Antonello Venditti
Le donne

THE REVIEW

Terrible commercial operation that has no purpose other than to fill the discographic gap between "Dalla pelle al cuore" and "Unica". What irritates is not so much the idea of a collection dedicated to women, which is nevertheless annoying given the collections dedicated to love just a few years earlier, "Se l'amore è amore" of 2000 and "Il coraggio e l'amore" of 2002, but because in the album the songs that Antonello actually dedicated to women are missing, and with a completely different artistic depth compared to the trinkets that the artist has been dishing out for the past twenty years. "Marta", "Esterina", "Eleonora" are missing, opportunities to discover the less trivial Venditti, who behind the appearance of the woman's name hides engaged themes such as, with reference to the three songs, the generational conflict and with the paternal figure, religious integration, and banned parties in political environments. On the other hand, it is true, there are "Lilly", another story of drugs; "Giulia", about female homosexuality; and lesser-known tracks like "Donna in bottiglia" from 1979. We could also highlight the absence of "Maria Maddalena", as if to condemn the album from which it comes, "Ullàlla" of 1976, from which, however, "Una stupida e lurida storia d’amore" is extracted. In short, there is no effort by the record company to create a comprehensive project on Antonello's career, to make him known for what he truly was, and I dare say, continues to be. Among the 32 tracks present, there is a clear imbalance between the period 72-82 and what comes after, clearly to the advantage of the latter. Certainly, there is the Marina of "Sotto il segno dei pesci", the Claudia of "Notte prima degli esami", even "Sora Rosa" but the Paola of "Qui" is missing, as well as the old lady of "E li ponti so' soli". In short, a poorly executed collection that leans only on commercial tricks. In the RaiUno video-chat with Vincenzo Mollica in 2011, I asked Antonello to make a collection on commitment, and he replied that he doesn't decide the collections... unfortunately. With this, I conclude by also defending Antonello, still constrained in the cages of the musicbiz for 30 years now. I don't think there will ever be a collection on the committed Venditti. People like mediocrity. With this, I sign off. Happy 2015!