| Label: ARCANA Catalog: A359 Format: CD Accordone, Marco Beasley, GuidoMorino; Pino De Vittorio; Boƫmienne ConsortComposed by: Fra' Diavolo La musica nelle strade del Regno di Napoli
My name is Michele Angelo Pezza. They wanted me to become a friar when I was just a child. Then they wanted me to tan hides, and when I was just a young boy, I killed for the first time in self-defence. I ran away when I was a young man and I already knew well the woods up in the hills. They wanted me to be a soldier and I tricked and ambushed the French army that wanted to take Naples. They wanted me to be a Coronel and I fought to the bloody end, leading peasants and allies. They promised the rebellion would defeat the French. It did not, so today I'm headed for the gallows, after donning a thousand disguises and killing a hundred men, after living in the woods for ten years, among the fortresses and the ancient, forgotten temples. They'll see me and call me Fra' Diavolo, and who knows whether these children's children will remember me and still sing the songs of my times...
Ancient pieces, arising from human need to speak of events and of himself, of his companions of labour and daily toils, out of time or place but certainly a common occurrence in the Kingdom of N aples of the Eighteenth Century.
A landmark recording. This programme was launched in 1998 and was finally recorded in October 2009, after 11 years of concerts all over the world. After a long period of maturation, Fra' Diavolo crowns the concert experience and is the authentic testimony of a shared artistic journey.
Pino De Vittorio and Marco Beasley. Two undisputed authorities in this repertoire: the sounds of their childhood and homeland in a programme of high evocative power
Tarantellas and beyond. For a long time the so-called tarantella repertoire - profound but at the same time easy to listen to - has been subjected to commercial exploitation, but Fra' Diavolo goes beyond these earlier efforts in the completeness with which they present the variety of forms featured in the traditional music of southern Italy.
Baroque forces. The choice of a typically baroque instrumental ensemble corresponds to the ideal of a particular timbre, and strives to embrace the voices and percussion with an accompaniment which is quite straightforward but of unaccustomed elegance in this repertoire. |