Italian trio Il Volo treats audience to heavenly performance

Italian singing group Il Volo lived up to its name Tuesday night at the National Arts Centre with a mesmerizing concert.
The trio — made up of youngsters Gianluca Ginoble, Piero Barone and Ignazio Boschetto — took the near capacity crowd to dizzying heights with a well-balanced, technically superior and entertaining show. The group’s name Il Volo, Italian word meaning flight, is certainly apropos for these teenagers who have blended operatic-pop with a modern sensibility and come up with a repertoire that is winning fans over in droves.
The nearly two-hour show — with an intermission and encore — was a beauty in its simplicity, focusing very much on the heavenly voices of this talented trio. There was no flashy gimmicks, no big productions or overlong musical numbers, just some corny banter among them between songs and lots of good music.
But when you stripped away everything else, all that mattered were the voices. And what voices they have.

Ginoble, 17, the sexy baritone with the dark Tony Curtis looks, and tenors Barone, 19, wearing oversized glasses, and the playful Boschetto, 18, were in perfect harmony, shaping every note with precision and tact. They showed their versatility singing together, as well as in solo numbers, and it didn’t matter if they sang in Italian, English, Spanish or French, they were always brilliant.
This is what sweet music must sound like in heaven.
The reception they got from the predominantly Italian-speaking audience of about 1,700 was also rapturous, with the crowd awarding them several standing ovations throughout the musical program. And rightly so. Who knew that chestnuts as Granada, O Sole Mio and even Smile, the Charlie Chaplin tear-jerker, could be sung with such gusto and emotion by singers who haven’t even hit 20 years of age yet.
It would also be wrong to label Il Volo younger clones of Il Divo, the other international singing group that has tread the same musical territory. Il Divo seem slick, mannered and often passionless, while Il Volo are full of youthful enthusiasm, charm and humility.
The show started slowly with Un Amore Cosi Grande and then soared strongly to Il Mondo, a love song of unbridled passion. Following intermission, the boys kicked into high gear belting out such power ballads as Per Te, and Ginoble melted a few young hearts in the audience with Maria, a well-known love song from West Side Story. When they ended the show with a stirring version of the Italian favourite O Sole Mio, the audience was on their feet ready to take these boys home for good.
Il Volo’s first visit to Ottawa was a smash, they return Oct. 20 performing on a bill with Barbra Streisand.

Source: ottawacitizen