In the search of ancient roots...

Or on my visit to Greece...


The first day I am in the Athens, and I still have not seen the Agropolis...

But I already had a beautiful and full day. I made a reservation through my favourite low cost airline and it was the first time that I made also a reservation of the hotel. The hotel and the staff turned out to be very nice, but the location is quite particular. Everyone kept telling me how dangerous the place was. On the train from the airport to the hotel, a nice greek girl who spoke astonishing Italian told me that OMONIA is quite dangerous for native Greeks as well.....

Italian Folk Traditions- Ambrogio Sparagna Folk Orchestra.

Well, I will try once AGAIN to revitalise this blog.

And the topic, I want to cover, is really worth of being discussed. I would like to talk about Italian traditional music and dances. And it is practically unthinkable today  not to mention one of the most famous collectors of Italian traditional music, i.e. folk, and dance and customs throughout the whole Italian peninsula - Ambrogio Sparagna.
Here is a small note, that I copy from Ambrogio's personal site:

AMBROGIO SPARAGNA
The poetic and theatrical accordeon

Ambrogio is one of the most important musicians of latest Italian folk music, his musical project which explores the Southern of Italy and the Mediterranean musical tradition involves his compositions and ballads.

A wide range of both traditional and original songs, all is made to exalt the melodic inspiration and armonic richness of the Ambrogio Sparagna accordeon, as well as the acrobatic rhythmical force and passion of the tambourines, ciaramella (traditional oboe), and the beating guitar (a kind of guitar diffused in Southern Italy) of his musical friends.

Ambrogio drives his audience to jump, playing with the Arts Comedy, and with the Neapolitan Theatre masks. (www.ambrogiosparagna.it)

The formidable ORCHESTRA POPOLARE ITALIANA, directed by the Maestro Ambrogio Sparagna, composed of many of the musical instruments typical of the Italian folk tradition, offers the public an engaging evening of song and dance, a show devoted to the vast and many facetted repertoire of serenades and dances belonging to the peninsula’s numerous areas with particular focus on Tarantellas and Pizziche from Apulia.      At the centre of the stage Ambrogio Sparagna conducts the orchestra, invites the musicians to dance and interact playfully with the audience, creating a joyful Italian village fete, a Taranta d’Amore full of life, a blend of  fascination and energy, capable of making the whole square, the entire village, tap their feet and laugh with gusto.

 Sparagna is an exceptionally talented button-accordion player and author of a number of folk operas, he directed the “Notte della Taranta” festival from 2004 to 2006 as Maestro concertatore. He set up the Orchestra Popolare Italiana dell'Auditorium Parco della Musica di Roma, a large permanent ensemble of young players from all over the country, with a view to promoting and evaluating Italy’s variegated folk music repertoire.(www.ambrogiosparagna.it)

 Well, well, yes, yesterday, I got a chance to go to his concert for the first time, and... and it was INCREDIBLE!!! He brought about 350 musicians and dancers from all over Italy on the stage. The dances and the songs were truly genuine and sincere, they were full of passion, of love, of enthusiasm to show the beauty of the simple things.

I will try in my next posts to upload some pictures and videos of the concert for you. I hope you enjoyed this small cultural experience I wanted to share with you today.
In the meantime enjoy this one from youtube:Ambrogio Sparagna - Canzone pe' Jacuruzingaru

#Project 365/47- La Boliviana

#Project 365/46 - I have a dream

#Project 365/45 - Piyozli Katlama

#Project 365/44 - La Luna sfocata

#Project 365/43 - Reflections