Il Volo is a trio of young performers from Italy that originally combines opera and pop music in their work. This team allows you to take a fresh look at classic works, popularizing the genre of "classic crossover". In addition, the group also releases its own material.
Members of the trio: lyric-dramatic tenor (spinto) Piero Barone, lyric tenor Ignazio Boschetto and baritone Gianluca Ginoble.
Artists say that they are three completely different personalities. Ignazio is the funniest, Piero is crazy, and Gianluca is serious. The band's name means "flight" in Italian. And the team quickly "took off" to the musical Olympus.
How it all began?
Future friends and colleagues met in 2009 at a music competition for young talents. They participated as solo singers. But later, the creator of the project decided to combine the guys into a group resembling the "three tenors" (Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, Jose Carreras).
Gianluca, Ignazio and Piero first appeared as a trio in the fourth edition, singing the famous Neapolitan songs Funiculi Funicula and O Sole Mio.
In 2010, The Tryo (as the guys were originally called) became one of the performers of the remake of the hit Michael Jackson We are the world. Proceeds from sales were donated to the victims of the earthquake on the island of Haiti in January 2010. Colleagues of the trio were such artists as Celine Dion, Lady Gaga, Enrique Iglesias, Barbra Streisand, Janet Jackson and others.
The road to success for Il Volo
At the end of the year, having changed their name to Il Volo, the band released a self-titled album, which hit the top 10 charts in many countries. It was recorded in London at the legendary Abbey Road Studios. In 2011, the team won the Latin Grammy Awards. And subsequently the musicians became the owners of many other prestigious awards.
In 2012, the musicians were lucky enough to be invited by Barbra Streisand on her tour of North America. At the same time, the second album, Il Volo, was released. It included collaborations with Plácido Domingo on the song Il Canto, a dedication to Luciano Pavarotti, and Eros Ramazzotti on the romantic composition Cosi.
“One of them is the best in the classical genre, and the second is in the pop genre. This is a reflection of the direction in which we work - from Placido Domingo to Eros Ramazzotti, from classical to pop music, ”says Piero.
2014 was no less important for the group. The musicians had planned even more performances and meetings with the public. Only in the USA they performed with 15 concerts.
In April, Il Volo attended Toto Cutugno's anniversary concert in Moscow. Here is what the famous Italian said about them: “I am crazy about this group. They are incredibly successful around the world, especially in the US and South America. I told their manager: “I have a concert with the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra in Russia, and I want to bring your group to Moscow as guests of honor. He agreed, for which I am very grateful to him.” This was the first visit of Il Volo to Russia.
On July 23, the musicians were invited to an evening of world hits from the New Wave contest in Jurmala. There they sang two famous and significant songs: O Sole Mio and Il Mondo.
Sanremo Festival and Eurovision Song Contest
The group won the 65th Sanremo Music Festival with the song Grande Amore. Then she received the right to represent Italy at the international Eurovision Song Contest.
On May 23, 2015, in the final of the competition, the Italians took 3rd place, winning the audience vote with 366 points. This was a record in the history of the Eurovision Song Contest.
The Il Volo team received two awards from the accredited press in the nominations "Best Group" and "Best Song".
New achievements and experiments
Literally the next day after the final, the guys plunged into work on a new disc, which was released in the autumn. A touching music video was shot for the lead single.
In June 2016, as part of the tour, Il Volo performed in four Russian cities: Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kazan and Krasnodar.
At the same time, the group worked on the Notte Magica project. On July 1, 2016, the concert "Magic Night - Dedication to the Three Tenors" took place in Florence. It consisted of pieces performed by Pavarotti, Domingo and Carreras at their first concert together in 1990.
The special guest was Placido Domingowho conducted the orchestra. He also sang one of the songs with the group Il Volo. The concert was broadcast in prime time on Italian television.
Later, a live album of the same name was released, which topped the Billboard Top Classical Albums and went platinum in Italy.
With the Notte Magica program, the musicians visited Russia again in June 2017. By their own admission, nowhere in the world do they receive as many flowers as in Russia.
For almost the entire next year, the group took a break from creativity. At the end of November, she surprised fans with a reggaeton album in Spanish, oriented mainly to the Latin American audience. The new sound was perceived ambiguously, but nevertheless, the majority of fans recognized the experiment as successful.
And again the festival "San Remo"
In 2019, the Il Volo group celebrated a decade of creative activity. The guys decided to celebrate the anniversary in a very symbolic way. They returned to the "San Remo" on the stage of the theater "Ariston", where 10 years ago they first performed as a trio. In the final of the competition with the song Musica Che Resta, the group took 3rd place, and the audience awarded the musicians 2nd.
The musicians did not pretend to win, they came to the competition with calmness and gratitude to all the people who, after so many years of touring the group around the world, are waiting for them in their homeland, in Italy.
Group Il Volo now
After the San Remo festival, the guys pleased the fans with another disc, returning to their sound. Lyrical, romantic songs with deep, philosophical lyrics in Italian, Spanish and English that reveal the beauty and power of the trio's voices.
“After one of the concerts in New York, an elderly woman came up to us (she came to the concert with her daughter and granddaughter) and told us: “Guys, you have three generations of listeners.” This is the best compliment for us.”
In March 2019, the group performed on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater at the international Bravo award. The musicians performed the famous composition "Table" from the opera "La Traviata".
Immediately after the performance, the band announced on Instagram about two concerts in Russia as part of the anniversary tour. September 11 - in the sports and concert complex "Ice Palace" (St. Petersburg). And on September 12 - on the stage of the State Kremlin Palace (Moscow).
10 years have been very eventful and fruitful for the Il Volo group. And there is no doubt that the international success of these talented artists will be even greater.
