The Special Projects of the Historical Archive: Arcipelago Battiato

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Following Massimo Cacciari’s lectio magistralis on The death of jus belli, the cycle of Special Projects by the Historic Archive of La Biennale di Venezia – International Centre for Research on Contemporary Arts, continues with Arcipelago Battiato, a tribute to the composer and philosopher Franco Battiato (1945-2021) in collaboration with the publishing company SZ Sugar on the eightieth anniversary of his birth, to take place on 17 and 18 November at the Teatro alle Tese in the Arsenale (at 9 pm). This project confirms the Historical Archive of La Biennale di Venezia – International Centre for Research on the Contemporary Arts as a place that elevates the dialogue between the arts, cultures and languages, with a view to fostering a deeper understanding of the present and a more mindful vision of the future.

“It is love advancing felicitously forward, it’s a festive idea of fullness, these are the poetics of Franco Battiato – writes Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, President of La Biennale di Venezia. He is the lover of the Beloved. L’Ombra della Luce – The Shadow of Light, one of the pieces chosen by maestro Tadini, to be sung today by Malika Ayane – is one of the most beautiful of prayers. It carries the meaning of surrender to the Misericorde, and it is a plea – ‘never leave me, never never leave me’. It is poignant and it is moving because it is rooted in the deepest affection: ‘For the gentlest yearnings of the heart. They are but the shadow of light”. 

A cult author, Franco Battiato marked a turning point in the style and thought of Italian music with the breadth and freedom of his experimentation – ranging from opera to sacred music, from progressive rock to pop – introducing literary, mystical-philosophical and artistic references in a unique fusion of experimental impulse and transcendental dimension. Arcipelago Battiato thus encloses the tribute to the composer between groundbreaking pieces such as Pollution and Sequenze e frequenze, arising from his pioneering electronic experimentation with the first analog synthesizers, before embracing the amplitude of string instruments and a rich acoustic orchestration through the many turning points in his creative life. In pieces such as Come un cammello in una grondaia (1991) with its strong classcial influences, L’ombrello e la macchina da cucire (1995), which ushered in his collaboration with the philosopher Manlio Sgalambro, Fleurs (1999) for piano and string quartet with original songs by other authors chosen for their elective affinities. And moving on to Dieci stratagemmi (2004), Il vuoto (2007), Inneres Auge (2009), and to Joe Patti’s Experimental Group (2014), which marked his return to the electronics of his origins.

Conceived as a musical narrative that unfurls among island-stages distributed throughout the sixteenth-century spaces of the Teatro alle Tese at the Arsenale, Arcipelago Battiato presents the musician’s materials in a new form, with transcriptions, arrangements, and elaborations by the composers Leonardo Marino and Michele Tadini, who is also responsible for the electronic texture and the sound projection with Thierry Coduys. On stage: Malika Ayane, author and performer with the vocal versatility to range across genres, is accompanied by Leonardo Marino on the piano and keyboards, Flavio Virzi on the guitar, Simone Beneventi on percussion, Silvia Mandolini on the violin, Elide Sulsenti on the cello, with the multi-instrumentalist Diego Ronzio. The sets and direction are by Antonello Pocetti and Antonino Viola.

Michele Tadini writes: “In all the works of transcription, arrangement and recomposition, the origin and meaning of the pieces must always remain very clear: how not to betray them, how to respect them, how to understand their essence. But also to understand how to make the material one’s own, how to develop it, how to allow one’s self to create – again. We wrote in fits and starts, with sudden leaps forward; torrents of notes poured onto the score, alternating with the electronic creation based on the recordings of Malika Ayane’s extraordinary voice. With Leonardo Marino, we had an immediate understanding. The final form was the result of all our encounters. Working on the electronic part with Thierry Coduys then helped to bring back into play the most evocative – and fundamental – dimension that underpins the musical histories of Franco Battiato, an artist who followed many paths without ever ceasing to experiment. To this, his, experimentation, Arcipelago Battiato wishes to be a sincere tribute”.

Arcipelago Battiato
music Franco Battiato
transcriptions, arrangements and original music Michele Tadini and Leonardo Marino

voice Malika Ayane
piano, keyboards Leonardo Marino
guitar Flavio Virzì
multi-instrumentalist Diego Ronzio
percussion Simone Beneventi
violin Silvia Mandolini
cello Elide Sulsenti

stage design Antonello Pocetti and Antonino Viola
director Antonello Pocetti
lighting Tommaso Zappon
live electronics and sound projection Thierry Coduys and Michele Tadini

production La Biennale di Venezia
in collaboration with SZ Sugar
17 and 18 November - Teatro alle Tese (Arsenale) – 9:00 pm