Morgan
Non al denaro, non all'amore né al cielo

The album in question is an interesting philological work. The talented Marco Morgan Castoldi completely reinterprets a complex and profound album such as "Non al denaro, non all'amore né al cielo". I don't know De André's original well enough to provide an in-depth and comparative analysis of this CD remake. However, I am quite familiar with Morgan's work and can understand what changes within the respectful arrangements, what studio perfectionism he adopts, and where he inserts synths instead of trumpets?

And this CD is full of interesting Morgan-esque points. In "Un matto", the inspiration is complete, and a perfect and light reinterpretation marries significant emotional engagement in the singing, a sort of empathy with the theme, making Morgan a delicate psychedelic interpreter - just think of "The Baby" or "Se (if)", both contained in "Canzoni dell'appartamento". In the subsequent "Un giudice", the voice becomes more authoritative than ever before, but here the genius of the synthesizers is revealed, subtly covering the driving rhythmic skeleton of the bass. The pace increases inexorably, and with it, the voice explodes after two minutes into a grand opening, clearly crowned by powerful synths, never lowering the tension, the singing returns, becoming grand and proud, supported by a tenor choir, and everything ends with a playful flute frenzy. Less personal and less successful is "Un blasfemo". It feels it cannot venture into any new arrangement, and the voice does not reach De André's disenchanted epic; Morgan's approach is too 20th-century to give tone to such a romantic character. He regains strength in the finale of "Un medico" and subsequently in "Un chimico", and without revolutionizing them, gives them a nice polish. With "Un ottico" and the four clients to whom a mini-song is dedicated each, the gallery taken from the famous "Spoon River Anthology" by Edgar Lee Masters closes, and the productive/alchemical climax of the "lens dealer" is rendered to perfection with exclusively Morganian momentum.

Overall, the album is worthy, proving to be certainly daring, often innovative, although it sometimes falls to the level of excellent craftsmanship, perhaps more interesting for the artist than for the audience. In general, you can categorize it as: De André covers made by Morgan.