Record of the day: Maria Pia De Vito/Rita Marcotulli, “Nauplia”
Maria Pia De Vito/Rita Marcotulli
“Nauplia” (CD Egea SCA 046)
«Nauplia is a journey still in progress on the route of a sound continent in which the great melody and the “vertical sea” of harmonic deepening coexist or alternate, the Middle Eastern melismas and the spirit of the blues, the “fronna e limone” singing (i.e. the improvisations of street poets) and the pulsation of the tammorre».
The best description of this album is given in the liner notes by the authors themselves and it is able to perfectly evoke
the intense Mediterranean scent that envelops the entire work, one of the most beautiful published in Europe in the last fifteen years.
Rita Marcotulli is a world-class pianist, a true virtuoso of the keyboard but even more of her own imagination, rich in sensitivity for the most subtle harmonic gradations, combined with a wonderful piano touch: Rita is well known in the world of jazz but should be more appreciated by all those who love music without distinction of genre.
Maria Pia De Vito’s voice is capable of awakening very strong emotions when listening thanks not only to her virtuosity but also to her wonderful expressive qualities and intense lyricism that can suddenly transform into gritty swing with overwhelming results.
Add to all this excellent musicians such as Enzo Pietropaoli on double bass, Alfio Antico on tammorra, Arnaldo Vacca on percussion together with the great Naco (master of rhythm who left us too soon) and the result will be intoxicating and very sweet at the same time.
Maria Pia and Rita browse through the book of the great Neapolitan tradition and are admired with beautiful versions of “‘Mmiezo ‘o
ggrano” and “Scalinatell”a (the latter floating in the air in a liederistic atmosphere) but one of the album’s highlights comes with “Serenata ‘e Pulecenella”, if listening to it doesn’t make you feel a lump in your throat you must have blood at zero temperature.
No less beautiful is the interpretation of the madrigal “‘Stu core mio” by Orlando Di Lasso, rearranged in a jazz-folk version full of polyrhythms that look towards warm regions not too far from the South from which this work comes to life.
The album closes with the ancient sound of Alfio Antico’s tammorra who with his own hands seems to evoke the sound of the very stones of a thousand cities crossed by Grecale, Ostro and Scirocco.
Carlo Boccadoro, composer and conductor, was born in Macerata in 1963. He lives and works in Milan. He collaborates with soloists and orchestras in different parts of the world. He is the author of numerous books on musical subjects.
This text is taken from “Lunario della musica: Un disco per ogni giorno dell’anno” published by Einaudi, courtesy of the author and the publisher.
