Lucio Dalla: his songs make their way to the stage and become screenplays

The songs of Lucio Dalla are heading to the theatre. On August 13, as part of the Sanremo Summer Symphony festival, "Tra il mare e le stelle" will make its world premiere: a new show weaving together music, narration and theatre, aiming to tell the story of the man behind the artist while steering clear of the standard tribute-concert format.
Staged at the Auditorium Franco Alfano, the show will feature the Sanremo Symphony Orchestra conducted by Giancarlo De Lorenzo, with arrangements by Valter Sivilotti, the voices of Gabriella Martinelli and Peppe Voltarelli, lyrics by Davide Mancini and Marco Alemanno, and direction by Alemanno himself, Dalla's longtime collaborator during the last nine years of his life.

The idea behind the project is to explore the more intimate side of the Bologna-born singer-songwriter, focusing not so much on the chronology of his career as on his childlike outlook and his extraordinary ability to turn reality into imagination.
"For years I refused the idea of adding yet another tribute dedicated to Lucio," says Alemanno. "But when Davide Mancini told me about the project, I was struck by his wish to tell the story of the child that Lucio remained until the very end, with his quirks, his fragilities and his inexhaustible imagination."
From this intuition comes a piece of drama built like a film script, full of continual jumps in time, memories and cross-references, in which the songs converse with the narration to build a multifaceted portrait of the artist.

Davide Mancini, an actor recently seen in Marco Bellocchio's series "Portobello," performs the narration without trying to imitate Dalla. "I didn't want to ape him. I tried to bring out his soul through my body and my voice. The more Marco told me about episodes from his life with Lucio, the more I realized his questions were becoming mine too," he told Avvenire.
The relationship between Alemanno and Dalla was at the heart of the creative process. The director drew on personal memories and a firsthand knowledge of how the singer-songwriter conceived of music and theatre. "Lucio thought of songs as little screenplays. In his concerts he always wanted to include theatrical elements that would expand the musical storytelling, and we tried to stay true to that spirit."

The setlist alternates major classics such as "4 marzo 1943", "Cara" and "Futura" with lesser-performed tracks, including "Le rondini" and "Enna", guiding the audience through the musician's various artistic seasons. Alongside the music, the show also makes room for the episodes that shaped his creative journey: his encounters with Federico Fellini and Pier Paolo Pasolini, his partnership with Roberto Roversi and the crisis that followed their split, which culminated in the birth of "How Deep Is the Sea", the first album with lyrics written entirely by Dalla.
The show also highlights the many cultural influences running through his work. According to Alemanno, "L'ultima luna" carries echoes of Stanley Kubrick's cinema, while "L'anno che verrà" contains traces of Swiss writer Robert Walser — evidence of an artist able to continually absorb literature, poetry and film and transform them into songs.

Ride the wave of great music

Add OndaRock to your favorite sources on Google Discover. Don't miss our reviews, milestones and latest news straight in your feed.

Follow on Google