Buon Natale: The Christmas Album – Il Volo
Now let’s take a trip to Europe to spend the holidays in Italy with Il Volo! Funny enough, most Italians are unfamiliar with the American Christmas songs that the young operatic trio decided to record for their 2013 Christmas album Buon Natale: The Christmas Album, but the boys wanted to take on all the American classics.
To promote the album, the group performed songs on the PBS holiday special, Il Volo Buon Natale. It features their versions of carols like “Silent Night”, “O Holy Night”, and “White Christmas”, but also a selection of more operatic songs, since that’s kinda their thing. The boys sound beautiful on “Ave Maria”, “Panis angelicus”, and “Notte Stellata”. Clearly, they aren’t afraid to show off their language chops, because they also covered “Mis Deseos/Feliz Navidad” with Mexican singer Belinda.
To accompany the Christmas album, Il Volo also offered the Buon Natale Bundle EP, which featured non-holiday songs like Ignazio’s cover of “Memory” (from Cats), “Where Do I Begin” by Piero (from Love Story), and Gianluca singing “Maria” from West Side Story. They also perform “Bianco Natale” (that’s Italian for “White Christmas”) which is included on the Italian version of the album as well.
While I do love modern takes on holiday standards, like the ones from Kylie Minogue, Destiny’s Child, or Pentatonix, there’s something about hearing three opera singers like Ignazio, Piero, and Gianluca sing the classics that will always be magical. There’s always room for all kinds of Christmas songs, depending on what you’re in the mood for, but if you want something more traditional, definitely check out what Il Volo has to offer.