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Rating: As the sun sets on this 2011, I return with a CD that, all things considered, sounds good.
This 2011 Sanremo saw the deserved triumph in the top two positions of Roberto Vecchioni and Emma with Modà, and the exploit of the (former) comedians Luca and Paolo.
However, the songs in the competition did not entice me to download or purchase the CDs where they are included.
That evening of February 17th I will carry as one, if not the only, of the greatest moments of this edition.
Leaving aside Roberto Benigni, about whom much and well has been said, let's quickly get to the songs of that evening, and the CD.
Firstly, the pieces that didn't fully convince me:
"Il cielo in una stanza" revisited by Giusy Ferreri deserves a pass because it's not a song that suits her much (the arrangement and music strip away the particular atmosphere of Gino Paoli's original);
"Mille lire al mese" seems very distant from the world and atmosphere of Patty Pravo (it's fine during a variety show where some pieces malfunction with certain performers but work in the show. But on a CD?);
"Va' pensiero" with Albano is an aria reconstructed on a song basis, which does not inspire the sense of freedom of Verdi's original;
"O' surdato 'nnammurato", played in an (almost-)traditional manner, doesn't fit Vecchioni well, as he sings it in "Napolitan with a (northern) Italian accent" and fails to evoke any truly Neapolitan emotion (except for a theatrical representation of Neapolitan folklore - thanks, mainly, to the mandolin);
Anna Oxa performs "O' sole mio", rearranged in a modern way, well but doesn't give a traditionally Italian, and especially Neapolitan, emotion, as many Neapolitan performers with their open and intense (traditional) singing style would - but for me, the brief moment in English ("It's now or never" by Elvis) worked, especially in the performance;
Tricarico interpreted "L'italiano" by Totò Cutugno in the performance evening with his serious, dry and (fairly) deep manner, pleasing me without blame and with a bit of praise, especially for a choir made up of young Italians of the new (foreign) generation; losing, instead, and becoming a song not exceeding the pass mark here on the album.
Gianni Morandi serves as the centerpiece between the negative level of the songs seen above and what will be said later with his "Rinascimento" (written by Mogol and Gianni Bella), a wish and hope for a moral and spiritual rebirth of our society. Morandi sings with his usual skill and emotionally involves the piece in his way; but I can't get too emotional (because perhaps there are few songs by Morandi that I like).
Evaluating positively, I start talking from the next song using a minimum score equal to 6 and a half up to 9 and a half-10. You'll notice.
I was initially bewildered, negatively, by Max Pezzali who, with Arisa, interpreted "Mamma mia dammi cento lire", a (Italian-Lombard) song about emigration, played in the style of a modernized Otis Redding and Wilson Pickett. Over time, I consider this song funny and a nice pleasant tune, but nothing more.
Anna Tatangelo has the merit of redoing a song that I could never quite tolerate. "Mamma son tanto felice..." ("Mamma") rendering it beautifully enough to be used by myself in some mp3 collection for friends.
Natalie (with "Vivo sospesa" produced a beautiful song) in "Il mio canto libero" by Lucio Battisti sang in an intense (and, initially, "intimate") manner, greatly sweetening a piece of great collective and universal impact, making it more suitable for individual measure.
In terms of intense emotions, I commend Luca Barbarossa and Raquel De Rosario who, with a Risorgimento piece, "Addio mia bella addio", impressed me, also thanks to music that starts very calmly and then opens into a broad arrangement (reminiscent of a 19th-century South American telenovela), stripping away its military march character (and as a march I heard it performed by an alpine choir at the university headquarters in Genoa, a month later).
Even more, Modà with Emma make a song by Gianni Morandi (in the original, by Joan Baez) "Here's to you, Nicola and Bart" ("Here's to you") on Sacco and Vanzetti beautiful and exciting. A nice rock that I highly recommend listening to.
La Crus have my praise for having maintained, albeit with a different arrangement, the old character of "Parlami d'amore Mariù": if I listen to it, I can easily imagine being in the '30s in black and white (this does not happen at all with the other "old" tracks on the CD).
Luca Madonia ("orchestrated" by Franco Battiato) does an excellent job, actually creating a beautiful interpretation of "La notte dell'addio" (by Iva Zanicchi from the 1966 Festival), accompanied by beautiful music. Try it to believe it.
I conclude, in an unusual way and for a matter of the heart (but the best of the grades is seen with the last two songs) with a song never heard before this year, a great piece that was not bad to propose (today) in a context like that of the Festival. Davide Van De Sfroos revisits " Vival'Italia" by Francesco De Gregori, bringing us musically back to the atmospheres of groups such as CSI and Modena City Ramblers. A song that came back into relevance this year, reminding us of who we are (I later had the chance to hear De Gregori's original: Van De Sfroos is better).
We are at the dusk of these celebrations. A Sanremo like this I will never see again. All in all, it's better this way...
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