Gianluca Ginoble, Ignazio Boschetto and Piero Barone make up the classical crossover supergroup Il Volo. They first came to the public’s attention competing against each other in the Italian television competition “Ti lascio una canzone.” However, when the show creator heard them, he envisioned the three voices blending in a format similar to that which had made The Three Tenors a commercial success. The trio performed “O Sole Mio” together and the rest as they say is history.
Il Volo’s debut album went to the top of the charts in Italy and also caused a sensation in the American market reaching No.10 in the Billboard charts. They were featured on Good Morning America and The Ellen DeGeneres Show among others.
Il Volo has continued to be a force to be reckoned with, in 2015 they represented Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest and came in third.
Their brand-new album “Il Volo sings Morricone” is released November 5th and is a tribute to the legendary Italian composer who inspired many classical crossover hits including “Nella Fantasia.”
I was privileged both to exclusively interview Il Volo and also attend their press conference which began with the premiere of the music video for “The Ecstasy of Gold.”
“The Ecstasy of Gold” is the opening track of their new album and marks the first time the Morricone estate has allowed lyrics to be added to the main theme from “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly”. To make it even more special the lyrics were written by Morricone’s son Andrea. The video itself is a tribute to the film and Ignazio jokily shared that Gianluca was doing his best Clint Eastwood impression.
It’s clear that Gianluca, Ignazio, and Piero are no longer the young boys who first brought audiences to their feet. They sang with the ease of seasoned performers moving through different vocal techniques with beautifully lyrical portions of “Here’s to You” and “Se,” and masterfully changing to a popular growl when it was required. Only Piero stood, while Ignazio and Gianluca sat casually and exchanged jovial remarks with each other. “We are very lucky because spending over 10 years together, besides our age, also our relationship grew and became stronger.”
Gianluca, Ignazio, and Piero continue to take their music training seriously with daily practice. They also develop their voices with assistance from individual teachers. They ended their live set with the powerhouse “Nella Fantasia” before coming down and addressing journalists.
Their casual demeanor greeting the press in Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese and occasionally bursting into song, is exactly what crossover needs to bring this music to a younger generation.
Il Volo had the privilege of meeting and working with maestro Morricone before his unfortunate passing in 2020. “We’ve always been fans of Mo Ennio Morricone, we grew up listening to his melodies and we are honoured to sing this timeless music.” The trio even performed with him on stage. “He wasn’t a man of a lot of words. But I mean, he treated us very, very good because we were 14-15 and we were treating him like a friend. So, he said to the guys, ‘Don’t worry, I’m going to take care of you…’ That’s the reason why we decided to pay this tribute… because we love him.”
After his passing, Il Volo performed a concert at the Verona Arena in the composer’s honor which was featured on RA1 to a record 4,702,000 viewers. “In the show, our voices will melt with the music creating an unforgettable experience for us.” Fans in the USA will have a chance to experience the concert this Fall on PBS.
It was important to Gianluca, Ignazio, and Piero that this project be approached carefully. “When we started thinking about this project, we involved immediately Mo Morricone’s family.”
The gesture not only led to the family’s approval but also involvement in the project from Ennio Morricone’s son (and composer) Andrea who shared his own composition “I colori dell’amore” (“The colours of love”) with the trio. “Andrea, besides helping us during the making of the album, gifted us this beautiful song.”
To prepare they also watched the films the soundtracks were created for and immersed themselves into Morricone’s world. “We wanted to keep as much as possible faithful to the original version of Ennio Morricone… We have to say the truth. Singing this repertoire, it wasn’t that difficult for us because the melodies are very comfortable for our vocal cords. But I think the most important and delicate part of this project is to keep the identity of Morricone’s music. And we have to say congratulations to the producer. Guys, you did a great job, really.”
Producer Per Magnusson was on hand at their press conference and followed up by saying, “I think with Morricone, his best feature is the melodies. His melodies are incredible… we could change the arrangement, we could change the tempos, we can do a totally different style to the song. But they always kept his melodies intact… there are no other composers out there to do the melodies like Ennio could.” He also shared the project was no small production with over 120 involved.
Coming from Sicily has given Piero a special connection to “Se.” Gianluca’s favorite is “The Ecstasy of Gold” and for Ignazio it is “Your Love.” They hope the album as a whole will take audiences on “a magical journey through music and feelings.”
Rating 9/10 ★★★★★★★★★
‘Il Volo Sings Morricone’ is cinematic with powerhouse moments to rival Il Divo but a sensitivity that allows the music to breathe. There is a maturity to the interpretations and the ability to strip back to embrace intimate moments.
With experience has come a more refined ability to pick material that suits their unique qualities. “Now we are aware of what sounds better for us, of course we have not the crystal ball, the real answer only the audience can give.”
They credit their success to Italian music. “It’s the music that we sing. The power of the melody, the power of the Italian music that we sing (in the past done by Luciano Pavarotti and many [other] artists). We know that people love the Italian culture, so that was the goal since the very beginning… Thirteen years ago, we signed a contract with an American label company. And the first album we released was 80% all in Italian. Many people, when we sing in the concert, during what we sing in Italian, they don’t understand the words, but that’s the power of the melody and the power of the Italian music that we sing.”
They have also been carefully evolved in the arrangement process. “We spent a lot of time in talking with our producers in order to let them understand our personalities and the best way to express them, i.e with our vocals.”
The album features collaborations with David Garrett, Hauser and Chris Botti. “We chose very carefully each featuring [artists] – as you can see all featuring are instrumental because we wanted to glorify Mo Morricone’s melodies with the friends we met during our journey.”
The quarantine for them, as for all performers, has been difficult but they are looking forward to returning to the stage with a world tour in 2022. “During the quarantine, besides trying to help our communities to fight the pandemic in different ways, we dedicated, of course, more time to our families and beloved ones.”
“We can say that after two years, it’s been really a hard moment for us, for all the world. We live in difficult moments, but this is the best way to start again with the new project with a tribute to Maestro Morricone, because we want to bring the Italian culture to the music, but also the beauty of our country.”
Over the years they have performed in several world-famous venues and they tell us, “Each venue has its own story but finally being back on tour next year fills our hearts with pure joy – can’t wait to perform again at Radio City Music Hall.”
As important figures in the classical crossover genre they hope it will continue to develop and that they will play a part in raising the profile. “We hope to give a contribution to bring this music to the wider audience possible.”
The future holds many possibilities for them. Gianluca is studying acting so it will be interesting to see which doors open. “Who knows,” they said. “But for now, it’s better if we sing.” They told us, “The magic of this job is that you never know what to expect and we hope to feel always that adrenaline before going on stage or the new releases…You never stop learning and what we’ve learned so far is that ‘[The] Universe is the limit’ so we keep following our dreams.”
This interview is presented with thanks to Joanna Burns PR.
www.ilvolomusic.com
Listen to Il Volo’s new album on our ‘Classical Crossover Discovery’ playlist.
Just such a talented trio honouring some of the best melodies of all time, Morricone is indelible
Il Volo is my favorite group of singers! There may have been numerous such groups but other than the Three Tenors if the past no one compares with these young men!
Il Volo’s music is beautiful, gentle, dramatic, full, gorgeous.
I am filled with gratitude.
My 81 year old mother believes Ginaluca Ginoble is texting her and asking for money to put together his own solo album. I’ve told her that I don’t believe she’s talking to him. She’s been to a number of Il Volo concerts. We even went to Italy to see them once. We have a few pictures of her meeting them. She really loves them.
I told her that I would confirm with secondary sources that he is not putting together a new album, and he would never ask people to help fund his album.
As someone who has interviewed them, perhaps you could talk with them and drop me a note. That way I could show my mother some correspondence where I’ve checked on this would be investment. I would greatly appreciate it.
tgreen007@comcast.net