TRENTO. To unite Franco Battiato and Radiodervish the visions linked to the Mediterranean and the Middle East, to a world without barriers and borders. A common sensibility that led Radiodervish, one of the most successful Italian world music projects, to dedicate a tribute to the Sicilian singer-songwriter who died last year. The theme song is “No time no space” for the concert that will open on 22 August in Val di Non, at 12, Pian della Nana, Malga Tassulla, the new edition of the Sounds of the Dolomites Festival.
To tell us about this sound journey into the interior of man who in search of himself finds the union with the whole Michele Lobaccaro voice, together with Nabil Salameh of the Apulian group.
Michele Lobaccaro: why a tribute to Franco Battiato?
“It was a spontaneous and natural act to pay homage to this author who for us was not only an artistic reference point but also a friend with whom we had the honor of collaborating: he produced one of our records, he directed of one of our videos and participated in some of our songs. For us Battiato is the one who encouraged us to bring Middle Eastern music to Italian, he was himself one of the first to use Arabic in his songs ».
The theme song is “No time no space” …
«It’s a quote from one of his songs. I chose it because the dimension outside of time and space was congenial to Battiato and brings us back to perpetuating a direct contact with him. In 2015 I organized the presentation of his film “Traversando il bardo” in Bari and we had the opportunity to talk at length about death and the space-time relationship. It was in his daily life, in his way of being and thinking, the fact of being in this world but not belonging to this world but to other dimensions ».
How did you choose to reread the songs of the artist born in Ionia in the Catania area?
«For us Battiato has created over time a particular cenacle of Italian music, including pop and light music, to which various artists such as Alice or Giuni Russo immediately belong. In our own small way we feel we belong to this environment and we have tried to make some of our songs resonate with the most spiritual pieces of Battiato. The central part of the concert is dedicated to our pieces that are connected to Battiato in various ways: because he had interpreted them, because he had made the video or because there are anecdotes that are linked to him ».
Which piece of Battiato excites you most to interpret?
“If I have to choose only one, I would say” The sacred symphonies of the time “because it is precisely there that this double belonging to this world and to other dimensions transpires».
For both the Mediterranean and the Middle East were an essential point of reference.
«Yes, the Mediterranean is a horizon that today more than ever leads you to seek another dimension of life. Today we are crushed by a neo-liberal thinking that leads to a series of values or rather of negative values which are competition, going fast, arriving first. While the Mediterranean can inspire us with a different thought of which Battiato was a great representative and we drank from his imagination. It came naturally also because the singer of Radiodervish Nabil is Palestinian and we have made dialogue between different cultures of the Mediterranean a resource “
What is the aspect that struck you most from Battiato’s human point of view?
«The simplicity was extremely refined and at the same time very helpful. In him there was no difference between the artist and the man, it was as it transpires from his art.In addition, I would say his curiosity, his intelligence and a creativity that crossed disciplines, knowledge and cultures and went to beyond stereotypes. He was a Renaissance man in the 21st century ».
The future of Radiodervish?
«We are working on the reinterpretation of our first musical period since the end of the eighties to try to update it. The acronym is that of “In prima luce”, to indicate the birth of a world, that of globalization where everything was connected and which now seems to have gone into crisis. Even artistically, it seems important to us to reflect on a season that saw the birth of many artists including Almamegretta, Mau Mau, Agricantus and that created a new scenario in the music of our country ».
How to participate
Malga Tassulla can be reached from Cles, by car to the Malga Culmei car park and then on foot following the signs for the festival; 1.15 hours of walking, difference in altitude 300 meters, difficulty E. To protect this particularly delicate and sensitive environment, it is advisable to access the car park near Malga Culmei with a fully loaded vehicle.
Upcoming dates
The sound, which has bluesy notes, of the singer-songwriter Alice Phoebe Lou finds its ideal stage on the panoramic terrace, at 2082 meters, in the presence of the Brenta Dolomites at Camp Centener above Madonna di Campiglio, where on Wednesday 24 August (12 noon; in case of bad weather the second concert of the Festival. As a street performer, she has played in many places, and since her first Ep Monumentum in 2014 the song Fiery Heart, Fiery Mind is included in the soundtrack of the film Ayanda.
Camp Centener can be reached from Madonna di Campiglio with the Spinale cable car and then on foot for 50 minutes, altitude difference 50 meters, difficulty E; or from Passo Campo Carlo Magno with the Grostè cable car (intermediate station) and then on foot 50 minutes, 10 meters difference in height, difficulty E.
The Dolomite spiers of the Latemar Group above the Val di Fiemme and a panorama as far as the eye can see that sweeps from the Lagorai to the Brenta to the Breonie Alps, frame the notes of the best string orchestra in the Netherlands. earned a well-deserved international reputation, Amsterdam Sinfonietta, protagonist of the concert on Friday 26 August in La porta on Monte Agnello above Pampeago (12 noon, in case of bad weather it recovers at 17.30 at Palafiemme di Cavalese). The 22-piece orchestra of chamber musicians, under the guidance of artistic director Candida Thompson, proposes the original stylistic code of performing the great classics through modern reinterpretations. For the concert that goes up through the LandArt art installations, an added value of the appointment in Val di Fiemme, the program ranges from music by Maurice Ravel, Joseph Kosma, Ludwig van Beethoven, Ralph Vaughan Williams in original arrangements.
The concert venue can be reached from Pampeago with the Agnello chairlift and then on foot along path 509, 20 minutes’ walk, altitude difference 100 meters, difficulty E.
On the occasion of the concerts it is possible to participate in aexcursion with the Trentino Alpine Guides at € 15.00 per person (under 8 free). Discount of 20% for Trentino Guest Card holders. Reservations required at the offices of the competent Apt. Limited seats.
All information, including any schedule changes or movements of the concerts, on the website www.visittrentino.info/it/isuonidelledolomiti.