Thirty tracks on the lineup. On stage the stars of Italian pop music: Angelina Mango, Gaia, Geolier, and Ste.
An encounter between past and present, between tradition and trend. The Night of Taranta is ready to celebrate its annual concert in Melpignano, in the province of Lecce, on the evening of Saturday, August 24. It will do so, as is customary for a few years now, with a lineup of stars from the national pop music scene who will blend their experience with the tradition of folk music. This edition, number 27, is dedicated, as explained by the concert master Shablo, “to that generation born after the concert has become a tradition. To those kids for whom our country struggles to offer opportunities and responsibilities.”
Lineup and artists
Thirty songs on the lineup, some of which are in Arbereshe, such as Lule Lule, which pays tribute to Giovanna Marini, a researcher of Italian folk music traditions. On stage will be some of the great protagonists of Italian pop music: Gaia, Angelina Mango, Geolier, and Ste. “As much as people speak poorly of the mainstream and summer hits,” said Shablo, “being number one in the charts and maintaining that position for a long time means there must be something to it. The summer hits, which very often are trivial or maybe sound similar, are not easy: all artists would like to make them, but very few succeed in having such great success. Having a name that has been in the charts for 11 weeks and wants to engage with folk music is a beautiful thing.”
The words of Gaia
So Gaia, who has been dominating national radio for almost three months with her Sesso e Samba in collaboration with Tony Effe, is ready to measure herself against the pizzica: “Beyond the superficial judgment that one might give to a song, I feel like saying that this song is bringing people together,” said the Amici winner, adding that she feels “a deep sense of responsibility towards the piece I must interpret.”
“A cultural asset to protect”
For Massimo Bray, president of the Notte della Taranta Foundation, “The Night of Taranta is a cultural asset and, as Article 9 of the Constitution tells us, we must know how to protect it because cultural assets have historical and identity value. Culture has a value that reaches everywhere and we would like to have a laboratory all year round to protect this tradition and give it a future perspective.”