Two tributes, different in genre, passionate and appreciated by the public of Catanzaro: the weekend of the XXI Autumn Festival entitled “Between East and West” began yesterday with the memory of some symbolic figures of music – Lucio Dalla – and of the sport – Cesarini, Sivori and Maradona -, before dedicating himself this morning to spirituality with a yoga meeting immersed in nature, at the Biodiversity Park.
First appointment scheduled last night was “4/3/1943…. Lucio Dalla!” with the actor Cesare Bocci and the musicians of the Mercadante ensemble Rocco Debernardis on the clarinet and Leo Binetti on the piano. The absolute protagonist is the singer-songwriter from Bologna and the most well-known and significant songs of his career: in a Brand Museum very full – the available tickets were all sold -, with rare delicacy, through Bocci’s voice, with lyrics by Federica Debernardisa first-person narration was staged, with Dalla telling his story following a sort of diary, with introductions to the songs always born from the life that Lucio observed with a curious and amused gaze, distant from any intellectualism which he decisively distanced.
While Debernardis and Binetti offered refined rearrangements of the famous “If I were an angel“, “Dear“, “The evening of miracles“, “Anna and Marco“, “The year to come“, “Ithe giant and the little girl“, and again “How deep is the sea“, “Big Square“, “4/3/1943“, Bocci said with that irony that Dalla never lacked even those aspects, such as the thick hair that he did not hide, which had become his strong point: «something like a man from another era», said Lucio/Caesare referring to hirsutism.
The last part of the show dedicated to the famous “Caruso”which closed the evening: it was up to Bocci to underline the melancholic parallel between the tenor to whom the piece is dedicated who died in a hotel in Naples, and Dalla who also died in a hotel, in Montreux, where he had held the evening first a concert.
Saturday evening then continued at Politeama Theatre with “The fútbol milonga” starring the Sky journalist Federico Buffa. Accompanied on stage by the singer Mascia Foschi and the pianist Alessandro NidiBuffa retraced the lives of three exceptional Argentine footballers who marked the history of international sport, Renato Cesarini, Omar Sivori And Diego Armando Maradona. All linked by origins and careers to Italy, all champions, they were in reality an opportunity for the journalist to focus on the phenomenon of emigration and the poverty of a country, the Argentine one, multi-ethnic by birth, welcoming by nature, with an imaginative fervent to the point of inventing, like and more than other South American countries, a specific language, the lunfardowhich would allow everyone to understand each other, drawing on the various dialects – especially Italian -, in «an extraordinary grammelot“, he said.
With the use of historical photographs of the three players, in particular of Maradona, with whom the show closed, projected in the background, the father of sports storytelling – the first to bring it to the stage in Italy – he let himself be lulled by Nidi’s music, on the piano, and by Foschi’s voice, which acted as a glue between the parts into which “La milonga del fútbol” was divided.
Long final applause from the large audience who remained even after the curtain closed for a few photos with a very helpful Federico Buffa, honored by the artistic director of the Autumn Festival, Antonietta Santacrocewith the work of the master goldsmith Michele Affidato, depicting the “Cavatore” symbol of the City of Catanzaro. During the evening, Michele and Antonio Affidato themselves had also delivered the silver statuette to Dr. Santacroce and the mayor Nicola Fiorita.
As anticipated, “Between East and West” continues and ends this morning with a fantastic novelty of the Festival: with free entry, upon registration on site, starting from 10am at the Biodiversity Park there will be a meeting with the master Vincenzo Boscostudent of Sathya Sai Babafamous Indian master who later became his guru, who will lead to the rediscovery of prana and internal energy through the practice of yoga, specifically Hatha yogawith “Barefoot on the grass”.