the mirror …. hello Serena (she is the host)
COVID DOES NOT STOP THE MUSIC
MAN = The news of course: there is no Gianluca and so what will this performance be like for two?
IGNAZIO = We will have more space on stage for sure😁  …. no, well, we will miss him. ❤ This morning he tested positive and, as is done in these cases, immediately in isolation and we are already working with the production to be able to do the exhibition, certainly Gianluca’s voice will not be missing. It is an anomalous situation …
MAN = Has this ever happened to you before?
IGNAZIO = Yes, once.
PIERO = Yes, in Portugal, but we went on the air anyway, he is always the problem   (Gianluca due to a heavy snowfall in Montepagano was unable to reach the others in Portugal).
We will clearly sing GRANDE AMORE. Returning to Eurovision, we wanted to do something different, we called our friend Enrico Melozzi who gave a rock key …..
MAN = He is also a friend of our program.
PIERO = Enrico,  he is a great professional. He did a good job, we are very happy, we hope to surprise our audience, we will give our best.
IGNAZIO = See you this summer on tour, I take this opportunity to promote ….
PIERO = He is the promotion expert …
IGNAZIO = We will start on June 3rd and 4th from the Verona Arena …
MAN = A little thing ….
IGNAZIO = …. then there will be Taormina, and then we will do cities like Torre del Lago, Benevento, Ferrara, Agrigento, and therefore we can’t wait to return, after two and a half years.
MAN = Last thing, you have listened to the songs in the competition, who do you like?
IGNAZIO = I like England.
MAN = What a voice, Space Man.
IGNAZIO = I’ve been following him for two years on social media. His voice control is crazy.
PIERO = I like Portugal, it’s called Saudace, really beautiful, congratulations.
MAN = Thanks guys, good luck. I get in the way, I do the third, what do you say?
We greet Gianluca and Serena.
I + P = Hi, hi everyone.

And here is the comment by Enrico Melozzi published on his Facebook page:
Tonight the song #youaremyeverything that I arranged and produced for @ilvolomusic will be presented at the Eurovision Song Contest @eurovision. An explosive rock-symphonic version, which I’m sure you’ll love. I send a big hug to my dear friend @ gianginoble11 is a big good luck to dear friends @ignazioboschetto @barone_piero for tonight’s performance.
Of course our paths will meet soon, once again.

IL VOLOYOU ARE MY EVERYTHING(GRANDE AMORE)

While Gianluca returns to Montepagano in solitary confinement, Piero and Ignazio begin rehearsals.

Radio 102.5, has a nice interview with Piero and Ignazio in Turin and to Gianluca in Montepagano, here it is.
MAN = They are connected with us, in this moment Ignazio and Pietro (he gets the name wrong) of Il Volo, good morning.
WOMAN = Good morning Ignazio, good morning Piero, hello guys, Il Volo.
IGNAZIO = We are Peter and Paul. (Ignazio tries to point out to the man that Piero’s name is wrong)
WOMAN = Piero and Ignazio, Piero and Ignazio, good morning.
MAN = Ok, are you okay?
IGNAZIO = We are in an unpublished version.
MAN = You have become a duo, but be careful, because from Argentina (as if to say from afar) he is connected with us: Gianluca Ginoble. ❤
WOMAN = Hi Gianluca !!❤
GIANLUCA = From Argentina: mucho gusto !!
MAN = Mucho gusto: Carramba what a surprise. (they recall a very successful program that united people over great distances was called “Carramba what a surprise”)
WOMAN = First question, how are you Gianluca? I see you in great shape.
GIANLUCA = And less badly, if this is Covid, welcome to Covid.
WOMAN = (she and the man begin a sentence together) We can say, excuse a moment, (she turns to her man colleague), we can say one thing: what bad luck Gianluca !!
GIANLUCA = Okay, but look, apart from that I’m sorry to see this situation, then yesterday I ran away suddenly, now I’m at home, here in Abruzzo.
Having to leave the Eurovision stage and leave the boys (Piero and Ignazio) ….
WOMAN = No, oh well ….
GIANLUCA = We didn’t miss the train, the passage (on TV) is the most important thing, but not being able to live this life experience, this strong emotion, in front of 200 million people, is really frustrating. It will strengthen me, I must tell you.
WOMAN = Yes, it will certainly strengthen you, the period is what it is, I have to tell you, but you will be there in some way.
IGNAZIO = But not on stage …
MAN = You stay wider.
IGNAZIO = We are wider.
GIANLUCA = They will be IL VO–. 😁😁 ..
MAN = Actually there are 6 letters, (IL VOLO) so 2 + 2 + 2 -2 the account returns. 😁
But it is an opportunity, let’s say in bad luck as Federica said before…..
WOMAN = Let’s say things as they are!
MAN = ….. to experience augmented reality, correct?
IGNAZIO = Absolutely.
MAN = What did you invent, Ignazio?
IGNAZIO = Later I’ll tell you what we came up with. But also the good fortune of doing Eurovision sitting from the living room, is not for everyone !!
WOMAN = Got it ???
MAN = Gianluca’s luck you mean !!
GIANLUCA = It also happened in 2012, remember?
IGNAZIO = May I?
WOMAN = Go, go, let’s put order.
IGNAZIO = Thanks to the technology of 2022 we were able to make a video and send it behind us, I must say thanks to our production that did a great job and also all of Eurovision’s production.
WOMAN = First with some teenage boys, one of them said:
“Gianluca will be in DAD tonight” (DAD means Distance Learning, used in schools and at work, during Covid)
GIANLUCA = Exactly, I’ll be in DAD.
WOMAN = You do Eurovision in DAD.
GIANLUCA = Damn, it already happened in 2012, there was a very heavy snowfall here in Abruzzo, I remember, in 2012 we were guests of the “The Voice Portugal” program, shot in Portugal in Lisbon, and the boys left without me (I remember that Piero and Ignazio, they departed from Sicily), because due to the snow, I could not leave.
So this is the second time they sing without me!
IGNAZIO = The snowfall of 2012 was also unpredictable!
WOMAN = That’s it. Listen, can you tell me how things unfolded yesterday? Have you taken the control ordinance test?
GIANLUCA = I took the test before leaving, the day before yesterday, and it was negative.
I arrive in Turin, I take the flight from Rome, I land and we do the test as soon as we arrive at the sports hall and unfortunately they tell me that I was POSITIVE.
I had to run away, immediately and go home.
MAN = But we see you well, you are fine, and therefore apart from the slightly palled eye (tired), but I think that is more for the anger than for the Covid ….
GIANLUCA = Oh yes.
Pietro (the name is still wrong), we didn’t hear you.
PIERO = I listened.
IGNAZIO = Why do you call him Pietro, understood? He is Piero.
MAN = Oh, sorry, yes Piero sorry, but is it Piero as a first name or is it Pietro?
PIERO = I am Piero by baptism.
MAN = So I was really wrong (finally got it) sorry!
PIERO = I was interested in these moments, I’m happy to show how deep our relationship is.
When the (positive) news arrived, the common thought of all three was this:
“Guys, it doesn’t matter what is happening, the important thing is to bring this step home, bring this event home.” It could have happened to each of us three, we are in a rather delicate period and therefore, in this situation, yes ok , as Ignazio says technology in 2022, but if there is no common goal, that is to carry forward our name, IL VOLO, and bring home such an important passage, music, such an important message, we could not have done it. Yes, the technicians did a great job, but the priority there is our relationship, our common goal, which is our strength.
WOMAN = Exactly, this is very true and in any case it is news and tonight everyone will be waiting to see what you have invented and in the end you always have to look at the glass half full, see the positive side of things, as far as situations are concerned, clearly not like this in the specific, which in the end, as you can see, is resolved, but like the one that the world has experienced in these two years.
Listen, by the way you will bring the new version of Grande Amore.
PIERO = Yes, we contacted our friend Enrico Melozzi, you know we are always used to hearing the classic version of Grande Amore, it’s not easy to make another version, you know it’s really difficult to do a good job ….
WOMAN = Let’s do something, Piero, let’s hear it and then comment on it together, so let’s give a preview of what will happen tonight?
PIERO = Sure, go!
WOMAN = YOU ARE MY EVERYTHING, listen here, guitars instead of violins, what came out ….. (the new version of Grande Amore starts, but in the video you can hear only the beginning )
MAN = Standing ovation for Il Volo !!
WOMAN = Guys what a bomb !!
MAN = Strong, strong. Strong this version.
PIERO = I wanted to say that it is an important day today, because it is the birthday of our manager, Michele Torpedine.
MAN = Happy Birthday, hi Michele !!
WOMAN = Michele, greetings Mik.
IGNAZIO = Despite turning 170, he looks a little less.
WOMAN = That’s right, hi Mik, can we reveal that we once pretended on TV that we were husband and wife?
PIERO = Federica says you pretended to be husband and wife on social media.
TORPEDINE = It’s true, it’s true !!
WOMAN = Okay, these were the altars (little secrets) for an episode recorded one evening a few years ago.
Guys, this new version is cool.
PIERO = Enrico Melozzi did a really great job, because when we heard his idea, the rearranged song, we were surprised, and that’s what we were looking for, I really mean it. Well done.
WOMAN = Really beautiful!
GIANLUCA = And then from a charge, especially singing it on the Eurovision stage, we can’t wait to perform and we will give our best to try to surprise and excite people.😁
PIERO = This joke is beautiful Gianluca !!😁
MAN = Yes, this joke is beautiful! Fantastic. (laughter) 😁😁😁
Anyway you will be there and it will be exciting to listen to you again tonight.
PIERO = Let’s play down …
GIANLUCA = It will be wonderful guys !!
MAN = So, counting, Gianluca, if you tested positive yesterday, now for the next 10 days you will be out of order, so how are you planning for the start of the tour?
GIANLUCA = Actually, there was also a concert in Barcelona.
WOMAN = Yes, Sunday.
MAN = Indeed.
GIANLUCA = Oh yes, we have also postponed the concert in Barcelona, then in any case the tour starts in June from the Verona Arena, 3 and 4 June there are two concerts in the Arena, then at the Ancient Theater of Taormina, we will continue in July the concerts in Europe and then we will go to Japan, September and October the US and Canada and then Australia, so it will be a busy schedule.
PIERO = Besides Verona and Taormina we will do many other concerts in Italy, Torre del Lago, Agrigento …
WOMAN = At that point Gianluca will be immunized, he will have antibodies.
MAN = Only skip Barcelona, sorry for Spanish friends, but it will recover …
PIERO = It will be rescheduled anyway …
MAN = It will be reprogrammed and, as we have heard, you will still be our flag bearers.
GIANLUCA = We will come to see you in the studio very soon.
MAN = We look forward to seeing you
GIANLUCA = Not in these 10 days, obviously.😁
WOMAN = No, later, later.
MAN = Maybe even earlier, it depends a little on the contagion, but seeing yourself like this, you are very well, in my opinion already in a couple of days you negativize yourself.
WOMAN = Otherwise let’s put Gianluca’s augmented reality here in the studio too.
MAN = Okay, thanks guys, good evening for tonight.
We are sure it will be a great return for you to the Eurovision Song Contest stage. Thanks to Il Volo!
WOMAN = Bye guys, good luck.
MAN = Bye Piero, bye Ignazio, bye Gianluca, bye thanks.

After the performance of the evening, Gianluca from home wrote to Piero and Ignazio on Twitter:

Last night you were simply spectacular. ❤

The gift of ubiquity is the new symptom.I had proof of that at Eurovision tonight!Il Volo, you have triumphed!I was there with you!

 

And now let’s enjoy the beautiful photos of the evening.

It goes without saying that the video of Il Volo, published on the ESC Facebook page, had many shares and as many comments and all of people who remembered Il Volo 7 years earlier with great affection and remembered well the missed victory and the beautiful song.
Very beautiful and affectionate comments from all over Europe and beyond. ❤
Not everyone agrees with the new English version, there are those who prefer the Italian version, but Il Volo was great not to present only an English version, but a bilingual one !!

I’ll spare you some comments from the Italian press, some really bad, but by now we’re used to it, and others more benevolent like this one taken from ZON.it:
“The unexpected of the positivity of Gianluca Ginoble, the baritone of the trio, did not prevent Il Volo from unleashing a riot of applause at the Pala Alpitur in Turin. The world-acclaimed group made Europe vibrate with a version completely new to Grande Amore.
The choice to take the stage despite the unfortunate event was courageous. Two winning weapons: on the one hand the text contaminated by English, on the other the contemporary arrangement, a symphonic rock that bears the signature of the maestro Enrico Melozzi. Vote 9.
I want to conclude this participation in ESC 2022 with two short videos, shot in the audience, while Il Volo performed on stage, this testifying to the fans’ GRANDE AMORE for IL VOLO. ❤❤❤
Daniela

 

 

Credit to owners of all photos and videos.

 

PORTA A PORTA 2022 AND OTHER NEWS by Daniela

This episode of Porta a Porta was supposed to air in February, but due to the war in Ukraine it has always been postponed.
Last week, with no ads and no announcements, it aired after midnight. Here is the episode and what has been said.
Please click on the photo below to view the video.

Porta a Porta show

VESPA = We are approaching Eurovision, in Turin, the great music festival, and we are going there, remembering Il Volo, the boys of Il Volo, which we baptized here more than 10 years ago.
Let’s open this segment with the guys from Il Volo who will come here, in the studio, with us, and with this clip, Il Volo introduces itself.
(begins a video that traces many moments of Il Volo’s career. Immediately after, Il Volo, in the studio, sings “SE”).
Il Volo, celebrates more than 10 years of success at Porta a Porta. Piero Barone, 29 years old, Ignazio Boschetto, 28 years old, and the plague, Gianluca Ginoble, the worst of all, who runs away, cannot be found, is undisciplined, messy  😁(he says it in a benevolent tone), but he is only 27 years old that we have to do??
GIANLUCA= I’m the youngest, by the way I just turned 27, just last week. 
IGNAZIO= He is the smallest! (Maybe he also says it in a double sense, he also means height) 😁
PIERO = So, I’m the oldest at the table.
VESPA = Madonna, how old are you.
IGNAZIO = Can we sit down?
VESPA = Sure.
PIERO = Bruno, what did I tell you a little while ago?
VESPA + PIERO = The promises are kept. (They had promised to return soon to Porta a Porta)
VESPA = Look, I know it takes a long time . We love you so much, you love us so much, we have brought each other luck ….
PIERO = This program brings good luck, you were the first to invite us and tell everything we were doing outside (means outside Italy).
IGNAZIO = I can say that your program and you were the first person and the first (Italian) program who believed in us, and never took us for granted. We always have Porta a Porta and you in our hearts.
VESPA = Thanks, thanks, thanks.
After two years of hiatus due to the pandemic, who would have said it would last that long, seven thousand people sent home to Los Angeles (he refers to the canceled concerts) and now, go home and then in June ….
PIERO = Exactly, we will start in May from Japan (they didn’t go, I remind you that this episode was recorded in February), in June there will be concerts in Italy, we start from the Arena di Verona, 3 and 4 and maybe … . (implies that there might have been another date) ….
IGNAZIO = Yes, because we have been postponing it for two years
PIERO = Two years, and it seems that we are finally leaving…
VESPA = How many concerts in Italy?
PIERO = In Italy, there will be more or less 15 concerts, I don’t know exactly it’s all in the planning phase.
VESPA = And then instead in autumn: United States …..
PIERO = Autumn: September US, South America will follow and we will return to Japan, then concerts in Europe, we have to recover two years of work.
VESPA = There are many people waiting for you.
Well, we first heard “SE”, taken from the movie “Nuovo Cinema Paradiso”, now we listen to “Ecstasy of Gold” beautiful music by Morricone …
IGNAZIO = Then we also have Clint Eastwood here in the studio (he jokes referring to Gianluca, applause)
GIANLUCA = You two are targeting me, I understand.
VESPA = You have to go straight (a way of saying to be good)
GIANLUCA = I’m going straight, I’m the most restless one, right?
VESPA = Let’s hear these guys (Ecstasy of gold video starts).

This splendid video was filmed in Sardinia, “Il Volo Sings Morricone”, released on November 5th and distributed all over the world. But now we have to go back nine years, you are celebrating 10 years.
IGNAZIO = Yes, we have been celebrating this for two years now (laughter).😁
GIANLUCA = The celebrations never stopped.
VESPA = But you were just out, remember, we took you that you were in swaddling clothes, very small.
GIANLUCA = We have always been a little kids, now almost men.
VESPA = You were kids on December 17, 2013.
PIERO = We were here.
VESPA = Here, at Porta a Porta, let’s see. (a video of Porta a Porta starts and the boys sing “Un Amore così Grande”)
You were really little, and you had already been to America, however, you came from America.
IGNAZIO = We came from America. I remember.
PIERO = What is 2017?
VESPA + IGNAZIO = 2013
VESPA = (Turning to Piero) You looked the youngest, you looked really small, small …
PIERO = I didn’t have a beard, that tuft, a little restyling was done.
GIANLUCA = Before, when we were a little younger,  people liked us , because we were child prodigies, in short, who sang with a different voice than our peers, we dressed a little like “grown-ups”.
Today it’s the other way around, see? (touches his beardless face) Today one takes off his beard and wants to look younger.
IGNAZIO = You take off your beard because you want to look younger. 😁
PIERO = He must always speak in the plural.😁
GIANLUCA = As a child you want to look older, do you see how we were dressed? We were dressed in our thirties there.
VESPA = Can I tell you something? Only once in my life did I feel old … who knows why at 27, at your age (talk to Gianluca)
GIANLUCA = Is it true?
VESPA = You saw, we had the same feeling, and now you are rejuvenated.
GIANLUCA = You can see that at 27 we Abruzzo feel “old”.
VESPA = At 27 we hear it and then we don’t !!
PIERO = The crisis of the 27th year.
VESPA = Yes, the 27th year crisis. (laughter) 😁
So, you then moved on to the theme songs of the television novels.
PIERO = For this you have to talk to Ignazio.
VESPA = Ignazio !
IGNAZIO = But I’ve always had a passion for writing music, I was in Sicily, and I remember I was sitting on the veranda, and the melody came out. So I carried it on and Makari was born.
VESPA = But during Covid?
IGNAZIO = Yes, it was that summer that seemed ….
VESPA = …. that things would return to normal?
IGNAZIO = Yes, like baby candy, right?😁
VESPA = Exactly.
IGNAZIO = And then I found myself writing this melody, and then, with Danilo Ciotti, our collaborator, we presented this song to the Palomar family, who are the producers of Makari, and so it all started.
VESPA = And it went well, let’s hear it. (begins the video of the song Makari)

And good Ignazio!
IGNAZIO = Thanks.
VESPA = Five million viewers!
IGNAZIO = Oh yes.
VESPA = It went really well.
What did you three do during the two years of Covid?
(he turns to Gianluca)
What have you done?
IGNAZIO = He took off his beard! 😁
GIANLUCA = But no!  We decided not to live them passively, trying to stimulate creativity. I learned a little to play the piano, I accompanied  me while I sang, it was my wish.
Then I studied acting a little. We reinvented ourselves, we thought of new projects. Morricone’s project was born thanks to two years of silence.
VESPA = (he turns to Ignazio)
And what about you?
IGNAZIO= You think, I lost weight in the pandemic, and then I gained weight, when everything was sorted out (I think he meant that he had lost weight around the time of his father’s passing away). 
I found love.❤ I studied a lot in the studio, and I improved.
VESPA = Did love distract you a lot?
IGNAZIO = Absolutely not!
VESPA = Did the love train you? Has it invigorated you?
It makes you dream, breathe ….
IGNAZIO = Love is beautiful when it makes you feel good, I’m fine. 😘
GIANLUCA(to Vespa)
You know it’s nice to see you in this role, I don’t see you asking about Meloni’s love (she is a political representative) (Gianluca means that: Porta a Porta is a program that deals with many topics, even political ones, often guests are politicians and they are not asked about their loves, of course) 😁
VESPA = You rather, you sentimentally, how are you doing?
GIANLUCA = I’m in love, I found love too last year, on the red carpet of the Venice Film Festival, think, what a story, like a fairy tale, do you realize? ❤
VESPA = Mamma mia! (and then turns to Piero)
IGNAZIO = Piero never talks (about the subject of love)
VESPA = I don’t want to invade privacy
PIERO = I like privacy, I prefer to live it for myself.
VESPA = …. live it for yourself, so is there a story? ….
PIERO = I mean my private life, for me my private life remains private ….
IGNAZIO(he comes to his friend’s rescue by trying to change the subject) Morricone was a great project, we worked hard 😁😁😁
VESPA = Look at these (Ignazio and Gianluca) talking.
What happened during Morricone?
IGNAZIO = Look, I’m perhaps the wrong person if you want to know something, I have a concrete stomach.
PIERO = About what?
IGNAZIO = On private lives, our gossips.
PIERO = In these two years we have had more time at our disposal, we have always had a hectic life, we have committed all our energies to Ennio Morricone’s project because you know, facing this world requires a lot of study, a lot of research and many thanks to the family of Ennio Morricone.
We have to thank his son, Andrea Morricone, also a great conductor, we had great support from him, he was like our compass, the world of Ennio Morricone is infinite and thanks to our producers and our team we have created Il Volo Sings Morricone, we also gave you vinyl for Christmas….
VESPA = Beautiful, beautiful, thank you!
PIERO = ….. we are delighted to have given voice to Morricone’s melodies, hoping that people are satisfied.
IGNAZIO = Can I add a little thing? At the beginning, perhaps we did not have a great knowledge of Ennio Morricone’s culture.
Once we thought about carrying on this thought, this idea, we immediately began to study, to understand who Morricone really was, because we had the opportunity to meet him in 2010, when we recorded our first album, and we had the opportunity to share the stage with him in 2011, but now we were more interested in understanding who he was and when we entered his world it was like taking a dip in a pool full of culture and emotions, full of feelings who always have something in store for you, it’s hard to explain!
VESPA = Now let’s see a video about who the three guys from Il Volo are all the way through.
Come on.
IGNAZIO = Help!
(part of a video with images of Il Volo a Porta a Porta)
In the video:
WOMAN’S VOICE = It’s been 10 years since Ignazio Boschetto, Piero Barone and Gianluca Ginoble came to visit us for the first time in Porta a Porta, at the dawn of their success.
Ten years in which Il Volo reached unimaginable heights, first, the enormous success in the US, with the invitation of Quincy Jones at the concert for Haiti, with stars of the caliber of Barbra Streisand, Bono and Lady Gaga, the transmission of Hellen De Generes and the lighting of the Christmas tree at the Rockefeller Center.
Then the consecration in Italy with the victory at the Sanremo Festival in 2015, a real triumph, so much so that Grande Amore, reaches 110 million views worldwide (now there are over 215 million views), and drags the trio to third place in the prestigious Eurovision Song Contest, where they are the most voted by the public.
That year we also accompanied them to New York, touching on their popularity, their kindness, their uncommon values, namely: bel canto, family, principles, sobriety, education and respect, especially among themselves, nothing that is taken for granted nowadays.
In the span of a decade they bring the Italian classics all over the world, modernizing them, without upsetting them, it is the boys in sneakers who sing Nessun Dorma and O Sole Mio, to use their words.
They also have the honor of singing in front of Pope Francis and over a million people in Panama on the occasion of World Youth Day.
Even during the health emergency, they continue to make all their fans feel the warmth, participating in the most important international streaming reviews, with a great sense of community and responsibility.
And now, as a sign of rebirth and hope, their world tour is about to start, 110 dates around the world, to celebrate their first 10 extraordinary years of career, an eagerly awaited reunion with the public, to continue to proudly bring Italy and its beauty around the world.
VESPA = We have taken the baton from Aunt Antonella, Antonella Clerici, (Ti Lascio Una Canzone).
GIANLUCA = We greet you with great affection.
VESPA = With great affection.
But you, when did you get together?
IGNAZIO = We met on that TV show, (Ti Lascio Una Canzone), we didn’t know each other before ….
VESPA = Where did you go to sing separately ….
IGNAZIO = We met for the auditions in Rome, in via dei Gracchi.
VESPA = Via dei Gracchi, but each one had gone on his own.
IGNAZIO = Yes, yes! Then in Sanremo, which was where the broadcast took place, we met and in the fourth episode we sang together for the first time (25/04/2009).
PIERO = …. O Sole Mio.
IGNAZIO = … yes, O Sole Mio.
PIERO = Excuse me.
IGNAZIO = But calculate that Gianluca, we couldn’t see him.
VESPA = Was Gianluca terrible?
IGNAZIO = Do you know when you create small groups at school of the normal ones, the quiet ones and the cool ones? 😁
He was part of the cool, but it showed (applause and laughter), then in the end he came in our way, understood!
VESPA = He has converted.
IGNAZIO = And so it all started from there.
VESPA(to Gianluca) But why are they talking about you like that?
IGNAZIO = Because we love him after all, at the bottom, at the bottom …..😘
GIANLUCA = ….. but at the very bottom 😁.
But that was our strength right from the start, did you understand? (to be united). Not only artistically, it was the first time that children sang O Sole Mio.
But then I like to see these videos and remember those moments, because Bel Canto allows you to perform in unique places, but above all to support yourself in projects like Morricone, like in Placido Domingo, like the Maestro Vittorio Storaro who accompanied us on this adventure. We have the honor, at our age, to join these names in cinema and music.
VESPA = Then I will ask you to sing a piece of O Sole Mio, sitting here, so a cappella …
IGNAZIO = If Barone says yes, that’s fine !! 😁
VESPA = Is he the boss?
IGNAZIO = Yes yes, (he jokes) see how he is placed with his arms folded …..
PIERO = I’m listening!
I link to what you were saying, seeing these old videos is really exciting, but on a daily basis it is difficult to find the stimulus and clearly find ideas on what to do. We sang in front of the Pope ….. and now what do we do? And I must tell you that it is a team effort, especially with our manager Torpedine, Mr. Torpedine, he is the mind of this group, and now a little while ago we were looking at the images of last Christmas, we sang three songs in St. Peter’s Square , this year we did it from the Frasassi Caves, a magical place.
VESPA = You will go to Bethlehem.
PIERO = And next year, we are working, by now we are at a good point … (he looks at Torpedine to have approval of the news he is saying)
IGNAZIO = We are checking in.
PIERO = We will sing in front of the grotto of the Nativity in Bethlehem and all this, we must say, also thanks to the support of the Undersecretary for Culture, for whom in November, we will sing in the world meeting of ministers of culture.
VESPA = Beautiful, very beautiful.
PIERO = Yes, I have to tell you that they are very beautiful things.
IGNAZIO = Can I say something? I want to reach out more to young people, to those who, like us, try to send their message. Nowadays it is very easy to arrive, with social networks, with the internet, it is very easy.
VESPA = The problem is to stay.
IGNAZIO = The problem is to stay, and in any case we always tell everything we have done, because we are very proud and grateful ….
PIERO = Do you have an itchy mustache?
IGNAZIO = No, it helps me to think. 😁
PIERO = Ah, ok !!
IGNAZIO = …… and we are very grateful for everything that has happened to us, but in recent years it has not been all roses and flowers, there are moments …..
VESPA = When was the most difficult moment?
IGNAZIO = There are moments in an artist’s career where difficulties come, in our case it was in 2014, when L’Universal did not …..
PIERO = Clearly there has been a change between one record company and another, and therefore there have been three or four months of “darkness”, but I remember that our manager was very good at hiding this from us, we didn’t live in that period of anxiety, he was:  ”Yes, yes, don’t worry, everything is fine, tomorrow I have a meeting”. Instead there was nothing.
IGNAZIO = This is to make it clear that yes, today it is very easy to get there, but maintaining oneself, building oneself, sacrifices, is all very important …
VESPA = When you were little I used to tell you:
“Guys down to earth”.
IGNAZIO = Absolutely ….
VESPA = Never mount your head, NEVER, when you think you are something more, already what you are is already a lot, always fly low low ….. (Vespa is referring to not being full of oneself)
IGNAZIO = I wanted to say it here.
VESPA = I don’t remember, what happened in Sanremo in 2015!
IGNAZIO = What happened?
VESPA = Bho! Let’s see for a moment! (the video of Grande Amore in Sanremo starts). (At some point the video loses audio due to a problem raised by the composer).
VESPA(He turns to Ignazio).
Now you do it again (the final note and Ignazio does it)
(Ring the bell, enter Vittorio Storaro on the show.)
VESPA = We have to greet a great person: Vittorio Storaro.
Vittorio, it’s a great pleasure to have you here, thank you.
Three Oscars, please take a seat. You can take off the mask.
STORARO = Now it can be done, respecting the distances, the rules and the possibility of being careful, not only with the vaccine, but also with the distances and the embrace of well-vaccinated friends.
IGNAZIO = But that’s why I’m away from Gianluca, for nothing else. 😁 (he jokes)
GIANLUCA = He (Ignazio) is angry with me, he is angry with me master …
STORARO = He (Gianluca) has a great energy, it is the energy that we have that usually brings the affections too. But be careful not to lose it, with the distance.
IGNAZIO = In what sense?
GIANLUCA = You have to be careful.
IGNAZIO = No, no, I am like a magnet for him, we attract the two of us.
VESPA = Vittorio Storaro won three Oscars (photography award), 1980 for Frencis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now, 1982 for Beatty’s Reds and Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Last Emperor in 1988.
Beyond these awards, even we reporters who have approached the cameras a few times, looking at the light of Vittorio Storaro, already looking at it, we have learned something.
We learned what is beautiful and what is ugly, and what is beautiful, you did it. And this was truly a great lesson.
STORARO = All this comes from the great studies of Hippocrates who studied the elements of life, the natural elements that arrived on our body, on our organism.
We see light, not only with the eyes, but with the whole body, we are a sensitive plate. Light is visible energy and therefore it reaches us with a certain frequency, and the more it touches us, the more it excites us.
VESPA = So ….. what do you have to do with Vittorio Storaro? What have you done together?
PIERO = The moment before I met Storaro, I wasn’t sure whether to give him the you, the her, or the you or theirs, I wanted to give theirs (he means that he was in awe of respect for Storaro), but we have one thing in common, we were born on the same day, different year, the 24th of June ….
STORARO = We are Cancer (zodiac sign).
PIERO = Maestro Storaro, before being a great artist is a great person, he transmitted so much, so much wisdom, and so much art to us and we have to thank him because, you know, sharing his experience, his art, his being, with three boys of 27 or 28 years, it is not obvious, it does not happen every day.
VESPA = You have put together Morricone’s music, the images of Storaro, Oscar winner …
IGNAZIO = Yes, because we have been trying to collaborate with Maestro Storaro for years and we never managed to find a just cause, deep and sincere, with great significance and this year, that is last year, that moment has come, it has come  that idea.
VESPA = So let’s see this clip, Il Volo in the Caves …..
STORARO = Can I explain first a moment? Is useful.
VESPA = You’re welcome.
STORARO = It is true what Ignazio says, I had two Don Abbondio (he means two people who wanted to do this project … Don Abbondio is the character of the Promessi Sposi, a novel by Manzoni). Michele Torpedine called me, wrote to me every now and then to invite me to their concerts, he said, at least you know each other, it would be nice to make a video together.
While they were in Verona, I was in New York with Woody Allen, they went to New York, and I was always with Woody Allen in Spain or so on.
Then there was Maurizio Tosoroni who is the person in charge of the Frasassi Caves who asked me and Francesca (daughter of Storaro) who you know well, if we could conceive with modern technologies, and with a different creativity, that beautiful lighting they have the Frasassi Caves, which in this period of Covid were totally dark, totally closed and told me: “Why don’t we think about a project?”
The two Don Abbondio got together, they called me and I began to rehearse with lights, which we created together with Francesca related to the arts, because there was a phrase that struck me from our minister of culture, Dario Franceschini, that it is right to follow all the scientific warnings, medicines, vaccines, distances, masks, but if we add the energy, the creativity of the arts, maybe we can help so that everything can come back to life in a certain way.
VESPA = Of course, music and art give us hope, they help us to find the light.
STORARO = Do you understand? Also because we conceived the lights with Francesca, also linked to the muses, that is to the arts, and then I thought: “What can I do, with the trio Il Volo, inside the Frasassi Caves” and reminding me that they had told me that it was the fiftieth anniversary of the year in which three young speleologists descending from a hole with a rope, had discovered this incredible archaeological site among the best in the world, with the three of them (Il Volo) we reconstruct, not in a realistic way, but in a symbolic way, because they cannot go down with the suit and then sing, but in a tuxedo, and therefore in a symbolic way we have reconstructed the descent of the three , one at a time, first Gianluca, then Piero, then Ignazio, and little by little one descends, the light begins to rise …
VESPA = How wonderful! Let’s see it.
STORARO = Wait, I say one last thing. Only when Gianluca begins to sing, then Piero and then Ignazio, are together, they are like a seed that fertilizes mother earth and regenerates, and the trio becomes another trio, two trios, ten trios, one hundred trios, one thousand trios, none , one hundred thousand by Pirandello (Italian author). This was the creative energy of Il Volo.
VESPA = Well, let’s see it now. (The full video made in the Frasassi Caves begins.)

How wonderful!! Really what a treat !!
Beautiful beautiful beautiful.
STORARO= Nothing is random.
I have made 7 films with Ennio Morricone, and 10 films with Bernardo Bertolucci, and coincidentally this song comes from the film that the subject was written by Bernardo Bertolucci. I remember when I came here to say goodbye to Bernardo with you, and I told you about the possibility that I made him a promise, to restore and preserve all 10 films we made together, and I’m doing it now in the Cinecittà laboratory, with very modern technologies and with the possibility that these icons can last indefinitely.
VESPA = How wonderful!
Bravo, bravo Vittorio, also for this.
GIANLUCA=  I wanted to say that for us, our greatest goal is also to bring the beauties of our country. The Frasassi Caves, deserve to be, as they are already known all over the world, but even more so.
This was the perfect soundtrack, it was a wonderful experience in a magical place and living it with Maestro Storaro was even more so. It was truly an honor to be able to work together.
VESPA = Speaking of magical places, well, Santa Croce, in Florence (Notte Magica), but who would have thought it, direct by Placido Domingo.
PIERO = That was a great evening.
VESPA = Florence 2016 (The Magic Night video starts)

You didn’t have time to meet our friend Luciano Pavarotti.
IGNAZIO = Unfortunately not.
VESPA = In my opinion he would have put his hand on your shoulder, he was a person of absolute generosity who was really looking for, he was looking for new talents.
PIERO = This evening, the evening in Florence in Santa Croce, Tribute to the three Tenors, we had, in some way, the support from the three, because the maestro Placido Domingo directed the orchestra, but the Pavarotti foundation supported this idea because Nicoletta Mantovani (Pavarotti’s wife) gave the okay and said these very words: “The master would have liked this project”.
VESPA = Yes, absolutely yes.
VESPA = So, 2019, so these are the last things before Covid, at the Bolshoi Theater …
PIERO = To the Moscow Bolshoi
VESPA = La Traviata.
PIERO = Beautiful.
IGNAZIO = I was terribly ill, I had a fever that evening.
VESPA = Did you sing with a fever?
IGNAZIO = Yes, but I’m strong!
VESPA = Go, go. (The video of La Traviata starts)

So, (he turns to Piero) we went to New York together, we went to another big theater, the Metropolitan, do you remember?
PIERO = Yes.
VESPA = I don’t know if you remember, the room was empty, you and I were sitting next to you and I said to you:
“But when you grow up, what do you want to do?”
Was it your dream, does that still remain?
PIERO = Yes, in these two years, especially in the last 6 months I have studied a lot, I’m still studying, because you know very well how much study it takes. Just yesterday I did two and a half hours of lesson on Verdi, La Traviata.
VESPA = I have been to the Bolshoi with Riccardo Muti (well-known conductor), with the Friendship Concerts, and I assure you that if there is one who slaughters singers it was him.
PIERO = Mamma mia!
VESPA = Now it is no longer used, the masters have no desire or time, but before, a great singer always had his teacher who always kept him in the studio. You have to study a lot, every day.
IGNAZIO = I too, yesterday I did a two and a half hour session of the “tagliata (typical meat), I was very focused! (laughs) 😁😁😁
Sorry for the joke!
VESPA = He is always disheveled, undisciplined, the one who arrives late. Where is Gianluca!
GIANLUCA = This is what the two of them make you believe!
But it is nice that we are a group, but we continue to cultivate our passions, we respect and esteem each other, which is not obvious, as you know often groups are in competition …
VESPA = I know, you all never fight.!!
GIANLUCA = This is our great merit, because now 13 years together this is the beautiful thing.
Nice that Piero has his goals, for example, as I told you before, I am starting to approach the world of acting, trying to understand if one day, who knows, I would like to be an actor, but this enriches anyway, studying acting on stage , for a singer, it also helps you to express, to interpret songs better.
VESPA = So. (he turns to Piero) You say, we sang for the Pope, that’s enough, but no.
2019 Pope Francis, Panama (video of Panama starts)
In the video:
PIERO = His Holiness.
P + I + G = What a pleasure to see you again.
PIERO = This is our gift to you.
POPE = Thank you.
GIANLUCA = The dream and the desire to sing for him is coming true, we met in private audience last year and we sang for him an Ave Maria (Hail Mary) and here tonight we will sing it for him and for all the young people, we are truly honored.
POPE = Thank you.
PIERO = Can we take a picture?
POPE = Yes.
PIERO = A selfie like young people do.
(The Pope gives a souvenir to Piero, Ignazio and Gianluca)

IGNAZIO = We are grateful to you. See you later.
GIANLUCA = As you know, the power of Italian and Neapolitan music has reached overseas, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, but also Elvis Presley himself …..
IGNAZIO = The Pope has just passed, sorry, the Pope comments, ….
PIERO = But what does Elvis Presley have to do with Pope Francis, can you explain to me?
GIANLUCA = Oh well, first let’s talk about the Pope and then we want to give you a small gift.
VESPA = A small gift?
GIANLUCA = Yes, yes, a little present.
VESPA = Wait, first now I want to ask you something, we want to dedicate to Vittorio Storaro, who represented Italian art in the world, one of the most popular songs in the world, like this, here a cappella. (O Sole mio)
GIANLUCA = This is why I said, the great Elvis Presley interpreted the song in English “It’s now or never”,  do you remember that?
VESPA = Go !! (begins the a cappella song)
Well, we want to thank this magnificent group of romances, eight violinists, two cellists, thank you, thank you very much and congratulations, you are very good.
And then (to Il Volo) I greet you now …
IGNAZIO = We leave you with a great masterpiece, you know the story of Sacco and Vanzetti well. We are truly honored to be able to tell it even to an audience that does not know this story, to an audience that is not Italian and perhaps has not known the injustices that can exist in life. We are very proud to sing this song.
GIANLUCA = We would like to thank you again, we also thank the Maestro Storaro.
VESPA = Thank you.
(then he turns to Storaro) And what about you, beyond the restoration of Bertolucci’s films?
STORARO = Basically we’re still in the early stages, Woody sent me his fifth script to start, we had to do it first in New York, then we moved to France, now he’s looking to another country, Covid follows, depending on where it’s possible we’re going to do it.
VESPA = Good luck !!
PIERO = We would like to thank our audience for their love, support and support received over the years, thank you.
VESPA = And then: Sacco and Vanzetti! (start the song)
Really a nice chat between friends. You have noticed the masks and spacers, much more rigid in February than they are now.
Although it was not advertised, but was announced only by the tam-tam of the fans pages (incredible), this episode had very high ratings.
Congratulations as always, to Il Volo !!
But that of Porta a Porta was not the only appointment of Il Volo in this period, they were also in promotion Austria, on the TV show “Garden Party of the stars”.
Here they are.
Please click on the photo below to view the video.
Grande Amore
Very nice this video shot in Austria in front of the beautiful Grillenstein castle.
And then, live, during the show, they sang Ecstasy of Gold.
Please click on the photo below to view the video.
Ecstasy of Gold
Really a nice participation, let’s enjoy some pictures.
Then there was the announcement of the two Australian concert dates, finally !!
Reposted from @ilvolomusic :
Hello everyone,
We are very happy to announce that ticket sales are now open for our Australian concerts in Melbourne (October 18) and Sydney (October 24).
And finally, on May 12, I remind you that Il Volo is taking part in the Eurovision Song Contest.
For those who cannot follow them on TV, I propose you to follow them on you tube on the official ESC channel:   @eurovisionsongcontest.
Il Volo will sing GRANDE AMORE, but in a new version, which has just been heard.
The title is YOU ARE MY EVERYTHING and is in the English-Italian version and I find it beautiful !!
Here it is. 

What a thrill everything is ready, see you soon !!
Daniela

BREAKING NEWS!

Unfortunately, the news recently came that Gianluca is positive for Covid, so he will not be on the Eurovision stage. His voice will be recorded, only Ignazio and Gianluca will perform !!

I am very sorry for Gianluca, unfortunately you can never let your guard down with this Covid. Ignazio and Piero will do their best to represent Il Volo !!