On Friday I was assigned to write a piece on the Il Volo concert happening at Radio City Music Hall that night. Initially dreading that I had to go home shave and put on a shirt that didn’t have a Death Metal font across the chest I agree and cleaned myself for their first New York appearance in 2 years.
Since your Pandora stations most likely wont pull up one of their songs on a Pop playlist I will Il Volos fame in a few sentences. Il Volo started as 3 teenage Opera singers who met on a Italian music competition show called “Ti Lascio Una Canzone” in 2009. After the competition the boys formed Il Volo and broke the hearts of Moms, Grandmas, Aunts and younger Sisters around the world. Their charming good looks, boyish cuteness and surprisingly good Opera voices gave them international success in a genre that is pretty much not existent in Pop Culture. So I went to the world famous Radio City Music Hall to experience Il Volo in concert. .
The stage set up was basically a 3-screened platform with 3 sets of stairs leading down to the stage. The guys pretty much walked up and down the stairs the whole night singing up and down each staircase. Il Volo opened the night with an Operatic version of Aerosmith’s “I don’t wanna miss a thing”. The set list shuffled traditional Opera classics, originals songs and familiar covers which a couple audience members felt was to belt along with in their subpar audience Opera voices. A few other notable covers that the guys performed was U2’s “Beautiful Day”, Frank Sinatras “Night and Day” and that depressing Sarah McLachlan “Angel” song that reminds everyone of those sad animals on the commercials.
I went into this night ready to experience some gimmicky boy band from Italy but I left with a new respect for Il Volo as well as Opera music. I was impressed on how talented the guys actually are. The powerfully trained voices to come out of 3 guys who look like they should be opening for One Direction really spoke to how unique this act really is. Their confidence and demeanor spoke to that of classic Opera singers but their youth spoke to an open market for this forgotten art. I never found interest in it before but I am now interested to see the progression of Il Volos sound as they grow into adulthood. Radio City Music Hall was the perfect for an act like Il Volo. The acoustics of the venue helped amply the voices and hold onto that full sound. The stage gave enough room to fit an Orchestra on one side as well as a band on the other and the atmosphere was perfect for an act like this one.
Next up for Il Volo is a Christmas album being released on October 22nd titled “Buon Natale” which translates to Merry Christmas which will be released on Interscope Records.
Source: concertblogger
Thank you for entering IL VOLO Land with an open mind and heart and experiencing the magnificence of their music, their hearts, and their sweet humor!
ReplyDeleteThe Boys refer to their music as operatic pop, so there are words to match what you experienced.
I like how they say that they sing classical music in a fresh way (like O Sole Mio or Un Amore Cosi' Grande) and pop music in a more classic way (like U2's Beautiful Day or Questo Amore, which is from Aerosmith's I Don't Want to Miss a Thing).
I LOVE my music "IL VOLO style" as only Piero, Gianluca, and Ignazio can do it!
~ Jeanine DuBois, Compassion's Doorway
Thank you for the great review on the performance of these 3 talented artists. Yes, they do hold the audience captive with their wonderful voices. I was fortunate enough to see and meet them on 8/27/13 in Concord, Ca, and they were fantastic. Standing ovations after almost every song. Latin America has been waiting for their return with great anticipation and now they are there. At the MEET&GREET, we were hurried by the VIP NATION people and could hardly talk to the guys. This is NOT GOOD since now that the boys are so popular, it seems that their mgmt people do not want them to interact with the people who got them where they are today. My kids paid good money for me to meet them but although I loved the concert, I was disappointed that I could not talk to them for even 2 minutes. I bought gift for them but could not give it to them. Could not even get my CD which was bought by my grand daughter, signed by the boys. NO MATTER. I still love IL VOLO FOREVER. I am 67 years old but they make me feel young.
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