Eugenio Bennato in concert at the Teatro Trianon Viviani with his new album

È partito dal Blue Note di Milano il tour di concerti di “Musica del mondo”, il nuovo disco di Eugenio Bennato, e, dopo le tappe di Genova e Pistoia, arriva al Teatro Trianon Viviani di Napoli, venerdì 24 gennaio, alle 21.00.

The tour will continue on March 28 at the Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome and new dates will be announced.

On stage with Eugenio Bennato there will be Ezio Lambiase (classical and electric guitar), Sonia Totaro (voice and dance), Stefano Simonetta (bass), Francesca del Duca (voice and percussion), Mohammed Ezzaime El Alaouoi (viola and voice) and Le Voci del Sud Laura Cuomo, Francesco Luongo, Angelo Plaitano, Daniela Dentato, Letizia D'Angelo and Edoardo Cartolano.

“I connect all the things I have written on my journey to the meaning of the journey – says Eugenio Bennato –. Cwhether it's a short ride on a scooter along the Naples seafront or a train journey between the north and south of Italy or a flight to European or intercontinental destinations, the melodies and verses that I think of (hoping that they have a reason to exist) are always connected to the energy and rhythm of the march, to the nostalgia of things left behind, to the mystery of encounters and discovery. "Musica del mondo", which is the latest collection of my compositions, does not escape this logic".

The concert at the Trianon Viviani

The lineup for the concert at the Teatro Trianon Viviani includes the twelve songs that make up the album and that preserve the essence of popular music, from the choice of themes, such as the value of diversity, collective and personal memory, cultural heritage, social justice and the fight for rights, to that of sounds, folk, ethnic and word, always open to new contaminations. Here are the titles: “Musica del mondo”, “Mongiana”, “Grande minore”, “Tammorra song”, “W chi non conta niente”, “Welcome to Napoli”, “Torre Melissa”, “Noi persi nel sentimento”, “Limoni a Varsavia”, “Luna”, “Notte del giorno dopo”. The album closes with the re-release of “Canzone per Beirut”, which Eugenio Bennato wrote in 2007, after a concert in the Lebanese capital. “The song quotes a phrase I read on a poster posted on the walls of the city: “Can stop stars from shining, or Beirut from rising” – says Bennato –. Eugenia, my youngest daughter, shocked by the tragic history of the present, asked me to sing it with her small and moved voice”.

World Music

“Musica del mondo” (Sponda Sud label – Imusician distribution), which comes seven years after his last solo album “Da che Sud è Sud” and four years after “Qualcuno sulla terra” with Le Voci del Sud, is a journey towards the other, a movement that is already a meeting place in itself: a hymn to life, brotherhood and beauty. An album that starts from Naples, a city with many souls, always open to welcoming others, to reach the rest of the world and its voices and integrate them into a single song. A palpable journey in the places evoked in the lyrics, in the different languages ​​that intervene in the songs and in the pressing rhythm of the arrangements, supported by tamorra, drums, battente guitar and drums, which perfectly represents that of the steps and that of the heart.

The album paints a “south” that transcends Italian geography, speaking of roots and chains, of forgotten lives and denied rights, but also of profound values, of a sense of belonging, of resistance and courage, and of roots. Just as in the title track “Musica del mondo”, which anticipated the album by revealing the profound meaning of the project, the entire album celebrates music as a tool for global transformation, capable of guarding stories, uniting people and opposing the ideologies and arrogance of those who perpetuate conflicts.

The disc

Il disco unisce passato, presente e futuro, tracciando un percorso tra storie radicate nella memoria e voci che ancora risuonano di attualità, con brani come “Mongiana”, dedicato a un paese calabrese di appena 655 abitanti la cui storia come uno dei più grandi poli siderurgici d’Italia è racchiusa in un piccolo museo oggi dimenticato; “Torre Melissa”, che rievoca il drammatico episodio del battello di migranti arenatosi sulla spiaggia calabrese nel 2019 ma anche l’intervento degli abitanti che, svegliati dalle richieste d’aiuto, salvarono tutti i naufraghi; “Luna”, dedicata alla nipotina e interpretata insieme a Pietra Montecorvino, che esprime l’love incommensurabile per una nuova vita. Ma c’è anche la struggente “Limoni a Varsavia”, nata come colonna sonora del film “The Lemon Tree – L’albero di limoni” di Bruno Colella e dedicata a un cuoco siciliano, folle e geniale, che incarna quella passione capace di compiere piccoli miracoli.

Eugenio Bennato

A great master of Italian popular music, Eugenio Bennato has given new life to the great musical traditions of Southern Italy with the Taranta Power movement, bringing them to international markets. Having reached almost fifty years of career, he continues to be a point of reference for the modernity of his sounds and the topicality of his lyrics, which address crucial contemporary issues such as migration, respect for diversity, solidarity, the dangers of globalization and extreme capitalism. From the southern shores of the Mediterranean, from southern thought, from the encounter with different histories and cultures, Eugenio Bennato has traced and traces his personal history of rhythms and words, faithful to himself and his ideas, in a musical journey that knows no end.