Countless artists before Il Volo have successfully taken famous opera tunes and arias and put them in a format that is more easily accessible to the wider public. At the same time songs from the popular repertoire were “elevated” to operatic rank. The combination is what is now called operatic pop. Luciano Pavarotti was one of the first artists to have participated in such projects alongside Sting and Andrea Bocelli.
Il Divo quartet created by Simon Cowell, the celebrated presenter of American Idol TV show, is based on almost exactly the same formula as Il Volo, except that its four members are grown ups, not teenagers.
So what does Il Volo bring? Except for the fact that it is highly unusual to hear teenagers sing with such talent, such maturity, the CD does not bring anything new to the world of music. This is not to say that the album is not pleasant to listen to. Actually it is very pleasant, if only for the excellent choice of songs. These are all covers and none is an original.
“O Sole Mio”, “Smile”, “Il Mondo”, “Un Amore Cosi Grande” and seven other beautiful pieces come to your ears with superb arrangements and a pristine recording that smartly enhances the vocal textures of the three young men, Piero Barone, Ignazio Boschetto, and Gianluca Ginoble.
Curiously the most attractive song on the album is not “O Sole Mio”, the one that made the trio famous and helped to propel them to stardom. At least half of the tracks are more beautiful than the Italian evergreen. “Smile” for example, the song that was written by Charlie Chaplin and made popular by Nat King Cole, is very well interpreted here by Il Volo.
“Notte Stellata” (starry night), based on “The Swan” by French classical composer Camille Saint-Saens, may well be the most moving tune on the CD. Its slow tempo and its haunting melodic line make perfect music for the young trio, highlighting the voices of the two tenors, Boschetto and Barone, and the baritone, Ginoble.
Despite their youth, Il Volo members sing with passion and warmth. Yet, close listening by trained ears would reveal some minor shortcomings, those just a little less-than-perfect high notes that seem to strain the vocal cords of the singers.
The album is produced by maestro Humberto Gatica, a true wizard when it comes to recording and music production. He also happens to be the son of the great Chilean singer Lucho Gatica. There is little doubt that the magic touch of Gatica played a major role in the quality of the final sound. He brilliantly succeeds in making the teenagers sound older, more mature than they actually are.
To me the greatest of all operatic pop singers today is Andrea Bocelli. His depth, his warmth and the genuine emotion he channels are second to none, not to mention his precision and excellent pitch. However, Il Volo may be spectacular to watch and listen to in live performance, precisely because of their very young age. It is actually almost incredible that three people aged between 17 and 19 can sing so well, with such beautiful voices, demonstrating excellent technique.
When you move to recorded CD what remains is just music; the amazing show part of Il Volo, the very sight of three teenagers singing difficult songs, stops working there. Let’s see if Il Volo can follow this first CD with a second one that would bring something new. In the meantime I am enjoying playing back this one, having selected the best four songs to play in a loop.
Source: jordantimes
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