CONCERTONE

NOTTE DELLA TARANTA

THE TARANTA GENERATION CONQUERS THE AUDIENCE

The Taranta Generation conquers the audience of the most awaited Night of the Italian summer.

It touches 1 million viewers “La Notte della Taranta”: the concert broadcast in prime time on Rai 3 scores 9.01% share in the first part and 10.09% in the second.

Extraordinary success in the square. According to the data provided by Questura and Fire Department, 100 thousand people were present in continuous flow in the concert area and 150 thousand total from 17:00 to 05:00 in the entire grico village where the big screens had been set up.

A figure confirmed by the BusForFun company that managed the parking areas: + 89% bookings for buses, + 34% bookings for cars.

In Melpignano in Salento last night, the extraordinary work of fusion between the sounds of the Salento folk tradition and the urban/pop language of contemporary music was staged. A challenge for the maestro concertatore Shablo who chose the very young Riccardo Zangirolami to conduct the Popular Orchestra. A constant dialogue also recalled by the images proposed by Galattico with the violinist from Nardò Luigi Stifani, Giovanna Marini and Tora Marzo, the dances of Kameatka, the cosmic liturgy between sea waves and red sunsets, dazzling setting of a sound path that began with the powerful Pizzica di Aradeo that in the verses announces the journey: “lu tamburrieddhu miu vinne te Roma me l'ave nduttu na napulitana” (my tambourine came from Rome and a Neapolitan woman brought it to me).

It is the voices of Antonio Amato, Giancarlo Paglialunga, Salvatore Galeanda, Enza Pagliara, Stefania Morciano, Alessandra Caiulo and Consuelo Alfieri that weave a great web of emotions with interpretations of Tarantella di San Nicandro, Pizzica di San Marzano, Taranta di Lizzano, Pizzica di San Vito, Pizzica di Villa Castelli, Pizzicarella, L'acqua te la funtana, Pizzica di Taranto, Pizzica di Stifani, Mamma la rondinella, Pizzica degli Ucci. Three songs in Grico: Calinitta-Buona Notte, Klama and Pizzica di Cosimino. Three songs in arbëreshë: Manusaqja, Ec Ec, Lule Lule. Unmissable Lu Ruciu de lu mare and Aria Caddhipulina that makes the square explode in a jubilation of hands and tambourines in the air that cancel any digital presence. And it is the sound architecture of traditional songs that captures in the large canvas the guests of this edition with the overwhelming Angelina Mango who interprets Su Picculina in Salento dialect and brings to the Melpignano stage the determination of the Taranta generation. A sentiment shared with Gaia who takes the square by storm with Mena Mena Mò. And after two days of rehearsals, the talented young women of Italian music dance led by choreographer Laccio immersing themselves in complex paintings with bold colors. 

He enchants Ste with Tammurriata Nera, which introduces Shablo's ability to mix sounds and musical stories by listening to Lose Control before giving Taranta di Lizzano and Fuecu with Luca Faraone's unmistakable flair. There is still that “tambourine that came from Rome and was sold by a Neapolitan woman” when Geolier enters the stage and mixes another language into the canvas, the Neapolitan one. From the stage he glimpses the large flag of Napoli waving in the audience along with the flag of Lecce, sealing an all-Southern understanding of feeling and pride in roots that crosses all borders. The works of international artist Emilio Isgrò with his Cancellature are precious cover of the visual tale. Three large papier-mâché spiders illuminate the scene that becomes a network of lights under the direction of director of photography Marco Lucarelli.

Three hours of intense sound for the musicians of the Popular Orchestra, who after 27 years give the audience a kaleidoscope of traditional instruments capable of dialoguing with all the languages of modern music. Three hours of connection between pizzica and urban movements also in dance and costumes that give harmonic visual narratives.

The live Rai broadcast conducted by Ema Stokholma brings the image of the folk festival into the homes of Italians from the square of the Ex Convento degli Agostiniani.

There is amazement in the parterre of guests when the images of the square arrive on the big screens. Director Stefano Mignucci airs sequences recorded by two special drones that capture the huge influx of people: there are the president of the Apulia Region Michele Emiliano together with the president of the La Notte della Taranta Foundation Massimo Bray, the Honorable Antonio De Caro president of the European Parliament's environment committee, the mayor of Rome Roberto Gualtieri and for the first time the mayor of Lecce Adriana Poli Bortone, as well as councillors for Culture of the Puglia Region Viviana Metrangola, economic development Alessandro Delli Noci, education Sebastiano Leo, Pugliapromozione director Luca Scandale, Enit president Ivana Jelinic, men's national volleyball team coach Fefè De Giorgi, physics professor and social phenomenon Vincenzo Schettini.