March 29, 2015 – Florence, Teatro Puccini

Translation by Davide Andreis

A three-hour trip, a beautiful sunny day, a city so chaotic, though endowed with such a beauty we all know. We get to Florence in the late afternoon, and we join some friends who are already there for a happy hour. Lighthearted chit-chat before the concert, waiting for the evening to come…

I could write “and the curtain opens up” but there’s no curtain: the stage, like the previous concerts, is opened up to the sight of the audience. The instruments are waiting to come to life under the skilled hands and the deep feeling of Carla and her talented musicians.
Finally the lights go off… Carla steps in alone, Nel resto del tempo opens the concert which follows the playlsit already tested in Rome. The exciting encore of Tante belle cose closes it.

The very warm audience, as usual here in Florence, welcomes Carla in a huge hug that lasts throughout the show, making the exchange stage/audience more lively than ever.

Carla’s thrill is palpable, one can feel it in her voice, in her eyes, in her smile.
Her voice, powerful and sweet, goes down and up along the notes of magic.
In the rounds of applause I feel the rumble of hearts that live unique emotions in wonderful evenings like this.

March 23, 2015 – Rome, Sala Petrassi, Parco della Musica

Translation by Davide Andreis

Today almost seems like a normal day: both of us are engaged in our jobs, but it’s not a normal day… Today what is “normal”, “daily”, “routinary”, will be altered by the magic that only a concert by Carla can give. Cristina is already in Rome for work, I’m going to leave shortly 🙂

2:54 AM  Here we are, back from a splendid evening.The concert, held in the beautiful Sala Petrassi, despite some technical problems -solved not so fast-, was very nice and involving. The Roman audience usually welcomes Carla with great warmth and so it is tonight, once again.The playlist is a bit different from the warm-up show of Azzano Decimo, but we won’t go into details, leaving the possibility for those who have not yet attended any of these shows to see it for themselves at the first next opportunity.

Many emotions, divided into more intimate and slow songs, out of her new and recent repertoire, and, towards the end, a serie of historical songs that excited the audience.
I strongly believe that the beautiful and evocative Tante belle cose, which concluded the Rome concert, will stay in our hearts. This show lasted longer than any other in the past, thanks to the many requests for encores… and thanks to Carla, who evidently wished to stay longer to delight all the audience…

March 20, 2015 Azzano Decimo – Warm-up show – WEEKEND Live

Translation by Davide Andreis

9 AM  Off we go! Our trip to Friuli is long but we’re confident that a wonderful day is ahead of us… We listen to Weekend in the car and speculate about the playlist. We’re happy… Very happy!

4:59 PM  Pravisdomini. Here starts the first adventurous adventure of the Weekend tour. We are in front of a Hotel (3 stars) but nobody answers from the reception 😦
We called the owner on his cell phone and he said he would arrive in 7-8 minutes.
We’re standing still, waiting out here…

Well, eventually someone comes along…. A lady who speaks very little Italian and understands it even less… she escorts us to the room; we try to explain to her that we’ll be late tonight and therefore need the front door key. It seems that there is no way to get it…. Maybe we should call them again later tonight when we get back… Hell, we read a good review of this hotel on Tripadvisor!  I can’t take it, no I really can’t!😭😭😭😭😭😭

5:14 PM. Finally we managed to get the key. We won’t have to play beggars tonight, and that’s something!

In front of the theater, behind a closed door…. That’s the magical moment when, from afar, we hear the notes of the rehersals… Pure emotion… Carla is rehersing Aspettando Mezzanotte and her high notes hit us straight in the soul…
While listening to the rehersals, the evening came: the air is a bit cooler and darkness wraps the theater around. At about 7 pm Carla leaves to rest before the concert. Meanwhile we get our tickets, Let’s take a break with our friends, who have just arrived.

9:15 PM  The musicians and Carla arrive on stage.
Emotions echo inside us in this latest concert of this Artist we’ve always loved, who over times continues to give us unique moments. Well, one might say unique moments, but, because of a strange alchemy, they magically keep happening, unexpectedly…
Songs for 90 minutes, chosen from Weekend and Samsara, plus revisited song from her repetoire.

On stage with her:
Osvaldo Di Dio: guitars, keyboards, voice
Floriano Bocchino: keyboards / piano, voice
Antonello D’Urso: guitars, bass, live electronics, voice.

TANTE BELLE COSE (Many beautiful things)

Translation by Davide Andreis

A wonderful song… heartbreaking, intense, passionate, emotional… Magnificent Fresu ‘s trumpet, the sounds reminding of Mezzogiorno sulle Alpi, and then Carla ‘s voice, deep, penetrating, unique…

Below is the link to directly access iTunes to purchase the single:

https://itunes.apple.com/it/album/tante-belle-cose-feat.-paolo/id932377498

Here are the lyrics:

I need to let your hand go
without telling you: see you tomorrow
nothing could ever change my bond
even if I have to go away
cut ties, change trains
love is stronger than farewell
makes your heart beat, sublimating the pain
turns lead into gold, still so many beautiful things
at the end of the tunnel a rainbow will take shape
the lilacs will bloom again
many surprises ahead of you

I will follow you from another side
whatever you’ll do
I will be with you as before
even if we go adrift
states of grace, new forces
will get back very soon
in the space between heaven and earth
mysteries hide
like fog and sunrise, so many beautiful things that you don’t know
the faith which tears mountains down
the purity of your heart
think about it when you’re about to fall asleep
love is stronger than death

in the space between heaven and earth
mysteries hide
think about it when you’re about to fall asleep
love is stronger than death

 

 

 

 

GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING – DVD

Translation by Davide Andreis

The DVD with the recording of two performances of January 19 and 20 will be on sale from February 22 at the exhibitions’ bookshops in Bologna and Vicenza, and starting from Friday, February 21, online at the Linea d’ombra website.
It will come with a booklet of 24 pages with photos and the lyrics written by Goldin and Battiato, an introduction by Marco Goldin, which explains the show and its paintings, a footage of the rehersals and the backstage of the show itself.

The DVD costs €18. At the bookshops it will be sold in combo with the catalog, for a total price of € 40.

Click here to be redirected to the Linea d’Ombra online shop.

**********

Girl with a Pearl Earring
Show by Marco Goldin , with music and participation of Franco Battiato

Recording made at the Teatro Comunale in Bologna, on 19 and 20 January 2014, of the show created, written and directed by Marco Goldin, with the special participation of Franco Battiato, composer of music and performer on stage with Alice and Francesca Michielin .

The DVD starts with the story, narrated by Marco Goldin, of the exhibition and the paintings and continues with a beautiful footage showing the rehersals and the backstage. The show, written by Goldin as a one-act play with music by Franco Battiato, illustrates more than the life of Vermeer, the sentiment that led to the creation of the Girl with a Pearl Earring. 

The stage action is composed of four scenes – from the beach of Scheveningen to Vermeer’s studio in Delft – linked together by a musical theme. Playing Vermeer, placed in a kind of world beyond life, from which he speaks, is Giulio Brogi. The other actors engaged with him in the scene are Gilberto Colla, Loriano Della Rocca and Fiorenzo Fiorito, respectively, in the role of the people met in the street, at church and at the market.

Goldin then imagined, and represented on stage, a sort of self-dialogue of the painting’s protagonist, in two different moments of her life, in a mix of songs animated by the wonderful voice of Alice, masterful interpreter of timeless songs, and Francesca Michielin.

A conversation, a dialogue sung wit different scenarios, suspended in time and space, with the background of seventeenth-century’s Netherlands, underlined by the sets, made with striking and clever video creations, by Fabio Massimo Iaquone in collaboration with Luca Attilii, while Erminia Palmieri signed the scenic desing and costumes. Light designer: Filipa Romeu.

The whole show was built around the splendid music of Franco Battiato, who, for this occasion, revised the original composition created for Telesio, a work that had a single performance in 2011, and has been adapted here together with the maestro Carlo Boccadoro, who also played the piano and coordinated the musical ensemble.

Franco Battiato not only created the music, but he even went on stage to play, along with Alice, two songs. First, Nel mercato di Delft  and then Insieme nel mondo, which Goldin put as a seal on his story at the end of the show.

On stage with Carlo Boccadoro on piano, Angelo Privitera (Keyboards and programming) and The Modern String Quartet, composed by Cesare Carretta (Violin I), Aldo Capicchioni (Violin II), Aldo Zang (Viola) and Henry Guerzoni (Cello). Sound Engineer, Pino Pischetola.

The show was produced in collaboration with International Music and Arts.

DVD duration: 148 minutes .

(from Linea d’Ombra website)

GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING – 19/20 JANUARY 2014

Translation by Davide Andreis

9:45 AM   Without hitches it wouldn’t be one of our usual trips that leads us to Carla 😉
My mythical C1 has got a blown-out light bulb and who do I turn to? My reliable gas station guy, of course! Actually I guess that all good gas stations workers can replace a light bulb and I don’t even think that maybe someone can’t…

Behold! This was the premiss…

The guy, actually a young man in his thirties, hits the ground running and tries (and I emphasize tries) to completely disassemble the housing in where the poor thing lies… From inside the car, terrified, I look at him while he removes all the screws except the very last one that he just can’t unscrew… Meanwhile, time goes by fast, Flavio is waiting for me… After half an hour the young guy gives up, retightens everything and I, in misery, leave the gas station…  At this point, a stop at the bakery is definitely a must … we’ll replace the bulb later on…

1:00 PM  Our friendly navigator with its clear female voice has just advised us that there is a faster route than what we set… And it has independently decided to change it… Minding its own business?!? Out of the question?!? 🙂

6:45 PM   We are outside the theater in the cold. They explained the complicated mechanism by which they’ll let us in, and I realized that only if at the time of delivery – and not a second later – we are not here with our booking confirmation print-out, we could even cry a river but we’d stay out. And so here we stand waiting…   I am sitting on an icy step which is literally numbing the areas I sit on. But that’s OK  🙂

JAN. 21, returning home   We resume our journey after two very nice days, carrying over new sensations given to us by the two evenings we had the good fortune to attend.

The show is a synthesis of Art in its whole, a perfect blend of painting, music and poetry that takes the audience along a perhaps unknown path, made ​​up mostly of feelings, not facts, and images aroused by the words of the painter (Vermeer) in an imaginary journey between past and future, in an unreal and suspended reality, designed by brushstrokes of light in the shadows that reveal rather than hiding. On the plot, woven by the music of Battiato, the two voices of the same protagonist move around, in the first dialogue between the two ages of the girl with the earring, a before and after that voids each other in time of existence.

Carla and Francesca Michielin well identify themselves in this role and their voices speak to each other in a time that voids the gap between past and present, one is reflected in the experience of the other, the voice of the one found in the other herself of the past.

The two songs sung with Franco Battiato are the perfect synthesis of the relationship between the artist painter and his creature. The music of Battiato is a gem that enhances the beautiful texts of Goldin and to us, the contrast between Battiato’s dark clothes Carla’s pale dress, makes us think of the game of light and shadow, which is the leitmotif of the show. We like to believe that it represents the artist painter, whose soul, apparently plunged into darkness, lives up in the light of his finest work.

Carla’s strong stage presence, emphasized by her dress, specially made for this event, suits magnificently to the role of the protagonist, a white figure appears and disappears in the unfolding of a single act emerging from the shadow of the backstage, to go back to the dark again, like in the paintings shown in the prologue by Marco Goldin, lights illuminate the quiet shadows of faces, woods and church interiors.

The veil lowered in some occasions in front of the stage is of great emotional impact; on it are projected parallel images that recall the paintings of the exhibition introduced by this show, while the staged reality continues to flow behind the veil that hides but at the same time shows, doesn’t divide spaces but instead unites them in the uniqueness of time

After the show we head for a pizza for a quick meal; our intention is to leave immediately, but we parked the C1 in a parking lot that closes at one AM: will we make it? The panic takes me and I lay the watch on the table to control the inexorable passage of time, waiting for the pizzas…

At the end , as always, is Marina that pulls us out of trouble. Along with Davide, she leaves the pizzeria to retrieve our car but… There’s always a but in these situations… I forgot to give her the parking ticket and shortly thereafter she will have to start a discussion with the valet, who thinks she’s a thief of small cars 😉  but Marina always sorts out every problem, and after signing (not by blood ) a statement in which she swears that not only she is not a thief but a Mistress problem solver, she recovers the small C1 and we can then start our return trip  🙂

GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING – ALICE AND BATTIATO IN BOLOGNA, 19-20 JANUARY 2014

Translation by Davide Andreis

Carla will take part in this very interesting project by Marco Goldin, on the occasion of the exhibition The Girl with a Pearl Earring. The Myth of the Golden Age. From Rembrandt to Vermeer masterpieces from the Mauritshuis, which will take place in Bologna, Palazzo Fava, from 8 February to 25 May 2014.

The theater project will be staged on 19 and January 20, 2014 at 8:45 pm, at the Teatro Comunale in Bologna; the show was built around the music of Franco Battiato.

Here is a link to the page where, starting from Monday, December 16, registration will be opened for the seats reservation: http://www.lineadombra.it/news/12-12-2013-la-ragazza-con-l-orecchino-di-perla-atto-unico-di-marco-goldin-musiche-di-franco-battiato/36

SANREMO 2014, PERHAPS…

Translation by Davide Andreis

At the release of the live CD “Del Suo Veloce Volo”, with the recording of part of the beautiful concert held at the Arena di Verona with the Arturo Toscanini Philarmonic Orchestra, Franco Battiato let slip a piece of news, that is the possible participation of Carla in the next Sanremo Festival, with one or two songs written by him…

On December 18, Fabio Fazio (the show presenter, TN), will announce the names of the contestants and so we’re  eagerly waiting for this day to get to learn what will it be…

Meanwhile, as mentioned above, the Verona recorded live has been released; in it, besides Antony’s beautiful voice and the wonderful songs of Battiato, two gems, sung by him together with Carla, shine bright: the historic “I Treni di Tozeur” and “La Realtà Non Esiste”, written by Claudio Rocchi.

SEPTEMBER 2, VERONA ARENA

Translation by Davide Andreis

12.18 PM   In a beautiful late summer morning we leave for Verona, sure that this will be a day to be kept among our best memories.

From the reports of the Sunday concert in Florence we already have a good idea about what to expect tonight, and most probably the charm of the Arena will only make the event even more magic.

2:32 AM, September 3  Back on the road on the highway to return home after an evening truly unique, spectacular in its entirety…

Stepping into the Arena for a concert is an indescribable feeling that expands during the evening while, fascinated by the show, we wait anxiously for Carla to take the stage.

Antony’s wonderful performance delighted us… His voice moved us deeply and his charisma invaded us gently.

After a brief pause Franco Battiato began his part of the show and we got taken into a completely different atmosphere with the most famous songs from his repertoire of the past. Only two or three songs from ”Apriti Sesamo”. Definitely exciting and addictive…

And then… And then along came Carla… And the time stopped … and our breaths too…

“La Realtà non Esiste” is the title of the beautiful song by Claudio Rocchi –recently passed away- that Carla performed masterfully with Battiato. This was followed by “I Treni di Tozeur” and finally, Carla solo gave us a magnificent version of “Il Vento Caldo dell’Estate”, which preserved its charm, unchanged over time.

A short time, but always magic.

ALICE TO PERFORM AS FRANCO BATTIATO’S GUEST IN FLORENCE AND VERONA

Translation by Davide Andreis

The official news today (source: Adnkronos) is the participation of Alice in the concerts that Battiato will give along with Antony and the Johnsons in Florence, at the Mandela Forum on August 31, and at the Verona Arena on September 2. Two truly unmissable concerts in which the artists will be accompanied by the Arturo Toscanini Philarmonic Orchesta and by their respective musicians.

“Rome, August 23 (Adnkronos) – Two extraordinary artists for two unique evenings:
August 31 at the Mandela Forum in Florence and September 2 at the Verona Arena.
The show will see the alternation of concerts by Franco Battiato and Antony and the Johnsons, where each artist will propose his repertoire.
The participation of Alice as a guest is confirmed on both dates: the sophisticated artist will perform some songs with Battiato.
Battiato and Antony and the Johnsons have worked in the past in the duet “Del Suo Veloce Volo” from the album ‘Fleurs 2’ (2008), an adaptation in Italian by Battiato-Sgalambro of “Frankenstein”, the original song by Antony and the Johnsons.

The two performances will be accompanied on stage by the Arturo Toscanini Philarmonic Orchestra. Established in 2002, it’s ‘the point of excellence of the Arturo Toscanini Foundation production, gained in the arts in more than thirty years experience of the Orchestra Regionale Emilia Romagna and in ancient musical tradition that has its roots in the historical Orchestra Ducale of Parma, reorganized by Niccolo Paganini.
For Antony and the Johnsons: Thomas Bartlett on piano, Rob Moose as Conductor.
For Franco Battiato: Carlo Guaitoli on piano and conducting. Also on stage Angelo Privitera, keyboards and programming, and then Davide Ferrario on guitar, Simon Tong on guitar, Andrea Torresani on bass and Giordano Colombo on drums. ”
Adnkronos