‘This music will never die.’ Il Volo celebrates 10 years of classical Italian, modern pop music
.jpg "Gianluca Ginoble, Piero Barone and Ignazio Boschetto are the members of the Italian pop-opera group Il Volo.")
UPDATE:
Il Volo has canceled the remained of its North American tour due to the COVID-19 global pandemic. That includes Friday night’s performance at the Saroyan Theatre.
Refunds are available at point of purchase. Those using ticketmaster will receive a refund in seven business days, with no action required. Those who bought tickets at the Saroyan Theatre box office will need to return the tickets to the box office during business hours.
ORIGINAL STORY:
The three singers of Il Volo have made a kind of second home in the United States — and that certainly makes sense given the Italian group’s success here.
After all, the U.S. was the first country they performed in after being discovered on an Italian singing competition show, “Ti Lascio Una Canzone,” in 2009. The trio — tenors Piero Barone, Ignazio Boschetto and baritone Gianluca Ginoble — were teenagers at the time and looking toward global domination.
The United States was stop No. 1.
The group landed a guest spot on “American Idol,” a deal with Jimmy Iovine’s Geffen Records (a first for an Italian singing group) and a PBS special. A decade later, they are in the midst of a 10th Anniversary tour that stops Friday night at the Saroyan Theatre in downtown Fresno.
“American audiences love what we sing,” Barone says in a phone call in advance of the show. The Italians have a tradition of song, he says. It’s classical, which for Italians means eternally.
“This music will never die,” he says.
But the only way that happens is when the younger generation — each of the trio is between 24 and 25 years old — embraces the classical and brings to it pop sensibilities. The group has been labeled as pop-opera for this reason, Barone says. They are following in the footsteps of Pavarotti and his Pavarotti and Friends series, which included collaborations with Sting and Bono and Elton John.
Il Volo has done its share of collaborations as well. One of their first gigs was an opening slot on tour with Barbra Streisand. And while the group is grateful for those opportunities, they owe their success to their fans, Barone says.
“We just cant wait to come to Fresno and perform for them,” he says. “For us, it’s like the first time.”
Il Volo “The Best of 10 Years”
Details: This event has been canceled. Refunds available at point of purchase. 559-445-8100, www.ticketmaster.com
Other upcoming Fresno-area events
▪ Rogue Festival week two. Various show times, through Sunday. Various location, Tower District. $5 wristband, plus individual show pricing. 559-407-5559, www.fresnoroguefestival.com
This story was originally published March 10, 2020 at 11:48 AM.