October 22, 2011

Il Volo Live in Concert to be Filmed By Detroit Public Television

Il Volo Live in Concert to be Filmed By Detroit Public Television October 27 at Detroit Opera House

Show to Premiere on Detroit Public TV on December 7 at 8pm
National PBS airing to begin March 3, 2012

Italian heartthrobs Il Volo, the three Teenage Tenors who are in the midst of a hugely successful 17-city Live Nation US concert tour, will be filming their live show at Detroit's famed Opera House on October 27th, it was announced today by Detroit Public Television. The show will be produced by famed Grammy producer Ken Ehrlich, and Il Volo's managers, Michele Torpedine (who discovered Andrea Bocelli) and Steve Leber, are executive producers. The show will be part of their local pledge drive. DPTV is a viewer supported PBS member station serving the nation's 11th largest television market in Southeast Michigan and over a thousand communities in Canada. It is a leading national producer and distributor of PBS fundraising programs.

"We are excited and proud to be producing this concert for national distribution with our partners at PBS and the Michigan Opera Theatre," says Detroit Public TV's President and General Manager, Rich Homberg.

Il Volo - Piero Barone 18, Ignazio Boschetto 17 and Gianluca Ginoble 16 have been receiving unanimous raves for their vocal talent and showmanship. "If you've never heard them sing 'O Solo Mio' or other classics in their rep, then be prepared to be blown away," raved NY's Daily News. "Il Volo wring every ounce of emotion from the classical-crossover material on their self-titled debut, then find just a bit more to extract," commented The Village Voice.

Their self-titled Geffen Records debut produced by Grammy Award winning producer Humberto Gatica (Josh Groban, Michael Buble) and Tony Renis landed at No. 10 on the Billboard Top 200 Album Chart upon its release and has sold over a half million copies globally. Il Volo has appeared on several TV shows since their May release including American Idol, The Today Show, Ellen, Leno, The Talk as well as the final episode of HBO's Entourage. Their astonishing vocal talent was first heard on the Italian hit TV show, "Ti Lascio Una Canzone (Leaving You A Song)."

Source: PR Newswire

Il Volo adjusting to 'scary' success

Kids today - what do they know about opera?

Thanks to Il Volo, the answer could possibly be "quite a bit" someday.

The Italian ensemble, a trio of teenage tenors, is one of the most surprising and fast-rising crossover acts of the year. In May, its debut album "Il Volo," (Italian for "The Flight") came out stateside, landing at No. 10 on the Billboard charts.

That month, the operatic pop group performed on the season finale of "American Idol," and this summer it made a cameo on the series finale of "Entourage." On its first North American tour, the trio already is playing venues as large as the Milwaukee Theatre just a month after its first full concert.

"It was a little bit scary," Il Volo's Piero Barone, 18, said of kicking off the tour. "But when we have a beautiful audience, everything is easy. But we have to study, study, study, always study."

The baby-faced boy band with the manly voices is collecting older fans, the sort of loyal PBS viewers who generally appreciate the Italian arts. (Il Volo will have a PBS special in March).

But in a surprising change for the genre, a young female following - the kind you'd expect for Justin Bieber and the JoBros - is expressing interest in the romantic heartthrobs with the velvety voices, even though Il Volo's single is a 100-year-old-plus opera staple, "O Sole Mio." (It is, admittedly, a knockout performance.)

When Tap Milwaukee took to Twitter to solicit questions for Barone, some of the smitten inquiries included, "Where do you get your stylish glasses?" and "Are you dating anyone?" from fan Madison Field. (The answers, Madison, are Italian eyewear company Luxottica and, "I don't have a girlfriend, but remember: Always single, never alone.")

"We thought our music was only for the people over 40 years old, . . . but our goal was to bring our music to the young generation, because they don't know this kind of music," Barone said. "If you know this kind of music, you fall in love with it."

Barone himself fell in love with it at age 3 when his blind grandfather, Pietro Ognibene, would play classic Italian albums for him.

In 2009 Barone, Ignazio Boschetto, 17, and Gianluca Ginoble, 16, auditioned for the Italian talent show "Ti Lascio Una Canzone." A producer suggested they join forces, and as a result, they formed Il Volo, won the show and, soon after, a record deal with Universal Music Group.

It's a meteoric rise for Barone, who just a few years ago was an anonymous teen in Sicily, the son of an auto mechanic, who loved singing but, like the others in Il Volo, had no formal training.

"I miss my family, I miss my sister, my brother," Barone said. "But I know what I am doing. I am building my future. It is what I always dreamed."


Source: http://www.jsonline.com/entertainment/musicandnightlife/il-volo-adjusting-to-scary-success-132318373.html

Il Volo San Francisco Concert HQ Vids

I love high quality videos.
Thank you for uploading!




Can't help falling in love



Funiculi Funicula



O Sole Mio



Il Mondo

Il Volo Detroit Concert (10/16)



Part 1



Part 2



Christmas Medley

Il Volo Los Angeles Concert (10/12)

SUPER HQ VIDEOS!! Thank you for uploading!



Can't Help Falling in Love



Mi Vida



Il Mondo

Il Volo Boston Concert - Solo Performances



Ignazio Boschetto - Ti Voglio Tanto Bene

Lyrics:
Dimmi che l'amor tuo non muore
è come il sole d'oro
non muore mai piú

Dimmi che non mi sai ingannare
il sogno mio d'amore
per sempre sei tu

Cara, ti voglio tanto bene
non ho nessuno al mondo
piú cara di te

T'amo, sei tu il mio grande amore
la vita del mio cuore
sei solo tu

Cara, ti voglio tanto bene
non ho nessuno al mondo
piú cara di te

T'amo, sei tu il mio grande amore
la vita del mio cuore
sei solo tu



Gianluca Ginoble - Musica Proibita

Lyrics:
Ogni sera di sotto al mio balcone
Sento cantar una canzone d'amore
Più volte la ripete un bel garzone
E battere mi sento forte il core
E battere mi sento forte il core

Oh quanto è dolce quella melodia!
Oh com' è bella, quanto m' è gradita!
Ch'io la canti non vuol la mamma mia
Vorrei saper perché me l'ha proibita?

Ella non c'è ed io la vo' cantare
La frase che m'ha fatto palpitare
Vorrei baciare i toui capelli neri
Le labbra tue e gli occhi tuoi severi

Vorrei morir con te, angel di Dio
O bella innamorata tesoro mio
Qui sotto il vidi ieri a passeggiare
E lo sentiva al solito cantar

Stringimi, o cara, stringimi al tuo core
Fammi provar l'ebbrezza dell'amor



Piero Barone - Non Ti Scordar Di Me

Lyrics:
Partirono le rondini dal mio paese
freddo e senza sole
cercando primavere di viole
nidi d'amore e di felicita
La mia piccola rondine parti
senza lasciarmi un bacio
senza un addio parti

Non ti scordar di me
la vita mia legata e a te
Io t'amo sempre piu
nel sogno mio rimani tu
Non ti scordar di me
la vita mia legata e a te
C'e sempre un nido nel mio cor per te
Non ti scordar di me!

Non ti scordar di me
la vita mia legata e a te

C'e sempre un nido nel mio cor per te
Non ti scordar di me!

Il Volo Boston Concert (10/18)



Mi Vida



O Sole Mio



Christmas medley



Funiculì, Funiculà



Mamma



This Time



O Sole Mio



Il Mondo



Un Amore Cosi Grande

October 16, 2011

Il Volo San Francisco Concert (10/14)



Reloj. Nice singalong with Il Volo :)
Ignazio must have been so happy!



This Time



Can't Help Falling In Love



Hasta El Final



Per Te



O Sole Mio



Il Mondo



October 15, 2011

Il Volo on The Talk



Il Volo performed Un Amore Cosi Grande on CBS The Talk.
The audiences are clearly loving them from the beginning! :D
Loved their harmony as always. Great job guys!

Il Volo: The boys who tempt teens to love opera

Italian pop-opera trio Il Volo have taken America by storm. Adam Sweeting reports

Manhattan’s Beacon Theatre is famous for its neo-Grecian decor, as well as legendary performances by the likes of the Rolling Stones, Steely Dan and the Allman Brothers. But as I found my seat, I could only see a 10-year-old kid called Ethan Bortnick, sitting at the piano in a miniature dinner suit and impersonating Louis Armstrong in a bizarre guttural growl. Then he started wisecracking to the audience like some cranky old Borscht Belt veteran. It was freak-show hell.

Luckily, Bortnick was only warming up for the main event, the Italian teenage “pop-opera” phenomenon Il Volo. As the trio of singers took the stage with their band and string section, the crowd – or at least its huge female contingent – hit the hysteria button, and remained in a state of shrieking frenzy for the next 80-odd minutes.

They loved the group’s syrupy super-ballads, like E Pi`u Ti Penso. They adored their shuffling, Latin-tinged take on O Sole Mio, and their weepy rendition of Charlie Chaplin’s Smile. The boys’ energetic blast through the old Neapolitan song Funiculì, Funiculà struck a resounding chord with a house packed with Italian-Americans lavishly dolled up for a musical trip back to La Bella Italia.

“Oh my Gaaaad!” yelled the woman next to me, tears rolling down her cheeks. “They just move my soul!”

“I think that was the best show we ever did,” 17-year-old Piero Barone told me the following morning. He’s the studious, bespectacled one who speaks the best English of the three. “You were in the audience, yes? Did you see how many girls were there? When we came out of the theatre to go back to the hotel, there was a big crowd of them waiting for us.”

“Yes, it was our best show!” agreed Ignazio Boschetto, as his phone kept beeping with greetings on his 17th birthday. Ignazio is the big, burly one whose lyrical tenor tones put the sun-ripened tomatoes and Chianti in Il Volo’s sound. “I think it’s because New York is New York, and the audience was so hot.”

Il Volo’s third man is 16-year-old Gianluca Ginoble, whose dark good looks suggest a gene-splicing experiment involving Mario Lanza and Paul Anka. He wasn’t saying much, because he’d eaten something that didn’t agree with him the previous night and had turned a queasy yellow colour. However, he did manage to frame the thought that “we have three different voices, three different ways to live life, but together we are one soul”.

The trio’s American tour schedule takes them from the East Coast to California, Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin, Massachusetts and more, before they head back to Europe at the end of the year. Their hectic work rate is designed to cement Il Volo as a crossover phenomenon which (their handlers hope) will in due course be able to rival the likes of Andrea Bocelli or Josh Groban. The difference is that whereas the former tend to reach middle-aged or older crowds, Il Volo are proving staggeringly successful with the young pop generation.

Their first album – due out here later this month – debuted at number 10 on America’s Billboard 200 chart, boosted by a TV blitz that saw them appearing on American Idol, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and The Ellen DeGeneres Show in the space of a week. For every knee-jerk comparison to the Three Tenors – even though Gianluca is technically a baritone – there has been another to New Jersey boy band the Jonas Brothers.

“We never expected all this to happen,” said Piero, “but we dreamed and hoped it would. We thought our music would be for people over 40, but now we understand that teenagers love this kind of music.”

“Our goal has been to bring our emotion and our music to the young generation,” Ignazio added. “We are doing this and so we are happy.”

With maximum commercial reach in mind, their album has been designed to hit as many bases as possible, and of course any dabblings in unadulterated opera are out of the question. As Gianluca put it, “even in Italy young people don’t love opera. People are tired of this kind of music.”

“We chose a lot of kinds of music,” said Piero. “You can find Spanish songs, English songs, Italian songs and pop songs. It’s music that lets you love, laugh and cry.”

Every teen band needs its Svengali, but Il Volo has a whole battalion of them. They were spotted by Italian music biz veteran Tony Renis (author of the much-covered Quando Quando Quando) when they appeared on Italy’s Pop Idol-style TV talent show Ti Lascio Una Canzone. The boys had each been appearing as a solo contestant, but one of the show’s producers suggested they join forces to sing O Sole Mio. When he’d picked his jaw up off the floor, Renis got on the blower to record mogul Jimmy Iovine and producer-A&R man Ron Fair, which resulted in Il Volo becoming the first Italian act to sign to Geffen Records in the States.

The group are managed by Michele Torpedine, who has worked with Bocelli and Italian rocker Zucchero, and he’s assisted by former Aerosmith and AC/DC manager Steve Leber. Renis co-produced the debut album with Humberto Gatica, sometime collaborator with Bocelli, Barbra Streisand and Celine Dion. Let’s hope there’s some money left for the group when this lot have all taken their cut.

For now, they’re finding it all incredibly new and amazingly exciting.

“It’s not difficult because we love what we’re doing,” Piero stressed. “We do it because we love it, so everything is easy.”

“The hardest thing is leaving our families at home in Italy,” Ignazio added. “But everyone knows we are building our future, so we always do it with a smile.”


Source: The Telegraph

Leonor visita Roma e o trio Il Volo

I think this is a Brazilian program. Does anyone speak Portuguese?
This is more like Italy sightseeing featuring Il Volo here and there.
Il Volo is mainly appeared in part two of the video.



Part one.



Part two.



Part three.

Il Volo Bahamas Concert (10/8)



Can't Help Falling In Love



Funiculi Funicula

October 12, 2011

Il Volo Concert: Solo Performances



Ignazio Boschetto - Ti Voglio Tanto Bene

Lyrics:
Dimmi che l'amor tuo non muore
è come il sole d'oro
non muore mai piú

Dimmi che non mi sai ingannare
il sogno mio d'amore
per sempre sei tu

Cara, ti voglio tanto bene
non ho nessuno al mondo
piú cara di te

T'amo, sei tu il mio grande amore
la vita del mio cuore
sei solo tu

Cara, ti voglio tanto bene
non ho nessuno al mondo
piú cara di te

T'amo, sei tu il mio grande amore
la vita del mio cuore
sei solo tu



Gianluca Ginoble - Musica Proibita

Lyrics:
Ogni sera di sotto al mio balcone
Sento cantar una canzone d'amore
Più volte la ripete un bel garzone
E battere mi sento forte il core
E battere mi sento forte il core

Oh quanto è dolce quella melodia!
Oh com' è bella, quanto m' è gradita!
Ch'io la canti non vuol la mamma mia
Vorrei saper perché me l'ha proibita?

Ella non c'è ed io la vo' cantare
La frase che m'ha fatto palpitare
Vorrei baciare i toui capelli neri
Le labbra tue e gli occhi tuoi severi

Vorrei morir con te, angel di Dio
O bella innamorata tesoro mio
Qui sotto il vidi ieri a passeggiare
E lo sentiva al solito cantar

Stringimi, o cara, stringimi al tuo core
Fammi provar l'ebbrezza dell'amor



Piero Barone - Non Ti Scordar Di Me

Lyrics:
Partirono le rondini dal mio paese
freddo e senza sole
cercando primavere di viole
nidi d'amore e di felicita
La mia piccola rondine parti
senza lasciarmi un bacio
senza un addio parti

Non ti scordar di me
la vita mia legata e a te
Io t'amo sempre piu
nel sogno mio rimani tu
Non ti scordar di me
la vita mia legata e a te
C'e sempre un nido nel mio cor per te
Non ti scordar di me!

Non ti scordar di me
la vita mia legata e a te

C'e sempre un nido nel mio cor per te
Non ti scordar di me!

Il Volo Melbourne Concert (10/9)



Il Volo meets their youngest fan Mia!! They sang Can't Help Falling in Love with You for her. Soooo adorable!!! A must-watch clip for sure ;)



E Piu Ti Penso



Granada



Mamma



Funiculi Funicula



Mattinata



Hasta El Final



Mi Vida



Notte Stellata



O Sole Mio



Per Te. I love this song but oh my... Ignazio's microphone was experiencing some serious technical difficulties!!!



Smile



This Time



O Sole Mio / Now or Never



Christmas album track previews. I think Ignazio's voice has gotten richer!

Il Volo Interview in Portugal


Portugal's exclusive story with teen singers Il Volo straight from Italy! I think the program is called Eliana. Does anyone speak Portuguese? 

October 9, 2011

Random high-res Il Volo pictures

Click on the pictures to view large!





Il Volo interview: 'We're nothing like Il Divo'

Say hello to Gianluca, Piero and Ignazio, who form Italian operatic pop trio Il Volo.

After a hectic 12 months which has seen them release their self-titled debut album around the world, break the Top 10 in the US and perform on American Idol, they've decided the time is ripe to take on the UK charts.

With said LP out later this month, we met up with the teenage stars to find out how they're handling their rise to fame.

You've released your debut album in lots of countries already; are you confident about its chances in the UK?
Piero: "The last place we're releasing the album is in Spain, but we're so excited to get it out here. England is the most beautiful country...after the US! They've been very good to us out there - we've been on American Idol, The Ellen DeGeneres Show and Jay Leno."

Sounds like a hectic year; are you tired out yet?
Gianluca: "No, not at all! We are ready for this."
Ignazio: "We are still only 17 - we have a lot of energy! If we don't do this now, we might lose our chance forever."

Have people confused you with Il Divo yet?
Gianluca: "Yes they have. We are very different, though! They are over 30 for a start."
Piero: "It's the same kind of music, but it's a different kind of project. It's like Justin Bieber - people don't compare him to every male pop artist. It's the same thing."

You perform Nat King Cole's 'Smile' on the album in English. How many languages do you speak?
Piero: "We record songs in so many different languages - we're even releasing a completely Spanish version of this record next."
Gianluca: "For live performances we can sing in German, French and English as well as Italian. We're learning Chinese and American English at the moment, which means it's hard to understand a British accent!"

Were you all fans opera music before you formed the group?
Gianluca: "We all like rock and pop music, but my parents introduced me to opera music from a young age too."
Ignazio: "We are teenagers, so we like music that's current, but I'm also a fan of Andrea Bocelli, Michael Buble and Pavarotti - it's an influence passed down from my grandad."

Would you ever collaborate with a more mainstream pop artist?
Piero: "We'd love to collaborate with Britney Spears, Jennifer Lopez and Celine Dion. We love Celine Dion! She is crazy in a good way, but she's so funny. Everyone we've met has been funny, Usher, Justin Timberlake, Pink... Paris Hilton."

You were put together on a talent show in Italy; how do you feel about those who criticize that particular path to fame?
Piero: "We met on the show two years ago, and we'd never met each other before that. I understand that, but in my opinion we're completely different. Like Il Divo or Andrea Bocelli, you could sell our album today or in 30 years' time. This music is completely different."

Have you started thinking about your next album yet?
Gianluca: "Yes we have! After this album we are releasing a Christmas EP, which we're really excited about. We recorded it back in July - it was a bit strange singing 'Jingle Bells' in the middle of summer!"

You're all still teenagers; is singing what you've always wanted to do?
Piero: "We all dreamed to be singers, but never at this age! I would like to have been a piano player or a sports car driver."

What's been the highlight of the last 12 months?
Gianluca: "American Idol was great, but honestly, everything is a highlight - we never expected any of this. After today we're back off to New York, it's incredible!"

Il Volo release their self-titled album on October 31. Their Christmas EP follows later this year. Pre-order the album at: http://zaphod.uk.vvhp.net/v-v/110922141911

Source: digital spy

Interview with Il Volo, performing at Comerica

Kind of an Il Divo for the younger set, Il Volo features three Italian teens who capably work their way through a repertoire heavy on operatic pieces and standards. The trio met on an Italian reality show, then continued to perform together. The group's self-titled debut has been an international hit, reaching the U.S. top 10 after its release late last year.

Members Piero Barone, Ignazio Boschetto and Gianluca Ginoble are currently on the road for a U.S. tour. Barone, at 18 the oldest member, called from Chicago to discuss the shows and the sudden fame. His English is a bit shaky, but his enthusiasm transcends any language barriers.

Question: The group's big song is "O Sole Mio." Is it a stereotype to think that every Italian knows this song?
Answer: Growing up, this song is a traditional Italian song. Everybody knows this song. My grandpa made me listen to this kind of music. Then the first time the TV producers had us sing together, they had us sing this song. Then when we made a record, they put it on the album. It's special for us.

Q: Did you listen to pop music growing up?
A: Of course. We sing pop music and classic music. But if you looked at my iPod, you'd see all kinds of music, from Andrea Bocelli to Elvis Presley and Lady Gaga.

Q: Was your goal to wind up in a group?
A: No, never. My goal was just to be a singer. I never thought that this would happen at this age. I never planned on finding two different guys to start this career. Now we are three friends.

Q: What's it like having your music do well in the United States?
A: For all Italian singers, I think it is like a dream. Italian artists come here and bring the music, and we have arrived here, and we're bringing the music to the people of the United States.

Q: The group is also successful in Spanish. Do you speak the language?
A: Yes, we understand and speak Spanish. Our producer (Humberto Gatica) speaks Spanish, and it was very important to us to do it right.

Q: What are your audiences like?
A: We love our audience. They may be from Mexico or Latin America or North America or everywhere. We have people from 13 years old to people over 40. The nice thing is we can say the younger generation now gets to love this music.

Q: Have you gotten starstruck meeting any celebrities yet?
A: Oh my God! We really meet everybody because we're contracted with Interscope and Geffen and Universal Music. At the parties after the Oscars and after the Grammys, we've met Lady Gaga, Eminem and the Black Eyed Peas. They are like big stars and we are like normal fans.

Q: Is your schedule exhausting?
A: We are never tired. We are ready to do everything. Now we are on an American tour, and we'll be in Chicago. We are ready to see America and taste the American food.

Q: Do you miss Italian food?
A: Yes, of course. You can find Italian food in America, but it's not like in Italy. In Italy, it's the best in the world. If you eat in Italy, you eat like you are eating in paradise!

Source: azcentral

Il Volo New York Concert (10/3)

At the Beacon theater. Love the high quality videos. Thanks!!



Smile



Can't Help Falling in Love



O Sole Mio



This Time



Un Amore Cosi Grande



O Sole Mio



Hasta El Final



Granada

Il Volo Interview with Craveonmusic

Il Volo Foxwoods Concert (10/2)



Christmas carol medley! :)



Mi Vida

Il Volo Miami Concert (10/6)



Il Mondo



Un Amore Cosi' Grande and E piu ti penso



Ignazio's Solo, Granada and Smile



O Sole Mio


Chicago Concert Review

Thank you Barbara N for emailing me her amazing concert experience!!! Enjoy! :)

I was thrilled to be in the Chicago Theater on September 28 for the Il Volo Concert. I am SO crazy about these talented young men and so impressed with their humility, charm, and stage presence! The intro act (Diva) was good but too long, and was followed by a long break when people were leaving their seats. When Il Volo finally took the stage they seemed to connect with their audience immediately, and their show was a real treat! I loved how they interacted with each other and with their fans! I was disappointed that the sound system seemed somewhat unbalanced, especially in the beginning, and the lighting seemed a little off and sometimes too dim. Il Volo deserves much better! They deserve the BEST! I was so impressed with their performance that I am also driving 6 hours to see them in Detroit next week! I am such a fan, their music is all I listen to since I first heard them on American Idol! I hope they produce a video of one of their concerts some day because they are so good looking and fun to watch while they sing! I think they have a very bright future and I pray they stay healthy, safe, and always Il Volo!

October 2, 2011

Il Volo Chicago Concert (9/28) - 2

The videos below are recorded from a different fan than from the previous post. Enjoy!



Il Mondo



O Sole Mio



Un Amore Cosi grande. I looooove this song!!!



El Reloj



This Time



Funiculi Funicula



Non Ti Scordar Di Me (Piero's solo)



Gianluca's solo ... does anyone know the title of this song?

September 30, 2011

Italian teen tenors to visit benefit dinner

Il Volo will attend a benefit dinner Sunday Oct. 16 at the Detroit Opera House after performing at the Fox Theatre.

The first time Anthony Rugiero heard Il Volo sing, he was struck by the group's similarity to both opera's The Three Tenors and the pop music world's Jonas Brothers.

“I was amazed,” said Rugiero, who owns a home abroad. “It was, like wow! They are treating these kids like the Jonas Brothers in Italy and they're singing opera, like The Three Tenors. You look at them and it's like, these guys have it all. It's too good to be true.”

The trio, Piero Barone, 17, Gianluca Ginoble, 16, and Ignazio Boschetto, 16, won a televised talent competition with their rendition of O Sole Mio in May 2009. Since then, the three young tenors — who put a pop spin on classical music, opera and standards — have watched their careers take flight. They released an album last year in Italy, signed a recording contract with Geffen Records in the United States, sang on American Idol in May and are on a tour that will bring them to the Fox Theatre in Detroit next month.

Rugiero, who heard the group sing in Italy, knew Il Volo could help his charitable endeavors soar, too. The president and CEO of Antonio's Corp — which includes his family's restaurants, Antonio's Cucina Italiana in Canton, Dearborn Heights and Farmington Hills, and Roman Village Cucina Italiana in Dearborn — Rugiero had been looking for a way to raise funds for Boys' Town of Italy, Italian Language Inter-Cultural Alliance and the Volterra-Detroit.

“I was thinking, how can I get a group together that's big enough that it would reach all age levels? I thought about singing groups and was trying to think of who I could get, when I see these young kids in Italy,” Rugiero recalled. “They take classical music and put a little something into it. These kids are wonderful.”

Producing a concert

Rugiero, who also is a board member of the Detroit Opera House, was determined to bring the group to Detroit as a fundraiser for the three organizations and began working on a plan to produce the concert himself. After Live Nation bought the group's North American concert tour, Rugiero suggested a benefit dinner that would be held in conjunction with the show on Sunday, Oct. 16. Concert promoters liked the idea.

The benefit will start with a cafe and biscotti reception at The Detroit Opera House. Shuttle buses will take ticket-holders to the Fox Theatre for Il Volo's concert at 4 p.m. They'll return via shuttle to the Detroit Opera House for the dinner, which Il Volo will attend.

“I purchased the first 20 rows, center section, all premium seats,” Rugiero said, describing seats at the Fox Theatre. “We hope to have a great evening.”

Fiat is a sponsor of the event, along with several Italian-American business leaders including Tom Celani and Anthony Soave.

Benefiting organizations

The Volterra-Detroit Foundation supports The University of Detroit Mercy School of Architecture and Comune di Volterra, which have formed a partnership to provide a new educational opportunity in the City of Volterra, Italy, for students in metro Detroit. Through the partnership, U.S. students can study in Italy for no additional fee, after paying their regular college tuition.

“I love programs that bridge the gap between Italy and the U.S.,” Rugiero said.

Italian Language Inter-Cultural Alliance (ILICA) is a worldwide organization that opens doors for many students around the world to learn more about Italy, its language and its culture through programs and activities that support the value of Italian heritage. The organization is a leader in promoting and facilitating the study of Italian language in American schools.

Boys' Town of Italy has funded the development of more than 60 child care centers for communities throughout the globe, and has been the primary sponsor of the Boys' Towns and Girls' Town in Rome and United States.


Source: http://www.hometownlife.com/article/20110929/ENT/109290479/Italian-teen-tenors-visit-benefit-dinner?odyssey=nav|head


Il Volo Chicago Concert (9/28)



Intro. Beginning of the concert.



Il Mondo



El Reloj



E Piu' Ti Penso



Granada



O Sole Mio





Notte Stellata



La Mattinata



Mamma



Finiculi Finicula



Sample of Il Volo's upcoming Christmas Album

Love Piero's bowtie! :D So classic.

September 29, 2011

Il Volo Toronto Concert (9/25)

Il Volo Toronto Concert @ Roy Thompson Hall. 9/25/2011.



O Sole Mio / Now or Never



Funiculi, Funicula



Notte Stellata



Mamma



This Time



Mi Vida

Il Volo on New York Times!!!!


They’re, Like, Awesome Opera Singers



On the last day of summer three tenors were taping the “Today” show.

No, not those Three Tenors. These were mere boys, baby-faced Italian teenagers calling themselves Il Volo and belting the red-sauce favorite “O Sole Mio” in front of projections of stained-glass windows. Channeling an unlikely mixture of Andrea Bocelli and the Jonas Brothers, the appearance capped a few months that brought them from “American Idol” to the morning talk shows to the final episode of “Entourage,” a circuit carefully designed to expose them to both mothers and daughters, PBS and MTV demographics, before their first North American tour, which arrives at the Beacon Theater in Manhattan on Monday.

In the NBC studio at Rockefeller Center, as the sleepy-eyed Gianluca Ginoble, 16, crooned the opening verse, and Piero Barone, 18, and Ignazio Boschetto, who turns 17 on Tuesday, released ringing high notes, Hoda Kotb, a “Today” co-host, put her hand on her heart and smiled wistfully behind the cameras.

“We are Il Volo,” Ignazio said at the end with a heavy accent and a dimpled grin. “It means ‘flight.’ Thank you for flying with us.”

After the taping Ms. Kotb towered over the boys in spiked heels. “Believe me, everyone’s going to come running,” she said. “They’re going to beat down the door.”

Arias for teenagers? That’s the theory, the crossover dream being masterminded by some of the most savvy executives in the music business: Jimmy Iovine, who helped turn Eminem and Lady Gaga into superstars; Ron Fair, who nurtured the careers of Christina Aguilera and the Black Eyed Peas; and Steve Leber, a management legend who worked with the Rolling Stones, Aerosmith and AC/DC and has come out of pop retirement to try to make Il Volo explode.

The group inhabits the intersection of the Italian pop standard and the soaring power ballad, the same sweet spot that has carried performers like Mr. Bocelli and Il Divo to superstardom. The difference, of course, is age: theirs, and that of their potential audience. The success of a show like “Glee” has introduced the tantalizing possibility that genres like musical theater or, say, pop-opera can inspire screaming girls willing to buy concert tickets and T-shirts, as long as the interpreters are young and adorable.


“In the beginning all of us thought that because of their kind of music, the audience would be from 35 up,” said Tony Renis, the producer who discovered Il Volo, in a telephone interview from his home in Rome. “But now we realize that they can conquer the kids. The younger generation all over the world, they’re used to rap. They never had the chance to listen to this kind of music. But now Il Volo is spreading a new kind of feeling. They are conquering every age.”

The group caught Mr. Renis’s eye in the spring of 2009, when the three boys, none of whom had formal training, were competing individually on “Ti Lascio una Canzone,” an Italian version of “American Idol.” In a more-is-more epiphany a shrewd producer on the show suggested they combine forces, and their full-throated renditions of modern classics were hits.

“These kids were singing ‘O Sole Mio,’ and I heard such amazing, beautiful voices that I didn’t believe it,” Mr. Renis said. “I thought it was fake. They were singing with such mature voices, like men of 50 or 60 years.”

Mr. Renis played the clip for Mr. Iovine and Mr. Fair, who signed the group to Geffen Records. Its debut album, “Il Volo,” a mélange of songs in Italian, English and Spanish calibrated for the widest possible appeal, was assembled over the next year and released in Italy in November.

The label’s connections with “American Idol” landed the singers a coveted spot on that show in May. Last month they had a cameo on the final episode of “Entourage,” in which their song “Un Amore Così Grande,” blasting through a Los Angeles talent agency, persuaded Ari Gold to quit his job and escape to Italy. Ari’s teenage daughter sums up the group as well as anyone: “They’re, like, opera singers, and they’re amazing.”

The “Today” stop was only the latest of the singers’ talk-show appearances. They were on “The Tonight Show,” “Good Morning America,” “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” and CBS’s “Early Show” in May, when their album was released in the United States, pegged to the “Idol” appearance. (Mr. Leber said they were discussing other possibilities with MTV and Nickelodeon, while a PBS special scheduled for March will continue to cultivate an older audience.)

The album made its debut on the Billboard 100 chart at No. 10, with sales that were respectable but hardly earth shattering. The Italian and American management teams butted heads about where, when and how to spend the boys’ time. Should they stay in America a full year and play smallish clubs? Make one-off appearances all over the world? Play theaters seating 1,000 or 3,000?

“No one had a real game plan,” said Mr. Leber, who persuaded the families to bring him and his son, Jordan, on to help manage the group as it rolled out. “They need to tour, tour, tour, tour. The kids and the parents were nervous about going on the road. But the most important thing is not to give up on this CD. Bite the bullet and go on the road.”


So on the road they were. Each of the boys was accompanied by one parent, a substantial sacrifice, since all three left their jobs to join their sons, and none are wealthy: Piero’s father is an auto-body mechanic, Gianluca’s a truck driver, and Ignazio’s mother owns a pizzeria that her 25-year-old daughter is running in her absence. None of the three speak English.

Piero hummed the “Brindisi” from Verdi’s “Traviata” as the group’s van sped up the Franklin D. Roosevelt Drive toward the Dolce & Gabbana boutique on Madison Avenue to shop for a tour wardrobe. (Il Volo shares a publicist with Madonna, whose connection to the fashion label runs deep.) On his iPad he scrolled through photos of places the group had already been: Singapore, New Zealand, Sydney, Miami, jumping on the red carpet at the Venice Film Festival. When they arrived at the store, Barbara Vitali, one of the singers’ Italian managers and a big-sister figure to the boys, told the sales associate, “We have to balance the repertory they are performing with the teenagers that they are.”

A series of slim blazers failed to fit Ignazio, who has lost more than 30 pounds but remains wide in the shoulders. The outgoing comedian to Gianluca’s quiet heartthrob and Piero’s earnest leader, Ignazio sang “All Nylon” to the tune of “All Night Long.” Gianluca emerged from the dressing room in tight black velvet pants and a shiny black blazer. Piero ended up with boots spattered Pollock style.



“They’re very, very different from one another,” Mr. Fair said. “Gianluca’s like a young Tony Curtis or a Mario Lanza, almost a Presley character, handsome and dark and Italian with fabulous hair. And Ignazio, he’s the big guy, a crowd pleaser and a people person, adorable and funny. Piero is more studious, very serious.”

Three hours and well into five figures’ worth of clothing later, the group headed to the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City, site of the tour’s first performance and the trio’s first full concert ever. The singers had allotted two days for preparation.

The following morning’s rehearsal began well. The boys sounded fresh as they warmed up; the echo of one of Ignazio’s high notes stayed in the ice-cold air of the theater for five full seconds. But Gianluca missed an entrance — he had, as usual, been on his cellphone with his girlfriend — and things quickly dissolved into backstage shouting.

The next day was the opening show, and the boys had still not run a single song all the way through. Mr. Leber arrived, doling out hugs. “This is not music,” he said. “This is a happening. This is an event.”

And it was. It got off to a rough start. The lighting careened from darkness to glare. The sound mix, including the vocal track augmenting some of the group’s harmonies, was murky; the video projections — a mixture of slow-motion Italian film clips and animations — were distracting. The boys seemed unsure of exactly where to stand and how to move.

Then they opened their mouths. The first song was “Il Mondo,” a sweeping heart tugger. Like many of the numbers in Il Volo’s playbook, it started quietly, with a dusky verse from Gianluca. It built and built, until Ignazio, oozing delight at being onstage, let loose a startlingly full and mature high note.

A girl literally screamed with delight.

Gianluca glanced at Piero with relief in his eyes. The audience gave standing ovation after standing ovation despite the awkward atmospherics and stilted banter.

A chaotic morning took the boys, but not their luggage, to their second stop, Toronto. In contrast to the Borgata show — which, like much of the tour, was organized by the American concert-promotion monolith Live Nation — the Toronto appearance was the work of a local promoter, Mimmo Pellegrino. It was at Roy Thomson Hall, where the Toronto Symphony Orchestra plays and which is about three times the size of the Borgata theater.



The Borgata show had, as Mr. Leber had predicted, the feel of an event: sold out, electric. In Toronto about a quarter of the seats remained empty. Some odd scenic elements had been added, like three enormous white masks that were revealed at the end to be swivel chairs. The audience response was warm, but it was hard for even the loudest of the recorded string arrangements to fill the big space. There were faint warning signs about the boys’ aggressive vocal style, which depends on belting brassy high notes. Ignazio, so free and easy at the Borgata show, sounded rougher and more tired in Toronto, and he avoided some high notes entirely.
The audience at both shows was mostly older, but there were the seeds of what could become a classic boy-band phenomenon: that girl screaming in the audience at the Borgata, high-pitched shrieks of “We love you!” in Toronto, a high school senior who asked Piero to be her date for homecoming. (He said yes.) And maybe, just maybe, they will inspire young people to try “real” opera, whose long-term prognosis remains worrisome. If Il Volo can persuade teenagers to notice and care about vocal production in a classical — or at least classic — style, who knows?
“By January we will have sold 1.5 million records around the world,” predicted Mr. Fair, who arrived at the theater in Toronto just as the boys were exiting the stage. “Everyone will know who Il Volo is. It’s going to be a gigantic live act. Tickets are going to sell like crazy. And then a song will come along, like a Coldplay-type song, a pop record that’s introspective and beautiful, and everyone on the more pop end of things will know them.”
But before everyone knows them, only some people do, a degree of fame as pleasant as it is temporary. There was some discussion after the Borgata show about whether the boys should exit through a back door. They decided instead to greet the public, and as they walked into the lobby, what can only be called a polite mob ensued, just the right size and just the right amount of enthusiasm. The boys thanked everyone graciously as they signed autographs and posed for photos.
Earlier in the day Ignazio was sound-checking onstage with the band as Steve Leber watched from the seats. As if on cue, Ignazio hit one of his shining high notes. Mr. Leber smiled. “Our game plan is working,” he said.

September 28, 2011

Il Volo - EF Interview


Il Volo sit down with EF's Bargi after their recent London showcase.

21 Under 21: Il Volo

Il Volo ranked #12 on Billboard 21 Under 21 :D



Birthdates: Gianluca Ginoble - Feb. 1, 1995 (age 16); Piero Barone - June 24, 1993 (age 18); Ignazio Boschetto - Oct. 4, 1994 (age 16)

Why They're Hot: After appearing on 'American Idol' in May 2011, the young operatic tenors of Italian trio II Volo set themselves up for a media whirlwind that included an appearance on 'Ellen' and a coveted spot on the series finale of the HBO smash 'Entourage.' Consisting of Piero Barone, Ignazio Boschetto & Gianluca Ginoble, the classically trained trio is currently on a U.S. tour. But the proof of the group's success is really in the charts: partially on the strength of single "O Sole Mio," the boys' self-titled album hit No. 1 on Billboard's Classical Albums chart in September, and sales are still going strong.

September 25, 2011

Il Volo New Jersey Concert (9/24)

I can't believe some clips are already up on YouTube! O_O So fast!!



Il Mondo



Faniculi Fanicula



Smile



O Sole Mio (They did two versions of it. This one is mixed with the English verse)



O Sole mio



This Time



Mamma