Alice
Gioielli Rubati

"That tea taken in Rajasthan, you know it moves me and then I think of the Tay Mahall. Scents, endless echoes; I search among the gardens to see what the gods think of us".

To pay tribute to one of her mentors and discoverer, Alice bravely adds lyrics, coloring them with intoxicating fragrances and suspended atmospheres, to Franco Battiato's "Luna Indiana", originally an instrumental published in the album "L'era Del Cinghiale Bianco"; with this work, Alice closes the first part of her career and moves towards her definitive international recognition, subsequently followed by albums of the caliber of "Park Hotel", "Il Sole Nella Pioggia", and "Mezzogiorno Sulle Alpi", authentic masterpieces of great musical and literary significance.

Released in 1985, "Gioielli Rubati" is an album of covers of Battiato's songs, all very well known to the fans of the Sicilian author. The notable thing is the singer's ability to make all the songs her own, distancing herself from the original versions, as in the case of "Prospettiva Nevski" superbly rendered, with orchestra and keyboards that strip the song of a certain superficiality present in the original version on "Patriots", Alice does even better in the version included in "Personal Juke Box" of 2000 where she also removes the electronic percussion for greater vocal delivery.

Other tracks are more faithful reproductions like "Mal D'Africa" and "Un'Altra Vita"; the instrumental component of the work is reduced to the brass and strings of the Orchestra Della Scala di Milano and the drum machine and keyboards, yet the work is still airy and well-crafted, never stifling or heavy, after all with such an interpreter even hymns become sublime.
Alice gives her best in "Gli Uccelli", a unique version, an exaltation of the melody and the lyrics decidedly superior once again to the original version, and even "Il Re Del Mondo" is a perfect example of her extraordinary interpretative gift.

Alice did indeed steal the jewels from the master, but she returned them renewed and probably rendered in a definitive manner, she could have easily chosen simpler songs, but in the end, the choice to focus on more complex pieces fully played to her advantage.