CONCERTONE
NOTTE DELLA TARANTA
THE TARANTA GENERATION CONQUERS THE AUDIENCE
The Taranta Generation conquers the audience of the most awaited Night of the Italian summer.
It touches 1 million viewers “La Notte della Taranta”: the concert broadcast in prime time on Rai 3 scores 9.01% share in the first part and 10.09% in the second.
Extraordinary success in the square. According to the data provided by Questura and Fire Department, 100 thousand people were present in continuous flow in the concert area and 150 thousand total from 17:00 to 05:00 in the entire grico village where the big screens had been set up.
A figure confirmed by the BusForFun company that managed the parking areas: + 89% bookings for buses, + 34% bookings for cars.
In Melpignano in Salento last night, the extraordinary work of fusion between the sounds of the Salento folk tradition and the urban/pop language of contemporary music was staged. A challenge for the maestro concertatore Shablo who chose the very young Riccardo Zangirolami to conduct the Popular Orchestra. A constant dialogue also recalled by the images proposed by Galattico with the violinist from Nardò Luigi Stifani, Giovanna Marini and Tora Marzo, the dances of Kameatka, the cosmic liturgy between sea waves and red sunsets, dazzling setting of a sound path that began with the powerful Pizzica di Aradeo that in the verses announces the journey: “lu tamburrieddhu miu vinne te Roma me l'ave nduttu na napulitana” (my tambourine came from Rome and a Neapolitan woman brought it to me).
It is the voices of Antonio Amato, Giancarlo Paglialunga, Salvatore Galeanda, Enza Pagliara, Stefania Morciano, Alessandra Caiulo and Consuelo Alfieri that weave a great web of emotions with interpretations of Tarantella di San Nicandro, Pizzica di San Marzano, Taranta di Lizzano, Pizzica di San Vito, Pizzica di Villa Castelli, Pizzicarella, L'acqua te la funtana, Pizzica di Taranto, Pizzica di Stifani, Mamma la rondinella, Pizzica degli Ucci. Three songs in Grico: Calinitta-Buona Notte, Klama and Pizzica di Cosimino. Three songs in arbëreshë: Manusaqja, Ec Ec, Lule Lule. Unmissable Lu Ruciu de lu mare and Aria Caddhipulina that makes the square explode in a jubilation of hands and tambourines in the air that cancel any digital presence. And it is the sound architecture of traditional songs that captures in the large canvas the guests of this edition with the overwhelming Angelina Mango who interprets Su Picculina in Salento dialect and brings to the Melpignano stage the determination of the Taranta generation. A sentiment shared with Gaia who takes the square by storm with Mena Mena Mò. And after two days of rehearsals, the talented young women of Italian music dance led by choreographer Laccio immersing themselves in complex paintings with bold colors.
He enchants Ste with Tammurriata Nera, which introduces Shablo's ability to mix sounds and musical stories by listening to Lose Control before giving Taranta di Lizzano and Fuecu with Luca Faraone's unmistakable flair. There is still that “tambourine that came from Rome and was sold by a Neapolitan woman” when Geolier enters the stage and mixes another language into the canvas, the Neapolitan one. From the stage he glimpses the large flag of Napoli waving in the audience along with the flag of Lecce, sealing an all-Southern understanding of feeling and pride in roots that crosses all borders. The works of international artist Emilio Isgrò with his Cancellature are precious cover of the visual tale. Three large papier-mâché spiders illuminate the scene that becomes a network of lights under the direction of director of photography Marco Lucarelli.
Three hours of intense sound for the musicians of the Popular Orchestra, who after 27 years give the audience a kaleidoscope of traditional instruments capable of dialoguing with all the languages of modern music. Three hours of connection between pizzica and urban movements also in dance and costumes that give harmonic visual narratives.
The live Rai broadcast conducted by Ema Stokholma brings the image of the folk festival into the homes of Italians from the square of the Ex Convento degli Agostiniani.
There is amazement in the parterre of guests when the images of the square arrive on the big screens. Director Stefano Mignucci airs sequences recorded by two special drones that capture the huge influx of people: there are the president of the Apulia Region Michele Emiliano together with the president of the La Notte della Taranta Foundation Massimo Bray, the Honorable Antonio De Caro president of the European Parliament's environment committee, the mayor of Rome Roberto Gualtieri and for the first time the mayor of Lecce Adriana Poli Bortone, as well as councillors for Culture of the Puglia Region Viviana Metrangola, economic development Alessandro Delli Noci, education Sebastiano Leo, Pugliapromozione director Luca Scandale, Enit president Ivana Jelinic, men's national volleyball team coach Fefè De Giorgi, physics professor and social phenomenon Vincenzo Schettini.
The organization and reception of the disabled at the La Notte della Taranta Concert was excellent. This was certified by Federconsumatori Lecce, which monitored the area designated for the accessibility of the differently abled throughout the concert in Melpignano (LE).
“Through direct contact with guests we verified that the service offered by Abil Festa Coopertiva sociale L'Integrazione was perfectly responsive to the demand of families, explains provincial president Mario Lorubio. The users expressed appreciation for the areas granted and the quality of the organization of the spaces. Excellent is the final judgment.”
Accessibility to the place of popular culture has over the years become a primary goal for the La Notte della Taranta Foundation. To meet this major challenge, it was necessary to think of accessibility not as a condition, but as a process, which involved the physical structure of a suitable site within the concert area, communication, motivation, and full trust in the L'Integrazione Cooperative. It was a gradual but continuous journey through a multidisciplinary dialogue that highlighted the terms of the complexity of the functioning of needs in the search for physical, cognitive, perceptual and technological solutions that protected and enhanced the peculiarities of each user.
Users with disabilities booked the service through the interactive platform offered by the Foundation's official website www.lanottedellataranta.it.
FOLK ORCHESTRA THE NIGHT OF THE TARANTA
IN SAN CATALDO
Aug. 27
8 P.M. PIZZICA WORKSHOPS
FRIGOLE
TORRE RINALDA
TORRE CHIANCA
SPIAGGIA BELLA
9:30 P.M. POPULAR ORCHESTRA
AT SAN CATALDO WATERFRONT
After the great success on the eve of mid-August, La Notte della Taranta, returns to Lecce, in the marina of San Cataldo, on the occasion of the celebrations for the patron Saint Oronzo promoted by the municipality of Lecce. Final evening of the five-day celebration, on the sea that will be the sound and visual backdrop to the ancestral rhythms of our land, the pizzica. Overwhelming music and dance, not only on stage. To raise awareness of the ethnomusical origins and guide the spectators, in dance step, pizzica workshops will be held starting at 8 p.m. by the dance troupe of the Notte della Taranta: in Frigole with Veronica Mele and Sarah Montedoro, in Torre Rinalda, Piazzale via Roma with Mina Vita and
Simone Vetrugno in Torre Chianca, Piazza dei Lillà with Valeria Guerrieri and Veronica Calati, and in Spiaggia Bella, Piazzale via Portofino with Silvia Ciardo and Francesco Tauro. Simultaneously, therefore, all of Lecce's marinas involved in the pizzica- pizzica workshop to discover the choreographic movements that accompany the traditional music of this land.
At 9:30 p.m., instead, on the San Cataldo waterfront, the big show kicks off with the Concert of the Popular Orchestra of La Notte della Taranta. A journey into the sounds of this land, two days after the Concertone di Melpignano, 27th edition that recorded a record attendance with artists between resident Orchestra and Guests that inflamed the audience of 200,000.
In San Cataldo, for L'Orchestra La Notte della Taranta the musicians will rise:
Giuseppe Astore, Nico Berardi, Roberto Chiga, Alessandro Chiga, Leonardo Cordella, Carlo De Pascali, Mario Esposito, Roberto Gemma, Giuseppe Grassi, Gianluca Longo, Antonio Marra, Alessandro Monteduro, Attilio Turrisi. Vocals: Consuelo Alfieri, Antonio Amato, Salvatore Galeanda, Ninfa Giannuzzi, Stefania Morciano, Enza Pagliara.
On dance: Mihaela Coluccia, Serena Pellegrino, Cristina Frassanito, Lucia Scarabino, Andrea Caracuta, Mattia Carlucci.
During the evening, some associations operating in the area (Confimprese demaniali Italia and Società Salvamento Genova section of Lecce) will present awards to private and institutional operators in Salento who have carried out life-saving activities this summer season; in addition, the Lecce Lido San Cataldo community will present an award to the police organs that did their best to extinguish the vast fire that affected precisely the San Cataldo marina this year.
243 people with disabilities were accommodated in the dedicated area on the two dates of the final event of the Notte della Taranta, August 23 (general rehearsal) and August 24, the evening of the Concertone. The people were accompanied by Abilfesta volunteers from the parking lots to the concert area along with their companions and were able to a range of services arranged for them to experience the concert in maximum serenity and safety:
- Event info point
- Dedicated info line and reservation service;
- Dedicated care service with OSS, educators and a psychologist;
- Reserved event area;
- Reserved parking area near the event area;
- Rental of mobility devices such as wheelchairs;
- Reserved disabled toilet access;
- Noise-canceling headphones rental;
- Facilitated mobility with equipped electric vehicle.
There was also Lis interpreter for the event presentation who improvised some Salento songs in sign language People with deafness were given balloons to help them feel the vibrations produced by the music.
Aug. 24 IN MELPIGNANO
THE 27TH EDITION OF
THE NIGHT OF THE TARANTA
THE CONCERTONE DIRECTED BY
MAESTRO SHABLO
celebrating the popular culture of Salento
ON STAGE.
ANGELINA MANGO - GEOLIER
GAIA - STE
LUCA FARAONE
and the celebrated folk voices
ANTONIO AMATO- GIANCARLO PAGLIALUNGA- SALVATORE GALEANDA
ENZA PAGLIARA - STEFANIA MORCIANO
CONSUELO ALFIERI - ALESSANDRA CAIULO
accompanied by
FOLK ORCHESTRA NOTTE DELLA TARANTA
conducted by Maestro RICCARDO ZANGIROLAMI
CONDUCTS LIVE RAI
EMA STOKHOLMA
Italy's most anticipated summer event is back: La Notte della Taranta scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 24, in Melpignano, Salento. The Concert that celebrates Salento's pizzica and popular culture will be directed by maestro SHABLO.
Theme of the 2024 edition: taranta generation, all the young people who have come to know Taranta through the collective ritual born in Salento's Grecìa region in 1998.
Big names from the Italian and international music scene will take the stage at the Notte della Taranta, interpreting songs of love, protest and work revisited in a contemporary key by Shablo's urban arrangements and performed by the Popular Orchestra directed by maestro Riccardo Zangirolami.
This is the line-up: ANGELINA MANGO, GEOLIER, GAIA, STE, LUCA FARAONE.
The Concertone will be broadcast live by RAI 3 and simulcast by RADIO 2 RAI.
EMA STOKHOLMA will conduct the event.
The Melpignano Concertone is a cultural project of the Fondazione La Notte della Taranta supported by the Puglia Region and Pugliapromozione in collaboration with Unione dei Comuni della Grecìa salentina and Istituto Diego Carpitella.
Three hours of incessant rhythm with 30 traditional songs in a real journey from the tarantella of Gargano to the pizzica of Salento. The Concertone will be opened by a powerful Pizzica from Aradeo, which in its verses contains the journey of the tambourine: “lu tamburrieddhu miu vinne de Roma me l'ha cattatu na napulitana me dice cu lu cantu e cu lu sonu ca quando vene iddra lu pagamu” (my tambourine comes from Rome, a Neapolitan woman brought it, she tells me to sing and play that when he comes we will pay for it). The audience's favorite hits are inevitable: Acqua de la funtana, Pizzicarella, Lu rusciu de lu mare, Aria caddhipulina. Great space was given to minority languages, Grico with the lyrics Klama, Pizzica di Cosimino and Calinitta and in arbëreshë Ec Ec, Lule Lule and for the first time performed on the Taranta stage Manushaqe. A path of research that began with listening to field recordings by Alan Lomax, Ernesto De Martino and Diego Carpitella and continued in five rehearsal sessions where maestro Shablo chose which songs to present in the 2024 edition. Among the choices is the song Malachianta, which Shablo mixed with Argentine tango sounds in homage to the land that welcomed his family of Italian emigrants. 12 choreographies built by Laccio with “the contamination of languages between contemporary and pizzica that in some of these performances will be pure and traditional. We tried to create different and original energies, and on Malachianta the contamination is exciting.”
LINE UP
Opening the Concertone will be a chorale on Pizzica di Aradeo and for the first time performed on the Melpignano stage the traditional Tarantella di Sannicandro with Giancarlo Paglialunga. Space is given to an unprecedented Manushaqe in arbëreshë performed by Salvatore Galeanda. This is followed by an overwhelming Pizzica di Copertino entrusted to the female voices of the Popular Orchestra All Women. On Pizzica di San Marzano di San Giuseppe interpreted by Enza Pagliara, conductor Riccardo Zangirolami explained that he discovered with enormous amazement that Sergei Vasil'evic Rachmaninov's Suite No. 2 was inspired by the very popular piece. The first guest on the lineup on the Melpignano (LE) stage will be Angelina Mango, who will perform Su Picculina in perfect Salento dialect and give the audience an all-new version of the famous song La Noia signed by two former concertmasters Dardust and Madame.An overwhelming Pizzica di San Vito performed by all the voices of the Taranta opens the sequence of hits in the history of the Concertone: Lu Ruciu de lu mare with Antonio Amato, Pizzica di Villa Castelli with Alessandra Caiulo, Pizzica degli Ucci with the three male voices of the Galeanda Orchestra, Amato and Paglialunga, the very danceable Pizzicarella with Stefania Morciano, Acqua de la Funtana with Consuelo Alfieri. The second guest to embrace the Melpignano audience will be Geolier with the pizzicato version of I pì me, tu p' te and a medley with Shablo by Grazia/M Manc. It continues with Klama singing in Grico sung by Alessandra Caiulo. Journeying between Argentine tango, Shablo's homage to his homeland, and Salento is Malachianta. It will be the powerful Pizzica of Taranto interpreted by Salvatore Galeanda to open the third part of the Concertone that will host Gaia engaged in a ballad performance on Mena Mena Mò followed by her hit Chega in Portuguese. Antonio Amato returns to set the square on fire with the highly anticipated Aria Caddhipulina welcoming the fourth guest of the evening STE: with his powerful voice he will intone Tammurriata Nera to introduce the new track released today Lose Control. The second song in arbereshe is Lule Lule performed by Enza Pagliara who will then pay tribute to Giovanna Marini.
It continues toward the finale with Mamma la rondinella sung by Cosuelo Alfieri, Pizzica di Cosimino with Giancarlo Pagliualunga, Ec third song in arbereshe with Stefania Morciano. Precious gems those that guitarist and author Luca Faraone will give the songs Taranta di Lizzano and Fuecu.It will close as per tradition the Melpignano Concertone, the audience-participated farewell hymn Calinitta-Buona Notte.
Opening the press conference presenting the 2024 Concertone was La Notte della Taranta Foundation President Massimo Bray: “This event is a cultural asset, and when I speak of cultural asset, I refer to Article 9 of the Constitution, which tells us how we must deal with cultural assets: by protecting them, enhancing them and exalting their enormous identity value.This is the sense of belonging.Culture has a value that reaches everywhere, and we would like a year-round workshop to protect this tradition and give it a future perspective.”A Concertone that promises maestro concertmaster Shablo will be formidable: “I can't wait to let you hear what we've done, it will be essential to have fun in that square.There will be a lot of me in this Taranta No. 27, from my Latin American origins to the musical experiences I have gained throughout my professional life.
There will be a mixing of cultures. Culture is not something intangible, something courtly, culture acquires a lot from everyday life, from people's experiences.
And art is the ultimate expression of culture. A three-hour concert as it happens here in Salento is an extraordinarily unprecedented experience, it happens at most only in opera, not in a pop concert.It is a collective ritual.”The scenography of the Concertone will be enriched by the works of Emilio Isgrò, who in connection from Sicily said, “Juxtaposing an experience such as mine with such a well-connected event could have been a risk.Because the word popular should be used with great caution.And culture must make a spectacle of itself, reversing the concept a bit.To erase, therefore in this case means to continually test ourselves.
As the Notte della Taranta is doing.” The future of the Notte della Taranta will be training and research. This was reiterated by Sandro Cappelletto artistic consultant of the La Notte della Taranta Foundation “in 2025 we will celebrate the 60th anniversary of Ernesto De Martino's death. La Notte della Taranta returns live on Rai but changes network. In 2019 on Rai 2 in 2024 on Rai 3 and simulcast on Radio 2 Rai.”
“This is an operation of extraordinary power, not a static stage, but a bridge that unites cultures, cancels distances. It is a great fusion work that we will bring live on Rai3,” stressed Giovanni Anversa deputy entertainment director Prime Time. An operation made possible thanks to the collaboration between Rai Com and Pugliapromozione: “A great job has been done and is being done in Salento. About 20 years ago, when we came from Bari and Lecce and went to Europe, we had to tell about our region, to make people understand where it was located.
Taranta managed before others to place the map of our region,” pointed out Luca Scandale Director of the regional tourism agency Pugliapromozione.
12 choreographies will give vibrant narrative pictures with the coordination of choreographer Laccio: “Folk and professional dancers.It was not easy to start, it took time to amalgamate.And this is necessary, the meeting takes time, because this is the only way to really contaminate.I demanded that there be an ensemble work.And on stage we will see a collective of 14 dancers.”
Excited and very interested in the theme of Generazione Taranta, the young singer-songwriter Gaia allowed herself to be embraced by the Melpignano audience. “It is not taken for granted to be on such a special stage,” she said. I immediately felt at home, but I also feel a strong sense of responsibility toward a tradition that has been handed down to this day. We are charged and fortunate.”
A black a cappella tammurriata will open the performance of revelation artist Ste: “I will not sing in Salento, but I am honored to be part of this event of Apulian and Italian culture.
It's a crazy orchestra, and they are crazy dancers. “He adds, ”One word that struck me is fore de capu.” And he promises to want to learn a lot more.
An authentic dialogue between the Orchestra and guest artists: “A concert that comes after a month of workshops, of exchanges between artists. It is a continuous exchange between guest artists and us in the Orchestra. It's a give and take that enriches everyone,” explained Enza Pagliara representing the Foundation's Artistic Corps along with musician Gianluca Longo.
A Melpignano village that is preparing to welcome the thousands of Taranta spectators:
“Like every year, our community is preparing to welcome with great respect the final event of the Notte della Taranta. An initiative that represents collective heritage.
Our thanks go to my and my that I am a citizen, but it also goes to those who have done a great job of researching the ethnomusical heritage of the Salento,” such as Gigi Chiriatti, reminded mayor Valentina Avantaggiato.”
POPULAR ORCHESTRA
The orchestra consists of 21 elements. Vocals: Consuelo Alfieri, Alessandra Caiulo, Stefania Morciano, Enza Pagliara, Antonio Amato, Salvatore Cavallo Galeanda, Giancarlo Paglialunga, and by musicians Gianluca Longo (mandola) Peppo Grassi (mandolin) Attilio Turrisi (chitarra battente) Giuseppe Astore (violin) Roberto Chiga, Alessandro Chiga, Carlo Canaglia De Pascali (tambourine from Salento) Roberto Gemma (bellows) Nico Berardi (wind instruments) Leonardo Cordella (accordion) Alessandro Monteduro (percussion) Antonio Marra (drums) Mario Esposito (bass) Gioele Nuzzo (tambourine and didgeridoo).
For the August 24 Concertone, the People's Orchestra ensemble is joined by a string section composed of Sara Francesca Molinari (viola) Luisa Gaia Dal Molin (cello) Lucia Allegro and Valeria Di Crosta (violin).
DANCE BODY.
The Taranta Dance troupe is composed of Mihaela Coluccia, Cristina Frassanito, Serena Pellegrino, Lucia Scarabino, Stefano Campagna, Marco Martano, Fabrizio Nigro, and Mattia Politi. For the Aug. 24 edition, six professional dancers will be joined by Simone Rossari and Michele Serra (assistant choreographers) Fabio Stroscio, Camilla Gesualdi, Federica Di Marzo, and Federica Rogoli.
On stage the sets will be a contemporary art narrative.
For the 27th edition of La Notte della Taranta, Emilio Isgrò has created special erasures that will serve as the scenography for the festival's concluding Concertone.
La Notte della Taranta is one of the most effective and powerful signs of the rebirth of Southern Italy. Hosted in Salento, it is the largest festival in Italy and one of the most significant events on popular culture in Europe. A collaboration born of the bond between Maestro Isgrò and the President of the La Notte della Taranta Foundation, Massimo Bray, as well as the desire to enhance the high cultural value of the Salento festival, which has been promoting a popular and substantial symbol of our South for almost 30 years.
“The Notte della Taranta immediately appeared to me,” highlights artist Emilio Isgrò, ”from the very beginning, as one of the most effective and powerful signs of the rebirth of a South that wants to produce culture while protecting traditions, which is far from impossible according to the most well-founded predictions, if it is true that the Italian South is the best equipped to meet the hopes of sustainable growth. So, when my friend Massimo Bray asked me to give my testimony in this what is undoubtedly an act of refounding the festival, I told him a convinced and total Yes. I don't like Southernist rhetoric; on the contrary, I love our country in its integrity, the South as well as the North. However, I know that we cannot remain decently in Europe (and really count) if all available forces in Italy do not come into play. As a Sicilian, moreover, I am emotionally united with Apulia, in a loving embrace, by the common heritage of Frederick of Swabia, who in the midst of the Middle Ages foreshadowed the expectations and needs of the world in which we live. Perhaps Frederick's name is only a symbol, but today even symbols have weight if they do not linger us in nostalgia and regret.”
Isgrò's covers open the visual sequence created by GALACTIC. An exploration of visual languages and paths that unravel from folk traditions to find new paths in space and time. In a syncretic and parallel path to the musical one, videoscenography aims first of all to search for the archetypes of the Salento folk tradition in different cultures, near and far, and to stage them by juxtaposing their different interpretations. The same gesture, the same intention, thus becomes an Ariadne's thread to investigate different cultures starting from rituals of celebration, life, and death that tell the very essence of the human story. At the same time, the research work does not stop at reproducing images, but goes to remedy and reinterpret them through digital manipulation. Thus, it is not only a journey through space but also a journey through time, using the tools of the contemporary to give new life to ancient symbols, making them dialogue with the present, and even more, bringing the spirits of distant places closer together.
It is therefore the very chaos that is generated by drawing on the diversity of origins and instrument that celebrates the universal collective rite and cathartic movement, that stages this metamorphosis of man, sign, nature, and the real, in which the tangible world recognizes itself, remixes with the intangible, and redeems itself in the graphic sign of a new language. Galactic uses images of archaeological finds from the Museums of Bari, Lecce and Taranto and the Rutigliano Whistle Museum in his narrative.
But also coming to the stage will be Officina Chiodo Fisso's sculptures using papier-mâché from Putignano. Already famous for Europe's oldest Carnival, papier-mâché thus acquires a new dimension, proving itself versatile and capable of adapting to different contexts. This collaboration not only highlights local craftsmanship, but also strengthens cultural ties between the different realities of Puglia. “Our sculptures are a tribute to the Taranta, a way to make papier-mâché vibrate to the rhythm of tambourines,” say Alessio Verdolino and Emanuele Ricchi of Officina Chiodo Fisso, ”We wanted to create contemporary illuminations that would dialogue with the music and the audience, inviting everyone to immerse themselves in a magical atmosphere.”
The choice of the materiality of papier-mâché in its mutuality is meant to be associated with the transparency of the skins of the drums that during the night play until dawn. The three sculptural elements will represent tarantulas and will be true contemporary illuminations that will serve as a backdrop for the two stations of the international artistic director and producer SHABLO joined by maestro and very young pianist Riccardo Zangirolami.
RAI DIRECT.
The Concertone will be broadcast by RAI 3 in prime time at 9:20 p.m. and simulcast by RADIO 2 RAI. The program will be hosted by Ema Stokholma. Directed by Stefano Mignucci. Director of photography Marco Lucarelli. Writers: Annalisa Ansaldo and Matteo Catalano. An annual summer event, La Notte della Taranta draws thousands of people from all over the world to Melpignano, a small town in Salento's Grecìa region. It is a true ritual where the ancestral power of the tambourine transforms the night of music into a great dancing and free community. The pizzica is a dance belonging to the tarantella family used in the past as a cure for the “tarantate,” disadvantaged women who, according to popular belief, were pinched by the poisonous spider.
A small orchestra and pizzica dancing with the intercession of St. Paul and other saints, again according to popular belief, led to healing. The socio-anthropological phenomenon of tarantismo is well described by Ernesto De martino in his “the land of remorse.” Today the Taranta people no longer believe in the legendary bite of the tarantula but the spider has become the symbol that creates a new and contemporary ritual around the zoomorphic deity: the Taranta. There is no longer exorcism but worship around the dancing god. Those who come to Melpignano or dance the pizzica in every corner of the world no longer need to be attacked by an external element to share the ritual. There is no tarantismo device in our time, but La Notte della Taranta has been the trigger for a new way of conceiving dance and music in Salento, and the Concertone is the lighting of the votive fire of this modern gathering that ends every year at the crack of dawn.
SALENTO COMPANIES FOR THE LOOK
Sustainable clothes by Salento-based Arianna Muci Couture dress the orchestra's singers and musicians. The Porto Cesareo-based designer's start-up has revalued Italian artisanal labor by using high-quality, eco-responsible materials with an approach to fashion that promotes environmental awareness. Arianna Muci's creations give the Concertone scene a harmonious picture. “When I created my brand I wanted to strongly convey the concept of responsibility and the value of traditions, says Arianna Muci. Receiving the invitation from the La Notte della Taranta Foundation and being the official designer of the 2024 edition is an immense honor for me. Being part of such an important event that manages to unite and transmit the values of our territory and traditions to the new generations makes me really proud. This year, the Taranta theme particularly resonates with my brand's mission, which aims to unite eco-responsible fashion and respect for our traditions, an invaluable heritage of craftsmanship and culture.” Arianna Muci donated the official Concertone 2024 T-shirt, printing the claime “generazione Taranta,” which will be worn by the artists during their rehearsal days on stage.
Embellishing the outfits will be the original Futuro Remoto creations conceived by Gianni De Benedittis. Eccentric and classy solutions for the singers of the Popular Orchestra Consuelo Alfieri, Alessandra Caiulo, Stefania Morciano and Enza Pagliara, with jewelry with a strong figurative sensibility: moon and heart directly from the Taranta brand, set in lines of light and cuts of color to depict a rainbow of emotions. “The Notte della Taranta represents a perfect spider web for creativity made in Salento,” explains De Benedittis. It puts together craft and excellence contributing to the synergic development of the territory. In this edition dedicated to young people, I will bring all the colors of our land between a golden moon and a heart as transparent as the sea, and inspiring myself for some of the creations from the graffiti found in the prison of the Palazzo Marchesale of Melpignano.”
All stage costumes for the Taranta Ballet Corps are curated by Daniela Amoruso and her sartorial workshop Danamò, a historic reference in the city of Lecce for the world of dance and theater. Following the themes chosen by choreographer Laccio, the fashion designer has created clothes that enhance lightness and plasticity of movements.
Daniela Amoruso with needle and thread highlights the attention to detail in rereading tradition in a story of liberation of movement that passes through the emancipation of the body.
Officina Paar is make-up partner of the Notte della Taranta 2024. The artists' original outfits are joined by Roberta Apos' beauty looks that combine style and glamour for universal and eye-catching make-up. Freshness and originality and graphic glitter lines are protagonists in creating magnetic and irresistible looks. Beauty magic with vibrant colors.
SAFETY
The direction of the security device is entrusted to a control room equipped with a sophisticated video surveillance system that monitors the entire event area, but also the inflow and outflow routes. The control room operates in synergy with the Municipal Operations Center, another surveillance and coordination body overseen by the City of Melpignano, and which makes use of an additional video surveillance system and radio links.
The outer ring belting device encloses within it the event area (guarded by stewards) with 6 posts (gates) manned by Police Forces and reinforced by the presence of new-jerseys. This device is supplemented by other posts (prevarches) manned exclusively by Local Police personnel, 50 units, and Civil Defense volunteer personnel, 300 units.
400 units are deployed for security between police, civil defense, firefighters and Fifa Security personnel.
In terms of health security, a “Health Camp” is set up where more than 200 volunteers from the Italian Red Cross and 118 medical and nursing staff, coordinated by Dr. Nicola D'Angelo, will operate to deal with emergency emergencies. The camp area will have 25 inpatient beds and 10 other care stations for a total of 35 beds. There will be 9 Italian Red Cross ambulances and 6 traveling teams in the area.
A fixed fire brigade garrison supported by mobile elements is present.
PRECONCERTONE
A unique show of music and dance will open the evening of Aug. 24 starting at 7 p.m., taking spectators on a journey into the sound and poetry of the Arbëreshë language, from Molise to Puglia.
On stage at the preconcert of the Notte della Taranta will be the boys and girls involved in the Matria project. The Languages of Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, a regional program for the enhancement of Apulian linguistic minorities launched by the Regional Education Department and in collaboration with the Apulia Regional School Office, Apulia Film Commission, Teatro Pubblico Pugliese and La Notte della Taranta Foundation.
The State Comprehensive Institute “Casalini” of San Marzano di San Giuseppe (TA) will bring to the stage “Tarantun” a song that takes the notes of the local pizzica and inserts new sounds and words composed by the 28 students involved. From the “Mandes” middle school in Casalvecchio (FG) will come the folk songs “Na na na” and “Teresina” performed by 16 pupils. The Liceo musicale “Archita” of Taranto with its 33-piece orchestra will perform “Ec Ec Ec” and “Lule Lule,” while from San Martino in Pensilis in Molise, the Istituto comprensivo statale “John Dewey” with its 27 participants will give the Melpignano audience the song “Manushaqe.” Also on stage with the young protagonists of the project are musicians Nico Berardi, Alessandro Chiga and Salvatore Galeanda, who took care of the musical part, Serena Pellegrino and Mattia Politi, who guided the students in the dance path.
Also on stage was the orchestra of the Leonardo da Vinci High School in Maglie.
For Taranta solidale, the show will continue with the dance intervention of the iSemprevivi association, which deals with psychiatric rehabilitation, acts following a guideline that has as its main objective the inclusion in civil society of its young people. The “Put me to the test” project aims to activate work placements for inclusion in the social cooperative.
Presenting the preconcert will be writer and TV author Chicco Sfondrini.
AUGUST 22, 2024
PRESS CONFERENCE
THE NIGHT OF THE TARANTA
CONCERT 2024
Friday, August 23 - 10:30 a.m.
Palazzo Baronale - via Roma, 19 - MELPIGNANO (LE)
Speakers:
Michele Emiliano - President Region of Puglia
Massimo Bray - President of La Notte della Taranta Foundation
Valentina Avantaggiato - Mayor of Melpignano (LE)
Luca Scandale - Director Pugliapromozione
Giovanni Anversa - Deputy Entertainment Director Prime Time RAI
Shablo - Maestro Concertatore
Laccio - Choreographer
Angelina Mango - Concert Guest
Gaia - Concert Host
Ste - Guest Concertone
In connection Emilio Isgrò - Artist
Sandro Cappelletto - Artistic Consultant Fondazione La Notte della Taranta
Enza Pagliara - Artistic Body Representative La Notte della Taranta Foundation
Participants:
Roberto Casaluci - President Unione dei Comuni della Grecìa salentina
Sebastiano Leo - Councillor for Labour Policies - Apulia Region
Alessandro Delli Noci - Councillor for Economic Development - Apulia Region
Tina De Francesco - Board member of the board of Acquedotto Pugliese
Maurizio Maglio - Vice President Chamber of Commerce Lecce
Arianna Muci - Stylist
The press confereza will be broadcast on the website and on our Facebook profile.
Accredited journalists will be able to pick up passes also valid for the evening of the Concertone at the entrance of the Palazzo Baronale starting at 10:00 am.
LARGO PRIMO MAGGIO
8:00 p.m. War Memorial Square - PROJECT MATRIA
9:15 p.m. LARGO PRIMO MAGGIO - HYSTERRAE
To follow
ASHÈBLASTA
On August 22, the Itinerant Festival La Notte della Taranta reaches its last stop, in Martano at Largo Primo Maggio. This concludes the festival, which began on Aug. 3 and crossed 19 towns in Salento, with no less than 50 appointments to discover the richness and beauty of Salento's historic centers, following the overwhelming rhythm of the pizzica. The big event now is the August 24 Concertone in Melpignano (Le), a long night enlivened by the creative multiverse of Maestro Concertatore Shablo and great artists such as Angelina Mango, Gaia, Ste and Geolier.
Ragnatela della Taranta continues an Extra Festival stage: on August 25 with La Notte delle Ronde in Galatina, from 9 p.m. in the historic center.
8 p.m. Piazza Monumento dei Caduti - Project Matria II at the traveling festival “La Notte della Taranta.” Two dates: August 22 in Martano and August 24 in Melpignano.
Everything is ready for the two events that conclude the second edition of “Matria. The Languages of Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow,” the regional program for the enhancement of Apulian linguistic minorities launched by the Regional Councillor for Education, Sebastiano Leo, in collaboration with the Apulia School Office, Apulia Film Commission, Teatro Pubblico Pugliese and La Notte della Taranta Foundation. The concluding events have been included in the itinerant festival “La Notte della Taranta” and will host Apulian students but also mayors, families and communities, who have taken part in this journey under the banner of rediscovering the precious cultural heritage of which Apulia has been the custodian for hundreds of years, thanks to the presence within it of three linguistic islands: the Griko, Franco-Provençal and Arbereshe.
The first event, which concludes the journey that has seen Apulia Film Commission engaged alongside the Griko minority, is scheduled for Thursday, August 22 at 8:30 p.m. in Martano. The event will screen the three short films made by students under the coordination of director Vincenzo Ardito of Sinapsi Produzioni: “Una storia da raccontare” made by the I.I.S.S. Trinchese of Martano (Le), “Zzunna” made with the students of the Istituti Comprensivi of Calimera, Cutrofiano, Martano and Soleto and finally “Un gusto speciale” made by the Istituto comprensivo “Catanoso - De Gasperi” of Reggio Calabria. Not only cinema but also music with the project section curated by Teatro Pubblico Pugliese and dedicated to Franco-Provençal culture. So during the evening there will also be a performance by two musical groups: the “Chorale Nuova Provenza di Faeto” and the “Terra Nostra Folk” group from Celle San Vito.
Born thanks to the work of Don Raffaele Castielli in the early 1970s, the “Faeto Chorale” is now directed by Giulia D'Aloia and organist Antonio Carosielli and is composed of more than 50 elements, united by their passion for their land. Their repertoire includes Cumm' un suajm' luntan' (Like a distant dream) and Funtan' d'Fait' (Fountains of Faeto). “Terra Nostra Folk” of Celle San Vito was born in 2010 embarking on a cultural journey toward the history of the South by fully espousing the famous ”Southern Question.” Thanks to local writers and historians, unreleased songs have been written where the protagonists are the brigands. The group has also had collaborations with the music of the Arbëreshë linguistic minorities, recording a musical collection. Their repertoire also includes songs from the tarantula garganica and pizzica. The evening will be attended, among others, by regional councillor Sebastiano Leo, the director of the Regional School Office, Giuseppe Silipo with the director of the Lecce territorial ambit, Mario Trifiletti, the mayor of Martano, Fabio Tarantino, the president of the Teatro Pubblico Pugliese, Paolo Ponzio, the president of the Notte della Taranta Foundation, Massimo Bray, with the councilor and mayor of Soleto, Graziano Vantaggiato, the mayor of Faeto, Michele Pavia, and the mayor of Celle di San Vito, Palma Maria Giannini.
The second event, which will conclude, however, the Notte della Taranta Foundation's journey on the Arbëreshë community, is set in the framework of the traditional August 24 concert in Melpignano. All the students involved will be the protagonists of a unique show of music and dance that will open the evening, starting at 7 p.m., taking spectators on a journey into the sound and poetry of the arbëreshë language, from Molise to Puglia.
The State Comprehensive Institute “Casalini” of San Marzano di San Giuseppe (TA) will stage “Tarantun,” a piece that takes the notes of the local pizzica and inserts new sounds and words composed by the 28 students involved. From the “Mandes” middle school in Casalvecchio (FG) will come the folk songs “Na na na” and “Teresina” performed by 16 pupils. The Liceo musicale “Archita” of Taranto with its 33-piece orchestra will perform “Ec Ec Ec” and “Lule Lule,” while from San Martino in Pensilis in Molise, the Istituto comprensivo statale “John Dewey” with its 27 participants will give the Melpignano audience the song “Manushaqe.” Also on stage with the young protagonists of the project are musicians Nico Berardi, Alessandro Chiga and Salvatore Galeanda, who took care of the musical part, Serena Pellegrino and Mattia Politi, who guided the students in the dance path. Television writer and author Chicco Sfondrini will present the preconcert.
9:15 p.m. LARGO PRIMO MAGGIO - HYSTERRAE
Hysterrae is a unique musical project in the Italian World Music scene, born from the meeting of three female artists from different ethnic and musical cultures, joined by an Iranian multi-instrumentalist and an electronic music producer. The group, composed of Cinzia Marzo, Irene Lungo, Silvia Gallone and Pejman Tadayon, creates a hypnotic sound experience that crosses cultural and geographic boundaries, from Iran to Campania, from Valle d'Itria to Salento, and beyond. Their debut album, titled “Hysterrae,” reflects the group's original concept: the term “Hyster” comes from ancient Greek and indicates the mother's womb, symbolic here of the womb of the Earth (“terrae” in Latin). This name encapsulates the essence of the project, which aims to transcend ethnic boundaries to convey a message of unity and awareness: we are all part of one big entity, Mother Earth. The album's tracks mix percussive rhythms and evocative vocal polyphonies with elements of dub and EDM, creating a musical ritual that combines ancient roots with the electronic tribality of contemporary sound. This sonic journey takes the listener into a trance-like state, where female vocals and circular melodies evoke a powerful ancestral energy. Produced by the Linfa label and distributed by Absilone / Believe Music, the album received support from NuovoImaie for New Discographic Productions 2022/2023. Hysterrae represents a dialogue between past and present, where tradition meets innovation, creating a universal and timeless musical language. Group members: Cinzia Marzo (voice, flutes): singer and founder of Officina Zoè, a symbol of the revival of Salento's pizzica. Irene Lungo (voice): singer with Opa Cupa and Girodibanda, former collaborator of Edoardo Bennato & Taranta Power. Silvia Gallone (voice, frame drums, percussion, scacciapensieri): multi-instrumentalist in Officina Zoè, with previous collaborations with Ambrogio Sparagna and the Popular Orchestra Notte della Taranta. Pejman Tadayon (saz, daf, ney): multi-instrumentalist specializing in Iranian and Middle Eastern instruments. Hysterrae is not just a musical group, but a project that represents a new vision of music as a tool for connecting and rediscovering common roots in an increasingly interconnected and global world.
Ashèblasta Apulian Un_Popoular Music
Archaic voices, scratchy bass, ancient drums and ritual rhythms, tales of land and sea. The Ashèblasta project bears the signatures of Roberto Chiga on drums, programming, Mario Esposito on bass and Peppo Grassi on mandolin and aims to move Salento music from the squares to the clubs, for everyone to dance to, not just in summer. It aims to tell the stories of today's youth through a new popular music with which they can identify and which entrusts the voices of the elderly with the haunting myth of the Salento spider. Ashèblasta in Griko dialect is the name of a “pizzo” (seasoned bread) typical of Zollino, without shape kneaded with simple ingredients that put in parallel with music becomes a meltin pot of styles, melodies, rhythms, instruments. A drum, a mandolin and a bass join samplers, synths, drum machines, to continue the ritual that makes people dance to heal. The music is all original and is based on the haunting rhythms of pizzica-pizzica and tarantelle that is sometimes contrasted with Cumbia, Gnawa rhythms, hiphop beats, electronic music and insistent loops. Special guest Giancarlo Paglialunga, voice and tambourine, of the Popular Orchestra “La Notte della Taranta.”
Theme of the 2024 edition of the Festival is Responsibility. After the passing of the great masters of folk music Luigi Chiriatti, Daniele Durante, Giovanna Marini, the Festival presents the folk revival groups that over the years have inherited the rich heritage of traditional songs and are constantly experimenting with new connections.
FREE ADMISSION
The Itinerant Festival is a cultural project of the La Notte della Taranta Foundation supported by the Region of Puglia and the Ministry of Culture, in collaboration with Unione dei Comuni della Grecìa salentina and the Diego Carpitella Institute. The festival will travel at zero emissions with the contribution of Mercedes De Mariani Group. Artists and guests will travel in electric cars with respect for the environment.
#nottedellataranta #WeAreinPuglia
www.lanottedellataranta.it
Facebook La Notte della Taranta
Instagram @lanottedellataranta
Twitter @lanottedellataranta
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Head of Communication
Gabriella Della Monaca
Press Office
Cecilia Leo - cecilialeo79@gmail.com
Paola Trotta - paolatrotta@yahoo.it
PIAZZA REPUBBLICA
9:15 pm
THE BRIGANDS OF TERRA D'OTRANTO
to follow
ALLA BUA
Penultimate appointment of the itinerant on Aug. 21 in Martignano in Piazza Della Repubblica. The musical web that for the month of August has crossed 19 municipalities of Salento, with as many as 50 appointments to discover the richness and beauty of Salento's historic centers, following the overwhelming rhythm of the pizzica, is about to experience its highlight on Aug. 24 in Melpignano (Le), a long night enlivened by the creative multiverse of Maestro Concertatore Shablo and great artists.
9:15 p.m. I BRIGANTI DI TERRA D'OTRANTO
The musical group “Briganti di Terra d'Otranto” was born in the summer of 2001 in Martignano, a small town in Grecìa Salentina, in the province of Lecce, within the Associazione Tradizioni e Musica di Terra d'Otranto. From the beginning, the group has turned its interest to the performance, re-adaptation and interpretation of traditional Salento songs, enriching the repertoire with original compositions that respect the sounds of traditional instruments and the modulation of voices. The lineup features the female voice of Antonella Esposito, the 12-string guitar and voice of Giovanni Sperti, the violin and voice of Christian Palma, the flute and piccolo of Stefano Blanco, the tambourine of Andrea Cappello and Cristian Palano's accordion and mouth harmonica. Rounding out the group is the overwhelming pizzica dance of Sarah Raffaella Montedoro. Together, the Briganti di Terra d'Otranto create a blend of timbres and sounds that alternate and chase each other, always maintaining strong ties to tradition and resisting easy modern contaminations. Over the course of their now 20-year career, the Briganti di Terra d'Otranto have held numerous concerts in Salento, Italy and Europe, pushing as far as Asia. Their music has been featured in several radio and television broadcasts, helping to make the rich musical tradition of Salento known and appreciated by an ever-growing audience.
ALLA BUA
Alla Bua, a group born out of Gigi Toma's passion for Salento folk music, represent a fusion of tradition and innovation. Formed in the patrols of the historic feast of San Rocco in Torrepaduli and the Easter singing nights of Santu Lazzaru, the group's six members, from different towns in Salento, share the legacy of popular music learned in their homes. The name “Alla Bua” comes from an ancient Southern Salento expression used to accompany work or love songs, and means “other way” or “other cure.”
This philosophy is reflected in their music, which serves as a remedy for the ills of the past, such as the taranta bite, and as a cure for the frenzy of modern society, through the pizzica pizzica, a liberating and energetic dance. On stage, Alla Bua offer a show characterized by a strong and almost violent rhythm, with Fiore Maggiulli's tambourine, the intertwined notes of Francesco Coluccia's accordion, the vibrant melodies of Emanuele Massafra's violin, Dario Marti's granite guitar and the sweetness of Irene Toma's oboe and guitar. Their music is a fusion of diverse influences, from classical to rock, that continually renew the traditional Salento repertoire. In recent years, the group has enriched its repertoire with original songs that reflect both the tradition and the innovative spirit of the group, offering the audience a musical “cure” that combines past and present in an engaging and festive experience. Group members:Irene Toma (oboe and voice), Francesco Coluccia (accordion), Fiore Maggiulli (tambourine and voice), Dario Marti (guitar and voice), Emanuele Massafra (violin), Gianni Dell'Anna (sound engineer).
Theme of the 2024 edition of the Festival is Responsibility. After the passing of the great masters of folk music Luigi Chiriatti, Daniele Durante, Giovanna Marini, the Festival presents the folk revival groups that over the years have inherited the rich heritage of traditional songs and are constantly experimenting with new connections.
The Ragnatela della Taranta continues on: Aug. 22 Martano with groups from Faeto and Celle San Vito in the province of Foggia: La Corale la nuova Provenza and Terra Nostra Folk, followed by Hysterrae and Ashèblasta. Extra Festival August 25 La Notte delle Ronde in Galatina.
FREE ADMISSION
The Itinerant Festival is a cultural project of the La Notte della Taranta Foundation supported by the Region of Puglia and the Ministry of Culture, in collaboration with Unione dei Comuni della Grecìa salentina and the Diego Carpitella Institute.
The festival will travel at zero emissions with the contribution of Mercedes De Mariani Group. Artists and guests will travel in electric cars with respect for the environment.
#nottedellataranta #WeAreinPuglia
www.lanottedellataranta.it
Facebook La Notte della Taranta
Instagram @lanottedellataranta
Twitter @lanottedellataranta
YouTube La Notte della Taranta
Head of Communication
Gabriella Della Monaca
Press Office
Cecilia Leo - cecilialeo79@gmail.com
Paola Trotta - paolatrotta@yahoo.it