Paola Turci, between pessimism and utopia
Twelve years ago Paola Turci he published “The stories of others”, his thirteenth album. An album that the Roman musician presented to the press in this way: “The balance in this album is very subtle and moves between pessimism and utopia”. Below is how she reviewed it for us Paola De Simone.
I'm upset. And I am because I have just finished listening to “Le storie degli altri”, the new album by Paola Turci which closes the trilogy that began in 2009 with “Attraversami il cuore” and continued in 2010 with “Giorni di rose”. Mine is an existential disturbance, certainly not a mood one, due to the poetics of the eight songs that make up the album. Songs full of photographs taken of everyday life, as real as they are poignant, filled with a healthy pessimism alternating with vital impulses.
What I haven't said yet is that I like this upset. We are used to works that often leave us indifferent, which we hardly take with us after turning off the player, but this is not the case. “The stories of others” remains within us like a raw documentary or an incredible story which however belongs to us a little, because in those photographs, perhaps in the distance, we are probably all there.
People happy to be alive (“Beautiful boys”), others with the certainty of being alone in the world (“Son of the world”) and some still willing to dream (“The stories of others”).
It is the theme of existence, therefore, that stands out in this work; life made up of dark days, in which, however, a small light always shines. It is in bearing witness to that light that this album finds its true identity. As in a path, therefore, we start from pessimism, to arrive at utopia and finally arrive at a vision full of hope (“The colors change”). The trilogy is valid as a whole, but this third chapter is certainly the most touching and the most elaborate, where you can feel the effort of writing, arranging and singing.
And speaking of singing, Paola Turci confirms herself as a serious and credible performer, with a voice that seems to absorb all the nuances of the photographs described. Four of them then produced and arranged the album (Paola Turci, Fabrizio Fratepietro, Fernando Pantini and Pierpaolo Ranieri), the same ones who played all the music with great fusion, written by Turci herself and expressed in the classic proposal of guitar, bass and drums. With the exception of a couple of songs, where the inevitable violin of Andrea Di Cesare and the piano of Michelangelo Carbonara intervene to enrich the sound carpet. We must also share the compliments for the lyrics: they go to Marcello Murru, Alfredo Rizzo (also the historic “Bambini” and “Ringrazio Dio”) and Francesco Bianconi of Baustelle.
A cover is then added to the unreleased songs – as is usual in this trilogy – and so, after “Dio come ti amo” by Domenico Modugno and “Lunaspina” by Ivano Fossati, it is the turn of the ever-current “Si can” by Giorgio Gaber, proposed in a more liquid version of the original; conceptually perfect choice for this album, which thus manages to combine a scathing criticism with the mirror of reality. And, finally, we recognize a good dose of instinct in “Le storie degli altri”, thanks to having played it entirely live; and although full of free rein, the result is very delicate and certainly fascinating.
