Giorgia
MTV Unplugged

THE REVIEW

To kick off the famous series of "unplugged" concerts in Italy, MTV chose the stunning voice and talent of Giorgia.

The Roman artist was asked to reinterpret some pieces from her repertoire acoustically, with the possibility of including some covers, some unreleased tracks, and asking for the intervention of a few “guests”; and the result was this beautiful album, a work of excellent quality (also released as a DVD), which is something that Italian pop music sees increasingly rarely. The album, recorded live during Giorgia's performance at the MTV studios in Milan, opens with a cover of Stevie Wonder’s “Love In Need Of Love Today,” introduced by the voice of Sonny T (one of the musicians from Prince's New Power Generation who has been accompanying Giorgia regularly for several years now), upon which Giorgia then joins in.

It is especially the pieces from Giorgia’s latest studio album (“Ladra di vento”) that benefit positively from the new arrangements and the new interpretation; “So Beautiful” and “L’ eternità” gain in pathos and intensity, while “La gatta” and “Spirito libero” receive a breath of freshness thanks to the Caribbean rhythms that accompany them and the class of Mr. Terence Blanchard, the great bluesman who makes a significant and extremely meaningful contribution with his trumpet. This is especially noticeable in the new version of “E poi,” by now the historic first hit of the Roman singer, whose musical accompaniment is indeed composed of Blanchard's languid trumpet and the piano. On this basis, Giorgia delivers an extremely intense and highly rarefied interpretation, managing to draw the listener’s attention finally to the text, stretching the rhythm and melody as much as possible. Noteworthy are also “Di sole e d’azzurro” and “Gocce di memoria,” two of the most beautiful songs in Italian pop music made, if possible, even more interesting by the new arrangements and a voice always in shape and increasingly unique in the Italian scene.
“Strano il mio destino,” however, is transformed into a tango. Moving on to the four unreleased tracks, “Il senso,” “Credere,” “Infinite volte” and “Veloce Giorgia”, we are faced with four very refined songs, a synonym of a particular melodic taste that is now no longer banal but heartfelt and influenced by the soul music so dear to the Roman artist. This demonstrates that Giorgia truly feels the things she sings (and that she now writes and composes) and is on course to become a very refined singer-songwriter that Italy perhaps has never had (I also refer to the genre that Giorgia proposes, not that Italy lacks other quality singer-songwriters).

The other covers proposed are “I heard it through the grapevine” by Marvin Gaye, sung in duet with Ricky Fanté, “Who’s lovin’ you ?” by Terence Trent D'Arby, and “I’ll stand by you” by the Pretenders. This MTV unplugged shows that Italian pop music still has something to say, that one can be influenced by many musical trends without needing to sell out their identity, and thankfully, it's not just Pausini and Ramazzotti.