The story of a memorable encounter

It's 9:45 pm on Sunday, April 23, 1972, when the Programma Nazionale, the "grandfather" of Raiuno, airs a clip destined to become television legend: the only duet ever performed by Mina and Lucio Battisti. Eight minutes and twenty seconds in black and white, seven songs stitched together into a tight medley: the two of them on stage, five musicians behind them. An episode born almost out of production necessity that would, over time, become one of the most emblematic documents of twentieth-century Italian music.

The context: a variety show in trouble, two champions at their peak

In 1972 Italian television offers just two channels. "Teatro 10," a variety show created by Antonello Falqui and hosted by Alberto Lupo, has been moved from Saturday to Sunday and is drawing criticism for a format seen as old-fashioned. The only fixed point is Mina, a regular presence on the show, fresh off the success of "Grande grande grande" and by now a central artist on the national scene.

By this point the artistic bond between Mina and Battisti is already solid, even if never performed live as a duo. Between 1970 and 1971 the singer from Cremona records four songs written by the Battisti–Mogol team: "Insieme," "Io e te da soli," "Amor mio," "La mente torna." To these is added "E penso a te," released in 1970 and destined to become one of the finest examples of her artistry as an interpreter.

These are not simple covers: Mina reinterprets Battisti's repertoire with a theatrical, expansive vocal style, capable of amplifying its emotional tension. Battisti, by contrast, works by subtraction, building an intimate, almost introverted delivery. The complementarity is obvious, but it remains confined to the records.

The genesis of the duet

The idea of inviting the singer-songwriter from Poggio Bustone onto "Teatro 10" comes about at the last minute, after another number is cancelled. Battisti is going through a phase of growing detachment from television; he's about to release "Umanamente uomo: il sogno" and can barely stand the workings of variety television. He agrees, but on his own terms: he shows up with his own band, steering clear of the Rai orchestra.

On April 18, 1972, at the Teatro delle Vittorie in Rome, the segment that will air five days later is recorded. The running order is put together quickly, with rehearsals kept to a bare minimum. The atmosphere is far from relaxed: technical problems, wariness from the house orchestra, organizational tension. Mina, as the musicians would later recall, keeps absolute control of the situation throughout.

The two will be backed by five musicians: Gianni Dall'Aglio (drums), Massimo Luca (acoustic guitar), Angelo Salvador (bass), Eugenio Guarraia (electric guitar) and Gabriele Lorenzi (keyboards).

"As we were playing," the two recall in unison, "we went from worry, since we hadn't rehearsed, to satisfaction – or perhaps something even greater, because we realized we were standing alongside two geniuses."

The medley: eight unforgettable minutes

The medley broadcast on TV included the following seven songs:

• Insieme
• Mi ritorni in mente
• “Il tempo di morire”
• “E penso a te”
• “Io e te da soli”
• “Eppur mi son scordato di te”
• “Emozioni”

The 8-minute sequence thus alternates already well-established hits with songs that, up to that point, had led separate lives on record. Tellingly, "Insieme" and "Io e te da soli" – until then associated mainly with Mina's voice – were shared by Battisti precisely on that occasion.

Musically, the medley works perfectly: Mina's voice is explosive, vibrant, capable of filling the entire TV studio; Battisti stays almost in the background, with a drier, more elegant phrasing.

Here are the images from that historic TV duet.

Curiously, the last two songs of the medley, "Insieme" and "Io e te da soli", had never been performed publicly by Battisti before and, up to that point, existed only in Mina's recorded versions. A further extraordinary detail concerns how the number was prepared: guitarist Massimo Luca recalled that the setlist was only decided the night before the recording, and that the medley was never rehearsed in full. Despite this, the performance turned out to be surprisingly tight and natural, sealing the one and only occasion on which Mina and Battisti shared a stage.

A book will also be dedicated to the event: "Il duetto Mina Battisti 1972 Teatro 10", by Enrico Casarini,

In the years that immediately followed, both would step away from the spotlight: Battisti never returned to perform on Rai, while Mina, not long after, would embark on a path that eventually led to her sensational retirement from the stage in 1978. That television encounter, however, remains the definitive testament to an artistic bond destined to leave a deep and lasting mark on the history of Italian music.

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26/03/2026