Traditional music and dance
Perhaps it is the late unification, but Italy has very heterogeneous musical traditions throughout its territory. Each region cultivates its own aesthetic, with a strong character, reflecting its history and shaped by its culture and dialect. One of the aspects distinguishing the musical traditions of the North and the South is the predominance of choral songs and polyphonic forms in the North. This is particularly striking in Lombardy, Liguria and Friuli.
In the Piedmont valleys, the music has recorded Occitan influences, palpable in particular in the use of the six- or seven-hole flute(fiffaro) or the gaïta (a bagpipe called here piva).
The local folk groups are known for the ethnomusicological approach of their practice. One of them, La Ciapa Rusa, has gained important notoriety by collecting and recording rural musical tradition. In this way, the group participated in the safeguarding of ancient dances such as the monferrine, alexandrine, curente or sestrine. Although the group broke up at the end of the 1990s, some of its members formed Tendachënt, a new orchestra with a similar ambition to pass on the traditional repertoire to the younger generations and thus preserve and modernize it. In the same region, the group Tre Martelli has accomplished a very similar mission by centering its repertoire around its ethnomusicological research. In four decades of activity and a dozen albums, the group has become a true local institution.
In Lombardy, traditions such as the polyphonies of the Po Valley or the archaic songs of the Apennines have found refuge in the works of the Barabàn group, which attempts to modernize them with tenderness and sensitivity. In their music, one can hear popular instruments from Northern Italy, such as the piffero (an oboe), the müsa (a bagpipe) or the hurdy-gurdy.
In the Veneto region, a similar situation can be found with the Calicanto group and the Dolomites Popular Orchestra, both of which produce works that also aim to preserve and revitalize the region's repertoire.
In northeastern Italy, the music of Friuli-Venezia Giulia betrays strong accents of Austria and Slovenia, including variations of the waltz and polka in traditional dances. It was around the 15th century that the great tradition of the region appeared: the villotta. Polyphonic, based on three or four voices, this song is elaborated from a short poetic text and does not hesitate to resort to improvisation to stretch the song as long as possible. The themes are often very basic and deal with love, nature, war, but also, of course, the native land.
On the dance side, the local treasure is the well named forlane. Lively, articulated on two beats, this couple's dance, full of jumps, is close to a jig. It was one of the most important dances until the 18th century and even became a court dance in France. Some music lovers may have already noticed it in compositions by François Couperin(Quatrième Concert Royal in 1722), Jean-Philippe Rameau(Les Indes galantes, 1737) or even Mozart in Bastien et Bastienne (1768). In France, the forlane became furlane at the beginning of the 20th century but did not survive the First World War, due to lack of interest.
As mentioned earlier, Liguria is a land of voices. And nothing on the spot testifies to this better than the trallallero. This polyphonic song, typical of the Genoese hinterland, is sung a capella, the harmony coming from the contrast and the continuous amalgamation between the voices. The term "trallalero" is an onomatopoeia, the support of the structure of the songs being given by the repetition of syllables without meaning, whose only interest is the musical consonance. Purely masculine, the trallalero is an art of spontaneity, it is anything but rare to see singers improvising in groups without knowing each other - in "jams" called " arrecheugeiti " - in the streets of Genoa, or to see well-known ensembles (such as Giovani Canterini di Sant'Olcese) singing it here and there.
The müsa and the piffero are also played here, and are played to perfection by musicians such as Ettore Losini and Stefano Valla.
In the Marche region there is a traditional dance that belongs to the large family of peasant dances, which also includes the famous tarantella and zumbarella: the saltarello. Native to central Italy in the 13th century, this dance for couples represents the games of love and seduction with fast and bouncy steps. Still very popular today, it punctuates parties or weddings and is a delight at folklore events. It is still taught in dance schools.
Also characteristic of the region, the stornello is a simple and improvised poetry, often satirical and formally close to a nursery rhyme.
In Umbria, the typical dances of the region such as sor cesare, punta e tacco, trescone, lo schiaffo and la manfrina are still alive, thanks to the work of folklore groups such as Agilla e Trasimeno. Active since the 1950s, the group has set itself the goal of keeping alive the traditions of the coastal areas of Lake Trasimeno.
The Festa dei Ceri ("Festival of the Candles") is one of the oldest folkloric events in Italy. Held every May 15 in Gubbio, it offers a good view of the traditions of the region. The influence of stornello, a tradition from the Marche region mentioned above, is also present in the Emilian folk song, in a more choral and lyrical form.
The Liscio is the couple dance that has unleashed the passions of generations in Emilia Romagna and therefore forms part of the identity of this land. Its history dates back to the 19th century, when Italy was particularly fond of the waltz, the polka and the mazurka. It is these three dances, in which the local musical tradition was infused, that will give shape to the liscio. Its name, literally meaning "smooth", refers to the movements of the dancers whose steps seem to glide smoothly. If the founder of the genre is Carlo Brighi, the musician who spread the dance throughout the country is Secondo Casadei (1906-1971), the "Strauss of Romagna". Even today, the Casadei family contributes to the dissemination of the traditional folk music of Romagna through the work of all its members.
In Tuscany, and in Florence in particular, folk songs have a great importance in the traditional landscape. Lullabies, work songs and ditties are important testimonies of the Tuscan memory, where the customs, habits and social life of the different eras are documented. The Florentine folk song has been re-evaluated over time thanks to the research of ethnomusicologists such as Claudio Malcapi and Caterina Bueno. Malcapi founded the Coro La Martinella in 1970, a choral ensemble that is the most important interpreter of the local tradition. As for Caterina Bueno, her activity as a singer has allowed her to give life to her ethnomusicological research, which has saved from oblivion many popular songs of Tuscany and central Italy, transmitted orally until now.
Classical music
Rossini, Donizetti, Verdi and later Puccini... When you notice that the great musical minds of the 19th century - those who embodied the spirit of freedom of the Risorgimento and gave its letters of nobility to the great Italian romantic opera - come from here, you can measure the weight of northern Italy in the musical landscape of the country. And the world.
Northern Italy owes its musical reputation in large part to the fertility of the Lombardy region. It is here, in Milan, that La Scala, the most fabulous opera house in Italy (and the main one), is located. Built in 1778, this legendary theater is one of the most respected opera stages in the world, hosting the very best in music every season.
It is also where the greatest Italian conductors come from: Claudio Abbado (1933-2014) and Riccardo Chailly (both of whom have conductedat La Scala), not to mention Daniele Gatti. The first, unforgettable, remains one of the greatest Italian references. Installed at the head of La Scala at just 35 years of age, he started a transformation by enriching its repertoire and seeking to open it to a new public. Successively director of the London Symphony Orchestra and the Vienna State Opera, before succeeding Karajan at the helm of the Berlin Philharmonic, Claudio Abbado's name remains closely linked to other illustrious conductors of his time, such as Martha Argerich and Zubin Mehta.
The second, Riccardo Chailly, is also a precocious talent. Barely twenty years old, he became Claudio Abbado's assistant at La Scala. A springboard that propelled him to the most prestigious musical institutions such as the DSO Berlin, the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the Leipzig Opera before returning to La Scala in 2017, this time as music director. A return to his roots and a consecration. Chailly has also been at the helm of the Giuseppe Verdi Symphony Orchestra of Milan, less known although excellent and exploring a repertoire ranging from Bach to the great names of the twentieth century. Located in the Auditorium di Milano Fondazione Cariplo, it is a good alternative to La Scala to see a good concert in Milan without breaking the bank.
Last but not least, Daniele Gatti is a regular recipient of praise. As skilled in opera as in symphony, he has been praised many times for the finesse of his interpretations. A talent well known to the French public since he was music director of the Orchestre National de France between 2008 and 2016 before taking over the direction of the prestigious Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.
Northeast of Milan, in Bergamo, it is the great composer of the romantic operas Lucia di Lammermoor, Don Pasquale andtheElixir ofLove who is the pride of the inhabitants: Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848). The great local stage is named in his honor, the Teatro Donizetti, and the great musical event of the city, the Bergamo Musica Festival, plays him every season.
Further south, in the Po Valley, the city of Cremona is not only famous for its violin making but also for being the birthplace of Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643), author ofOrfeo, considered the first opera. But if Orfeo is established as the first opera work, it is in Florence that the birth of the genre is located, when composers Jacopo Peri and Ottavio Rinuccini collaborated in 1598 on a work entitled Dafne, of which only a few fragments remain today. Too little to steal the place of first opera to Orfeo. Florence is also home to the Teatro Verdi, a national institution for the performing arts, which has been hosting symphonic music, chamber music, ballets and operas for over 150 years.
In Piedmont, the Teatro Regio in Turin is the great local institution. A magnificent venue steeped in history, it has established itself over time as one of the world's leading opera houses. The premiere of Puccini 's La Bohème was given here in 1896 in the presence of King Victor Emmanuel II. Destroyed by fire in 1936, only its façade is original and dates from 1738. Its musical season is an essential part of Turin's cultural life, as is that of the RAI National Symphony Orchestra, conducted since 2021 by Fabio Luisi, who took over from James Conlon. Its programming is to be watched closely because it is full of good surprises. Every year, the city organizes a very popular music festival with Milan called Mito Settembre Musica, which offers high quality concerts at low prices (classical, jazz, rock). In the Lake District, the Musical Weeks of Stresa (on Lake Maggiore) and the Festival Cusiano di Musica Antica, an important festival of baroque music on the beautiful Lake Orta, are events that are more than likely to appeal to visiting music lovers.
Veneto also has a particularly rich musical history. Along with painting, there was also a Venetian school of music. At the dawn of the 16th century, Venice became an essential city in European musical life, succeeding Rome whose attractiveness to artists declined after the sack in 1527. A prosperous city, whose success was based on great political stability, Venice quickly became an important center for the publication of musical scores. Composers flocked from all over Europe to take advantage of this innovation, particularly from Flanders, which explains why the Flemish were the first representatives of this Venetian school (Jacques Buus and especially Adrian Willaert, who imported the polyphonic style of the Franco-Flemish school to Venice). The climax of the Venetian school came three decades later with the birth of a violin prodigy and world-renowned composer of the Baroque period: Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1742). A contemporary of the latter, but still in his shadow, Tomaso Albinoni is the other great Venetian composer of the Italian Baroque. Among the contemporaries, Luigi Nono (1924-1990) is the great composer of the Serenissima, an Italian figure of serialism and aleatory, concrete or electronic music. Today's Venice has preserved all its musical aura and has many wonderful places to listen to beautiful music. In addition to the Fenice, stages such as the Teatro Malibran can be particularly prestigious. In the Veneto region, the Verona Festival offers grandiose performances in Roman arenas.
If Liguria has never held a central place in the national musical history, a great Genoese figure should not be omitted: Niccolò Paganini (1782-1840). A virtuoso violinist - even described as "the greatest violinist of all time" - Paganini revolutionized the way his instrument was played. A fabulous composer, he influenced many other Romantic musicians - beginning with Liszt - and his Caprices remain a must for any violinist wishing to demonstrate his technical majesty. In contemporary composition, it is Luciano Berio (1925-2003), a native of Liguria, who has marked the national music with his exploration of the potential of technology in music.
If the musical history of Marche andUmbria appears relatively quiet and shy, some notable names have marked it, starting with Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868), one of the greatest opera composers of the nineteenth century, author of some immortal works such as The Barber ofSeville, La Cenerentola and The Thieving Magpie . A certain Giovanni Battista Draghi, better known as Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710-1736), was also a native of the area (Jesi, in the province of Ancona). Despite a short career, he managed to establish himself as a prominent composer of the baroque period with works such as Lo Frate 'nnamorato ("The Brother in Love") and Il Flaminio, which established him as a leading figure of the Neapolitan school and of opera buffa.
Popular music
The whole world knows Italian song and its eternal hits - how can you not shudder when you hear Come Prima, a huge hit from the 1950s (covered here by Dalida)? The north of the country has been the cradle of many stars of the national song, some managing to take their reputation across the Alps. Carlo Buti was born in Florence, the "Golden Voice of Italy", the first great Italian star of variety (in the 1950s), a sort of Italian Frank Sinatra, author of a thousand songs. At the same time, Mina (1940), the Lombardy Dalida, began a career that would include an unparalleled number of jewels(Une anno d'amore and Cittá Vuota are urgently needed). Then, in Milan, the famous crooner Adriano Celentano, in Turin, Umberto Tozzi known for his haunting Ti amo, in Tuscany, Gianna Nannini (the hoarse voice that sang I maschi), in Emilia-Romagna, Laura Pausini and her Solitudine, a huge commercial success, or Andrea Bocelli, the blind tenor who is equally at home in classical music as in variety or Neapolitan folklore. And whose Con te partiròthe world will probably never forget..
In addition to these champions of the song, the north of Italy has known two movements important enough to be mentioned. The first appears in the 1960s, in Genoa, when a new wave of artists emerges, breaking with the Italian song of its time. Known as the Scuola Genovese (the Genovese school), it was inspired as much by the Beat Generation (Ginsberg, Kerouac, Burroughs) or Italian authors (such as Pavese) as by American folk music (Bob Dylan in particular). Carried by the counter-cultural ebullition of their time, these cantautori (the Italian term for singer-songwriters) sing of their city, Genoa, and their country with a bittersweet nostalgia. Committed, realistic, modern, Gino Paoli, Luigi Tenco and Fabrizio De André (to name but a few) have largely participated in shaking up the perspectives of Italian song.
In a second phase, in the 1970s, Friulian popular music began to adopt the codes of genres from here and elsewhere, such as American folk, blues and pop, giving a new lease of life to Friulian poetry. This wave, a real folk revival called Nuova Musica Friulana (New Friulian Music), later gave birth to local prides such as Lino Straulino, who exploded in the 1990s experimenting a lot with the Friulian language.
