"La Notte della Taranta" is the biggest festival in Italy and one of the most significant events about the popular culture in Europe. It takes place in Salento and it is dedicate to the re-discovery and the valorisation of the traditional music of Salento and its fusion with other musical languages, from the world music to rock, from jazz to the symphonic one.
Born in 1998 supported by Unione dei Comuni della Grecìa Salentina and "Diego Carpitella" Institute, in fifteen years the festival has experienced an extraordinary growth in terms of size, audience and cultural prestige. Its evolution counts different fundamental stages : in 2000 they created the “Festival Itinerante”, a selection of the most representative groups in the panorama of pizzica, that involves every year fifteen cities (the ones that are part of the Unione dei Comuni della Grecìa Salentina plus the cities of Lecce, Galatina, Alessano and Cursi) summoning thousands of people, representing a big journey towards the main Concertone; in 2004, with Ambrogio Sparagna, they created the Orchestra Popolare "La Notte della Taranta" a cultural evidence active throughout the year in our Country and all around the World; from 2010 the organization is curated by "La Notte della Taranta" Foundation.
The formula of the festival, that concludes with the final Concertone in Melpignano (Le) – gathering around 500 thousand people, even on the day before when artists rehearse- is an original and innovative one thanks to the presence of a Maestro Concertatore, invited to interpret the classic of the local traditional music together with a group of around 30 musicians among the best ones in Salento, and extraordinary guests from both national and international panorama.
Some of these Maestri Concertatori keep on working with the Orchestra Popolare even during other exhibitions both in Italy and abroad : Daniele Sepe (1998), Piero Milesi (1999 e 2001), Joe Zawinul (2000),Vittorio Cosma (2002), Stewart Copeland (2003), Ambrogio Sparagna (2004, 2005, 2006), Mauro Pagani (2007, 2008, 2009), Ludovico Einaudi (2010, 2011), Goran Bregovic (2012), Giovanni Sollima (2013, 2014), Phil Manzanera (2015), Carmen Consoli (2016), Raphael Gualazzi (2017), Andrea Mirò (2018), Fabio Mastrangelo (2019), Paolo Buonvino (2020), Enrico Melozzi e Madame (2021), Dardust (2022), Fiorella Mannoia (2023)..
Orchestra Popolare has hosted and has worked with great artists form the musical panorama in Italy and not : Luciano Ligabue, Giuliano Sangiorgi, Lucio Dalla, Francesco De Gregori, Gianna Nannini, Caparezza, Clementino, Vinicio Capossela, Fiorella Mannoia, Enzo Avitabile, Franco Battiato, Roberto Vecchioni, Massimo Ranieri, Emma, Alessandra Amoroso, Boomdabash, Nada, Tosca, Federico Poggipollini, Luciano Luisi, Antonella Ruggiero, Alessandro Mannarino, Max Gazzè, Niccolò Fabi, Alfio Antico, Sud Sound System, Vittorio Cosma, Simone Cristicchi, Eugenio Finardi, Après La Classe, Morgan, Ginevra Di Marco, Orchestra di Piazza Vittorio, Eva Quartet, Piero Brega, Radiodervish, Gavino Murgia, Mario Arcari, Peppe Servillo, Lucilla Galeazzi, Piero Pelù, Davide Van De Sfroos, Giovanna Marini, Giovanni Lindo Ferretti, Francesco Di Giacomo, Gianni Maroccolo, Raiz, Nabil Salameh, Enzo Gragnaniello, James Senese, Elisa, Gué Pequeno, Enzo Avitabile, Alessandro Quarta, Maurizio Colonna.
From overseas : Salif Keita, LP, Stewart Copeland, Tony Allen, Paul Simonon, Gregory Porter, Concha Buika, Suzanne Vega, Noa, Dulce Pontes, Bombino, Yael Dechelbaum, Jerry Leonard, Tim Ries, Pedrito Martinez, Lisa Fischer, Buena Vista Social Club, Andrea Echeverri, Anna Phoebe, Raúl Rodríguez, Roby Lakatos, Justin Adams & Juldeh Camara, Joji Hirota & The Taiko Drummers, Mercan Dede & Secret Tribe, Diego El Cigala, Ballaké Sissoko, Savina Yannatou, Mercan Dede, Les Tambours Du Burundi, Taraf De Haïdouks, Mira Awad, Z-Star, Angélique Kidjo, Richard Galliano, Badarà Seck, Dhoad Gypsies from Rajasthan.
La Notte della Taranta, with its touring shows, explores the news of pizzica in the music flow. It is a constant research of a new centre of energies. A primordial energy that organizes things and allows us to vibrate in symphony with the surrounding nature, giving pizzica a curative power to exorcise the damages of nowadays society. The centre of everything is the rhythm of the tambourine, a key rhythm essential to find ourselves. The centre to grasp the substance of music that means the readiness to start a research will never end.
Click on every year to see the history of the festival during the respective edition:
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
1998
The Festival
A particular date drawing a groove of a personal music path. Melpignano, a small city in Salento becomes a candidate to turn into a famous place, a crossroad for people and cultures. It is the right night to rediscover the sounds of tradition, on a unique stage musicians from all over Grecìa Salentina meet. So far, there isn’t any touring festival, the proposed formula is the one of spider web – concerts : the various popular music groups exhibit in various squares at the same time and then they will meet in Melpignano for the “night concert”.
Concertone
On Monday 24th August, a crowdie San Giorgio square in Melpignano hosts the first edition of the night concert and it turns out to be too small to hold the “taranta” people. The first concert shows up to its audience as a mixture of sounds from Salento, a happening of popular music. It is also a night of controversies between “purists” and “contaminants”.
Maestro concertatore and Orchestra
The “Night Concert" in Melpignano is lead by Daniele Sepe giving start to the event that with the passing of the time will turn into the most important popular music festival in Europe. The artistic directors are Maurizio Agamennone and Gianfranco Salvatore. The show is dedicated to Uccio Bandello, unforgotten singer who died the year before. The ensemble is composed by about thirty musicians : renowned founders and members of groups devoted to the research in the ethno music in Salento.
Guests
The historic groups of the traditional music in Salento are the protagonists on the stage in Melpignano. Canzoniere Grecanico, Avleddha, Arakne Mediterranea, Aia Noa, Asteria and Tamburellisti di Torrepaduli tells through the music the history of a territory hypnotizing San Giorgio square in the swing of a tambourine.
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1999
The Festival
The project starts to take shape in a defined and clear way. The successful experiment of 1998 supports the elaboration of a well-designed show and as a matter of fact many people consider this one the real first edition of "Notte della Taranta". During this edition the formula includes the simultaneous concerts all around the squares too and then the big concert in San Giorgio square in Melpignano. From the jam session they turn to the ensemble.
Concertone
The date is the same of the year before : 24th August. The last edition of the millennium doesn’t fall short of expectations, actually it is the pioneer for a path of successful events that will succeed all over the years. It is a lively night and animated by people playing tambourines and continuous coming and going down the streets of the small griko city.
Maestro concertatore and Orchestra
It is Piero Milesi leading and scanning the rhythm of the tambourine. Musician and refined arranger, appreciated and esteemed by International artists like Paul McCartney, he has had important partners like De Andrè, Fossati, Pagani. Maestro concertatore starts to lead the ensemble 15 days before the concert gets in Piazza San Giorgio and strengthens the orchestra with a pair of “external” artists.
Guests
During the first editions just local artists used to exhibit on the stage. Milesi has an intuition : exactly in 1999 he decides to point to the valorisation of local talents. He will arrange a Claudio "Cavallo" Giagnotti’s song, "Bendirì". This will be just the first in a long series of official consecration on artists from Salento.
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2000
The Festival
2000 is a turning point not only because "taranta" changes the location, but also because after the first two years the events turns into a festival. The Concertone takes place just after 11 stages, 11 concerts not anymore at the same time but scheduled about every day. Like a preparatory path towards the big final Concertone in Melpignano.
Concertone
2000 is the year of Joe Zawinul. San Giorgio square is too small to host the audience and for this reason they decide to choose a wider location, to face the what is turning into an authentic mega meeting.
Maestro concertatore and Orchestra
Joe Zawinul is one of the biggest jazz musician still living, he invented together with Miles Davis the electric jazz, he founded the Weather Report and the Zawinul Syndicate. The ensemble lead by the great artists is made of fifteen musicians.
Guests
The very new entry in this edition are the Puerto Rican percussionist Manolo Badrena ,the singer and bassist from Cameroon Richard Bona, the accordionist Lelo Nika. With them plays the drummer from Salento Maurizio Dei Lazzaretti. In this edition Ambrogio Sparagna the guest of one of the stages.
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2001
The Festival
It is the year of the unusual dialogues like the ones between the rhythms of tradition and the symphonic music. The experiment between ensemble and orchestra pushes La Notte della Taranta that expands “contaminating” new squares and new places. In the city of Lecce the pizzica inaugurates the 33rd lyric season of the province. And from the Baroque city the sounds of the tradition get until Gallipoli, on a stage set in the Harbour area.
Concertone
In 2001 popular and symphonic music meet each other. On the stage of Notte della Taranta there are also musicians from the Orchestra Sinfonica Ico Tito Schipa of Lecce, lead by maestro Carlo Palleschi. An armonic "composition" where ensemble and orchestra are a unique thing that ends with the exciting "pizzicone finale". The artistic directors Maurizio Agamennone and Gianfranco Salvatore work with a board of which Sergio Torsello is member too. Meanwhile the number of people participating at the event increases : there are 30 thousand people dancing on the meadow.
Maestro concertatore and Orchestra
Piero Milesi, repeats. For the second time he is part of an experiment completely different from the previous edition, in this one the real exciting struggle is mixing instinct and rigour.
Guest
It is not just the mix between popular and symphonic music, on the stage there is the meeting between Claudio Cavallo Giagnotti from Mascarimirì and the French group Dupain. Two different places, geographically distant but both located on the south of their country.
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2002
The Festival
Starting from Corigliano d' Otranto the Touring Festival, stage after stage gets to the long night concert in Melpignano. This edition is still linked to the tradition, but they start to make a little use of experimentation. News of the year : musicians from Salento compare with other colleagues to create new confronts and experimentations.
Concertone
The fifth edition of Notte della Taranta takes places in the name of peace. It is a taranta looking beyond the mere local borders, opening to Europe, communicating through media, telling the emotions of a personal path started in 1998. In 2002 50thousand people gather at ex Convento degli Agostiniani : La Notte della Taranta is turning into an unmissable event, able to attract the audience.
Il maestro concertatore and Orchestra
For the third year there is Piero Milesi taking part in the event, but now, as an artistic director. Maestro concertatore is Vittorio Cosma, a musician born in Naples, linked to the scene of Milan but with origins from Salento. This is a “global” pizzica with excellent collaborations, among which the Pfm. Cosma curates the arrangements in details, mixing tribal rhythms to Latin movements. The ensemble in this case includes four Neapolitan musicians from Solis String Quartet.
Guests
This is another important year for Notte della Taranta. Noa is the first of the numerous super guests that will participate at the event contributing to its success. Refined voice, able to touch the most intimate emotions, the Israeli singer gives a peace message through music for the Middle East. An important moment is represented by a tradition of father and son singing together : Daniele Durante with his son Mauro and Roberto Licci with Emanuele.
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2003
The Festival
The sixth edition of Notte della Taranta can be considered one of the most enthusiastic one : it is the very first time that taranta projects towards prestigious stages in Italy and Europe. Starting from Corigliano d' Otranto the Touring Festival, stage after stage gets to the concertone in Melpignano and passes through other cities in Grecìa Salentina. 11 stages totally to animate once again the audience in the heart of Grecìa. Sergio Torsello cooperates with Vittorio Cosma : it is the first time that a Salento inhabitant works as artistic director
Concertone
This edition too is inaugurated by Uccio Aloisi, a cantor from Salento. On 17th August at night in Melpignano a big popular festival takes place. More than 50thousand people enjoy the most awaited event of summer in Salento, accompanied by the musical “visions” of Stewart Copeland. It is a rock night where the ensemble speaks with a representative of the world music.
Maestro concertatore and Orchestra
Stewart Copeland, the very famous drummer of Police arrives in Melpignano and accepts with a great enthusiasm the invitation to lead the ensemble of La Notte della Taranta : he is unstoppable and almost overwhelmed by the rhythm of taranta.
Guests
The guests of concertone are both from Naples : Raiz and Teresa De Sio. But this is the year in which Ambrogio Sparagna and Giovanni Lindo Ferretti, submit their project "Attarantata, tradizione e tradimento".
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2004
The Festival
Starting again from Corigliano, the festival gather actually thousands of tourists. Among the initiatives there is also an exhibition of musical instruments in Martignano, another one "Artisti per la pace" at Castello di Corigliano and a dancing stage from Salento “Estadanza”. In Melpignano, the exhibition "La luna nelle parole della nostra terra", shows artworks of paintings and sculptures in cooperation with the city of Lecce.
Concertone
It is the baptism of fire for the Orchestra popolare born with Ambrogio Sparagna. More than 60 musicians from Salento exhibit on the stage of concertone. An impactful performance that contributes to turn the event into a majestic show and the participants are almost 100 thousands.
Maestro concertatore and Orchestra
In 2004 the ethno musicologist Sparagna is the maestro concertatore of Notte della Taranta, accompanied by Giovanni Lindo Ferretti, a whimsical disconcerting maestro –like he defines himself-. The Orchestra is composed by a rich section of organs, accompanied by tamboourines, tenor mandola, mandolin, mandoncel, acoustic guitar, guitar, zampogna, gironda, woodwind, flute, accordon, electric bass, double bass, drum, percussions, in addition to prestigious voices of the Orchestra.
Guests
This edition has two important guests for the final Concertone of La Notte della Taranta. The rock singer Gianna Nannini who is at ease even singing the dialect song "Fimmine". Her interpretation fascinates the audience. On the stage also the singer songwriter Franco Battiato who sings one of the most famous songs in the Salento tradition, "Quannu te llai la facce” turning it into a poem”.
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2005
The Festival
A rich and variegated musical path that pass across the Peninsula with a new stage : Galatina. The involved groups are 35 starting, as per tradition, from Corigliano, passing through Zollino, Martignano, Soleto until Calimera. And then Martano, Cutrofiano, Cursi, Sternatia e Carpignano. Las date in Castrignano.
Concertone
Pizzica joins Italy mixing, on the stage, different languages coming from different and faraway traditions, but with a lot of common elements both form a social and musical point of view. It is a unique great show where popular music meets Italian song writing, the hendecasyllables of Divina Commedia meet those of pizzica, singers next to cantors.
Maestro concertatore and Orchestra
Pizzica joins Italy mixing, on the stage, different languages coming from different and faraway traditions, but with a lot of common elements both form a social and musical point of view. It is a unique great show where popular music meets Italian song writing, the hendecasyllables of Divina Commedia meet those of pizzica, singers next to cantors.
Guests
Francesco De Gregori and Piero Pelù charm the audience leaving it breathless. Giovanna Marini, symbol of the social singing, reminds Matteo Salvatore a famous Apulian cantor singing “Padrone mio” instead of the scheduled song.
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2006
The Festival
The Touring festival of 2006 occurs from 11th to 26th August; some groups alternate on the touring stages and thousands of spectators. All the concerts are introduced in this edition by “Il pasto della tarantola”.
Concertone
The Concertone opens on the touching and involving notes of "Sia benedettu ci fice lu mundu". The thousands people in the square dance at the rhythm of Kalinifta and "Pizzicarella".
Maestro concertatore and Orchestra
For the last time on the stage in Melpignano there is Ambrogio Sparagna, that conclude his Notte della Taranta with a personal homage to the "word", to highlight its extraordinary thaumaturgic power, the word is a bridge between past and present.
Guests
Prestigious names animate the night in Melpignano : Lucio Dalla, accompanied by the musician from Taranto Graziano Galatone, and the singer Lucilla Galeazzi, very appreciated in her interpretation of “Ferma Zitella” and in the homage to Rina Durante. Among the other guests of this edition there is also Carmen Consolo singing together with a talented voice from Salento : Alessia Tondo. A lot of liveliness in the meeting between the musicians from Salento and the group "Buena Vista Social Club".
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2007
The Festival
During this year Andrano and Otranto are included in the stages of the Touring festival. Is a multicultural taranta looking to the Mediterranean sea.
Concertone
It is a concert that unifies and includes in a perfect harmony the Turkish and Balkan rhythms, and abviously the ones from Salento. The competent work of Mauro Pagani "contaminates" and adds new paths to the extraordinary experience of taranta.
Maestro concertatore and Orchestra
It is exactly Mauro Pagani the maestro concertatore of the edition of 2007. Considered one of the best musicians in the world he decides to invest in the project mixing the Salento culture with the ones of other Mediterranean countries. There is a strong presence of violins in the orchestra and the opening of the events is entrusted to the musicians of Villa Castelli and the Cantori di Carpino.
Guests
Massimo Ranieri is one of the super guests of this edition, then one of the most famous band from Salento that in a few years has had a great success all around Italy and verseas : Negramaro. Giuliano Sangiorgi, plays at home. The feminine voice is Ginevra Di Marco (ex Csi) and the vent concludes with the rock exhibition of Morgan, ex Bluvertigo.
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2008
The Festival
A rich event scheduling combined with concerts and cultural events from 7th to 21st August : "I luoghi nei canti della Taranta" an exhibition of paintings, sculptures and photography; the presentation of “La tarantola spagnola Empirismo e tradizione nel XVIII secolo” a Pilar Leon Sanz’s book; the international round table “Urbano e rurale , il doppio binario della musica di tradizione"; the concert-recital "Qui, se mai verrai... Il Salento dei poeti".
Maestro concertatore and Orchestra
It is Mauro Pagani’s 2nd year as Maestro Concertatore. His design is clear : he wants to represent the Apulia culture not just to celebrate and evaluate the memory of Grecìa Salentina, but mainly to give love and attention to the variety of typical expressions characterising this territory.
Concertone
Concertone opens with an emotional homage to Pino Zimba, an unforgettable maestro of the best Apulia tradition, who died before his time. Griko and “pizzica tarantata” are the real protagonists, but the audience can appreciate songs from the tradition and contemporary productions like reggae and ska music too.
Guests
Aprés la Classe, Sud Sound System, Caparezza, Radio Dervish. A multitude of Apulia artists who have widespread their own sounds and identity abroad. With them the incredible voice of Rokia Traorè singer and guitar player coming from Mali, who mixes the traditional music of her native territory with influences going from pop to jazz, accompanied by Richard Galliano’s accordion, Astor Piazzolla’s natural successor.
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2009
The Festival
The festival starts on 7th August from Corigliano d’Otranto and, after touring through Grecìa Salentina, it ends on 22nd August in Melpignano. During the fourteen stages, the best groups playing traditional music perform on the stage.
There are different initiatives linked to this edition of the festival. In Galatina, for example, an exhibition about painting takes place at Museo Cavoti, curate by Associazione Boy's sport, arte e cultura. In the same city on 19th August, there is the presentation of "Il tarantolismo nella superstizione e nella scienza” a book from Francesco De Raho. In addition to this, on 22nd August takes place "Da qui tutto è lontano", readings by Pieluigi Mele..
Maestro Concertatore
For the third consecutive time Mauro Pagani is the Maestro Concertatore of Notte della Taranta. His project is once again a journey in the principles of multiculturalism. The prevalent element in the orchestra are violins recalling sounds of the world, accompanied by the hypnotising and exciting sound of a tambourine that sets Melpignano on fire.
Concertone and Guests
During this edition there are exceptional guests, coming from afar to homage the music of Salento : the Israeli Noa performs with the Palestinian Mira Awad, creating a duet of rare beauty and deep ethic and artistic value; Angelique Kidjo, a singer from Benin and Zstar, an artist from Trinidad; a Salento artist as well, Alessandra Amoroso.
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2010
The Festival
The festival starts on 13th August and goes on until 28th. On 21st August, in the unique stage on the South part of Salento, Alessano, the ensemble live records its first album. Piero Milesi’s poethic moments, Stewart Copeland and Vittorio Cosma’s rhythmic explosions, Ambrogio Sparagna’s typically popular sounds and Mauro Pagani’s world sonorities are synthesised during the emotional exhibition and recorded.
Maestro Concertatore
It is the first year of Ludovico Einaudi, a maestro that during his lifetime has been performing in different prestigious theatres, among those La Scala in Milan, the Barbican in London, the Philarmonic Hall in Liverpool.
Concertone and Guests
The festival hosts numerous guests : Savina Yannatou, Mercan Dede, Les Tambours du Burundi, the Sud Sound System, Ballakè Sissoko, are some of the artists arrived in Salento, Grecìa Salentina,in order to create innovative ways and have universal dialogues. It is the popular Salento music the hyphen between musical experiences and different textures, able to give the audience –more than hundred thousand people- a unique show.
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2011
The Festival
Thursday 11th August, as per tradition Corigliano d’Otranto is the starting stage for the touring festival. During some of the stages of the event they propose special projects, the result of collaborations between historical groups of the popular music scene of Salento and artists coming from all over the world. Among them the Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino with Ballakè Sissoko, Justin Adams & Judeh Camara with Salentorkestra, Mercan dede & Secret Tribe and Officina Zoè, The Chieftains and Antonio Castrignanò.
Maestro Concertatore
Ludovico Einaudi is Maestro Concertatore of "La Notte della Taranta" in 2011 too. Arrived at its 14th edition, this year the final Concertone is dedicated to the memory of the great Uccio Aloisi.
Concertone and Guests
The special guests of this edition, working together with the Orchestra of "La Notte della Taranta", are intended to reinterpret the traditional song of Salento popular music. Among those : Chieftains, ambassador of the Irish music in the world; Justin Adams , blues guitar player with a great experience; Joji Hirota, a composer mainly famous as taiko maestro, the typical Japanese drum, accompanied by the percussionist group Taiko Drummers; Diego El Cigala from Madrid; Ballaké Sissoko from Mali; Mercan Dede a multi-instrumentalist and dj from Turkey together with Secret Tribe, a group of percussionists, in addition to Salento Sud Sound System.
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2012
The Festival
The edition of 2012 celebrates the 15 years of Notte della Taranta confirming, once again, its international soul even preserving its own Salento roots. From 7th to 22nd August, taranta puts its rituals on stage, enchanting the audience with a traditional soundtrack able to renovate as well.
Concertone
More than an ethnic event Concertone is a global festival, where stringed instruments from Apulia tradition live together with marching bands from Balkans. It is the first time Concertone hosts 150 thousand people crowding the square in front of ex Convento degli Agostiniani from sunset to dawn.
Maestro concertatore and Orchestra
Goran Bregovic is the new Maestro Concertatore. His idea is that taranta links all the shores of the Adriatic sea creating a universal languages without any border. Mixing the sounds of his orchestra per Matrimoni e Funerali with the Orchestra of Notte della Taranta, he creates a perfect symbiosis between pizzica tambourines and Balkan brass instruments : tradition and music contamination.
Guests
Banda Musicale di Racale ans some guests coming from the other side of the Adriatic sea. There are two brass bands coming from ex Jugoslavia : the Tonci Hulic e Madre Badessa Band, from Croatia, and the Nenad Mladenovich Orchestra, from Serbia. On the stage the Coro delle Mondine di Novi performs too, theirs are sounds from an ancient rural society telling tales about joy and revolution.
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2013
The festival
Like every year the touring festival starts from Corigliano d’Otranto and, passing through 15 stages, allows the most representatives groups in the field of the popular Salento music to perform. For the first time in 2013 the audience enjoys Salento artists together with artists from the National and International panorama. During the stage in Lecce, the ensemble of "La Notte della Taranta" performs with Marina Rei. Among a lot of innovations a very interesting one is "Il Cibo della Taranta" created aiming to evaluate the enogastronomic excellences from Salento. "Maestro Concertatore" in this food festival is the chef from Eataly Antonio Bufi, with his "polpo.ficodindia".
Maestro concertatore and Orchestra
It is the debut of Sollima : The cellist links the hypnotising sound of tambourines to the fine sound of string instruments. The Orchestra Popolare of "La Notte della Taranta" for the first time wears Melting'Pot clothes. All the musicians wear a yellow band too, a symbol that reminds the "zagareddhra", a ribbon people who have been beaten by tarantula used to wear while dancing to free from the spider poison.
Guests
Niccolò Fabi, Max Gazzè, Eugenio Bennato and the Emma Marrone perform with the Orchestra, the dancer Alfio Antico and Miguel Angel Berna and Roby Lakatos, entertaining an audience of 150 thousand people reinterpreting the traditional Salento repertoire and mixing it with contemporary contaminations.
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2014
The festival
There is an important change : the Touring festival is enriched with 28 “special projects”, the result of collaborations between traditional groups and artists from all over the world. A lot of foreigner artists comes to Salento, from Mongolia, Turkey, India : Hevia, an Asturian bag pipe player, Nour Eddine and Nassouli El Mehdi; Italian artists too like Enzo Avitabile, Peppe Servillo, Tony Esposito, Riccardo Tesi.
Concertone
The Orchestra Popolare La Notte della Taranta is lead for the second consecutive year by the Maestro Concertatore Giovanni Sollima. For the first time there is a corps de ballet directed by the coreographer Miguel Angel Berna and it is also the first time the event is broadcast on Rai 5. It will be the last edition for the artistic director Sergio Torsello, who died before his time in April 2015.
Guests
Bombino, the roc nomad gets to “La Notte della Taranta”, intended to interpret “Lu Rusciu de lu mare”, one of the most famous songs in Salento tradition. Among the other guests the american percussionist Glen Velez, winner of a prestigious Grammy Award, the american singer Lori Cotler and the mandolino player Avi Avital. On 23rd August in Melpignano some Italian famous artist too : Roberto Vecchioni, Antonella Ruggiero, Mannarino and Mancuso brothers.
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2015
The festival
It is the first time they introduce the “castello” section : starting from Corigliano d’Otranto and ending in Martano these stages have a natural scenery, the castles of the cities throughout Grecìa salentina. The material and immaterial culture is used to give something innovative to the audience.
Concertone
An international cast directed by maestro Phil Manzanera, mythical guitar player of Roxy Music who brings a fusion between pizzica and rock on the stage in Melpignano. 220thousand people : it is a record breaking edition. For the first time 80 thousand people attend the dress rehearsal.
Guests
Paul Simonon, the bass player of The Clash, Tony Allen, a drummer from Nigeria among the founders of afrobeat, Andrea Echeverri, guitarist and leader of the Colombian band Los Aterciopelados, Anna Phoebe violinist from London of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra and Raoul Rodriguez. There is Ligabue too: 220thousand people clap for his interpretation of “NDO NDO NDO” and “BELLA CI DORMI”. On 10th of November 2015 they publish “VIVA LA TARANTA”, the CD produced by Warner Music Italia.
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2016
The festival
This edition turns pink, de facto the theme is "La Taranta is female" and all guests are women.
Concertone
An International cast directed for the first time by a female Maestro Concertatore, the Sicilian singer - songwriter Carmen Consoli
Guests
Fiorella Mannoia, the Afro-Spanish Buika, the ex vocalist of Rolling Stones Lisa Fischer, Nada and Tosca. These are the five women hosted by the final concertone of Notte della Taranta on the 27th August in Melpignano. They reinterpret the pizzica repertory, performing for 220 thousand people and giving their audience a unique and overwhelming exhibition.
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2017
The festival
The theme of the XX edition of the festival is “Peace”. The pizzica turns into a peace messenger among people : on the stage in Melpignano they gather sounds of the world, songs of protest, of work and of love, and build a bridge of dialogues between people.
Concertone
An International cast directed by Maestro Concertatore Raphael Gualazzi
Guests
Suzanne Vega, Yael Deckelbaum, Tim Ries, Pedrito Martinez, Gerry Leonard, David Bowie’s guitarist, some the guets at Notte della Taranta.
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2018
The festival
The theme of the XXI edition of the festival is the “landscape”. The place of taranta with its historic stratifications, the cultural traditions, the artistic cultural heritage, it is a resource we have to protect and safeguard through knowledge, awareness and valorisation.
Concertone
An International cast directed by Maestro Concertatore Andrea Mirò.
Guests
Ylian Canizares, Dhoad Gypsy of Rajasthan, Clementino, James Senese, Enzo Gragnaniello, Aprèes la Classe, Antonio Castrignanò. The international special guest of the XXI edition of Notte della Taranta is LP.
Coreographer : Max Volpini.
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2019
The festival
It is the popular Italian culture the real protagonist of the XXII edition of Notte della Taranta festival that takes place between 3rd and 24th August : 20 night to live the old centre of the cities throughout Salento peninsula in a journey to discover the deep, branched out and extraordinary cultural heritage from Sicily, Sardinia, Abruzzi, Umbria, Emilia Romagna, Lazio, Campania, Calabria, Liguria, Trentino Alto Adige, Basilicata, Tuscany, the Marche and Puglia.
Concertone
An International cast directed by Maestro Concertatore Fabio Mastrangelo.
Guests
Enzo Avitabile, Maurizio Colonna, Alessandro Quarta. The International guest of the XXII edition of Notte della Taranta is Salif Keita.
Coreographer : Davide Bombana.
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2020
Due to the Covid-19 emergency, the Concertone was held behind closed doors and broadcast on TV on RAI2 on 28 August.
The Festival
The 2020 Festival is canceled on the eve of departure due to the increase in infections from Covid 19 in the affected municipalities.
Concertone
Italian cast directed by Maestro Concertatore Paolo Buonvino.
Guests
Jovanotti, Gianna Nannini, Diodato, Mahmood.
Choreographer: Sharon Eyal.
