Let's turn back to the middle age, in the North of Italy , the crumbled political structure is the place of a cultural and artistic wakening; intellectual's new type appears. The university of Bologna , since 1088, made alive the tradition of the Roman right: the townships, or mention-states, with the power intellectual of the clerks and meanwhile the creating some universities in the XIIes and XIIIes centuries.

At this period, appears a new poetic shape: the lauda that adopts the structure of the profane sense and last until the XVe century: we have found more than two hundred compilations as a witness of this time. The lauda takes its origin of the medieval Christian time therefore where the song of the Roman church (old Roman and ambrosien, then Gregorian) took a big flight. This religious melody of popular character, knows a big vogue in the Italian peninsula, where the Franciscan movement leads to one renewal of the spirituality.

The lauda is becomed again a theme of actuality thanks to Angelo Branduardi that offers here a shape of réinterpretation of the life of saint francois under the language of music, dance and ballet, spectacle of which he is the narrator, the thread singing driver. He told us about it: "In the presentation of a spectacle, the abit is usually to tell a history putting in stage different characters but we didn't want just to do it…
This lauda is the history of a great man and our artistic apport is to make alive his extraordinary humanity in each person among the public, Francesco is not a classic musical spectacle, or a ballet, nor a musical text or a comedy, It is in the same time a little all this, structured and put on stage in a dynamic way thanks to a harmonic combination of ideas, message and acts that caracterised the life of saint François.

At this particular occasion, we can enjoy and listen to the songs of the album" Infinamente Piccolo" inspired by the sources of franciscan'monks, it gives life to the narration of the different stages of the life of the saint and the simple man confronted to the outside world.

"Listen to us
Since a long time we are travelling
To share with you the love of life
Listen to us
Since a long time we are travelling
To seek together with you the peace on this earth
Listen to us,
Please listen, we humbles, beggars
We dressed of nothing
Listen to us
Because we are brothers under this only sky
Different our names
Different our languages
Different the name that we give to God
But equal is the love that we feel for him
Equal is the sense of our prayers
Equal, equal our fears, brothers
Equal our necessities
Equal our love,
Our souls in front of God
Equal
Let's listen to ourselves, brothers let's talk without fears
about what apparently separates us
because together we will discover we are equal
together we will discover that any war
could ever be called holy!
No one!"

Translation : Michelangelo Gargiulo

 

This lauda whose origins go back to several centuries, evokes well some themes of actuality through the doubts and the confrontations of the human being in its interior progress. This spectacle with this intense message is also a beautifull entertainment thanks to the influx of pictures and sounds presented during 2 hours. The orchestra temperately composed of Angelo, Mihail and Davide is volontary apart, situated at the left of the stage, seeing by the public but situating in the back to let place to the scenic pictures that follow each other and capture the spectator's eye.

The production has choosen to be temperate to let all its dimension to the evolution of the actors and ballerinas that follows each other with mastery on stage. The game of light enhances this visual intensity cleverly to the service of the message singing by the maestro, the atmosphere of every representation being as partially definite by the setting of the day. It’s about a roving spectacle that appropriates the atmosphere of the moment therefore the time of one evening. Whatever is the place, the applauses remain unchangeable, it seems that this original concept that can be a little risky in term of audience, is becoming a beautiful popular success in all parts of Italy visited by the artist.

© Elise Valere