La Musica Nella Italia

Tufts Observer Online

Medford,MA,USA

by John DeCarli

January 26, 2007

Its one oclock on a Thursday afternoon in Bologna, Italy. Via Zamboni bustles with students making their way to class, hungry Italians are carrying fresh pasta in bags marked Tamburini along via Orefici, and continuing into the center of the city, in Piazza Maggiore, people sit sipping wine while watching the scaffolding go up yet again.

Its the beginning of one of many weekends in the historic heart of ancient Bologna; and despite the fact that the city is home to churches, statues, and other relics of the past, it is transformed into a modern outdoor concert venue. During the fall semester, I had the good fortune to live there, and I was consistently amazed at the frequency of this stark transformation. Seeing professional lights, sound equipment, and stages erected just beyond a 16th century fountain adorned with the towering image of Neptune always made me stop and watch.

And thats the idea. The biggest distinction in the way Italians consume their music lies in their cities geographylife in a European city revolves around its core. In Bologna, one passes through the Piazza Maggiore every day to get to the shop, get to work or school, go to church, enjoy a relaxing coffee or drink, and of course, to people-watch. Perhaps thats why almost every weekend the Piazza hosts an event, be it a concert, rally, chocolate festival, or modern dance performance.

A different approach to piazza concerts exists just north in the Piazza Verde. Here, at the University of Bolognas home, young hippies, goths, punks, and indie hipsters gather every night with 22 ounce-beers bought at convenience stores down the street to talk about politics and to bang their drums. While these concerts are rarely officially organized events, they are an equally integral exposure to music for Italians.

Of course, there are real concerts that come through Italian cities every so often, yet even then, theyre often part of a larger, overarching event. In August, a week of concerts at the Estragon in Parco Nord, including an energetic performance from New York indie rock revolutionaries TV on the Radio, doubled as part of Festa dUnitC!, a fundraiser sponsored by a Communist Italian political party (Bologna is a historically red city). Parco Nord was also home to free concerts featuring both Italian artists and the States The Killers during MTV Day 2006.

Yes, even in Italy one cant escape the looming presence of MTV. As the only station without constant Italian dubbing, it was frequently on in our apartments tiny dinning/common room. It wasnt a way to hide from the language, but rather, a way to get a finger on the pulse of music in Italy, both Italian and foreign. I was surprised to see hip-hop so infrequently played. Crazy by Gnarls Barkley was everywhere as it was in the States, including on commercials for a cell phone service starring two Italian soccer stars; however, the more mainstream American hip-hop didnt cross over into clubs as much as dance songs by Italian artists did. Like France, Italy has worthwhile hip-hop, yet something about the language robs the genre of its immediacy and force. Nonetheless, Fabri Fibra, perhaps the Italian equivalent to Eminem, with his single Idee Stupide, was ubiquitous.

Another popular Italian band, Lunapop, hails from Bologna itself. Italian women go crazy for their pop stars like Tiziano Ferro, and Lunapops Cesare Cremonini is no exception. I had a chance to meet the bassist and the bands de facto music leader, Ballo, as he was more or less a staple of Bolognese nightlife. He told me of his stay in America, picking up influences from genres as diverse as folk and boy-band pop. This seems to be a typical story for Italian bands: borrowing ideas from (by admission of many Italians) more successful and talented groups in America and England, and infusing them with their own flavors.

There is, however, another avenue of musical expression far more important for Italians. Dispersed throughout the city, some looking for spare change, others simply offering a soundtrack for the day, street performers add to the vibrancy and rhythm of Italian life. Walking to school everyday Id pass the same artists: the classical guitarist on via dAzeglio, the accordionist near the church, the swing jazz quartet on via Rizzoli, and the engineer who moonlights by playing a futuristic synthesizer of his own invention. These performers become more than just sounds you pass on the streets. Theyre characters on the stage of the city; strangers with friendly faces, the true Italian musicians.

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