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In the evocative setting of Villa Palagonia, a guide will welcome you to tell you the fascinating story of this singular and mysterious historic residence. You can admire the rooms closed to the public, where a tasting of wine from the Duca dí Salaparuta winery awaits you. Finally, in the hall of mirrors, the Alenfado concert will take place.
The concert is a musical bridge between Portugal and Sicily, a journey that starts from the intense atmospheres of fado in the Lisbon neighborhoods and arrives at the discovery of assonant sounds in Sicilian popular music, with common characteristics and themes, such as nostalgia, regret , the journey, fatalism, hope, the pain of love. The concert program includes, among others, pieces by Amália Rodrigues, “the Queen of fado”, and those who have inherited her legacy, such as Mariza, but also pieces by Madredeus, Rosa Balistreri’s repertoire and her own compositions .
The musical group Alenfado was born in 2015, on the initiative of guitarist Roberto Buscetta, with the aim of spreading knowledge of fado, the typical Portuguese folk song.
The group, made up of six musicians from Palermo who are passionate about ethnic music, gave themselves the name of Alenfadoi.e. “beyond fado”, with the aim of interpreting and rearranging, starting from Portuguese fado, ancient and modern popular songs, not only Portuguese, and of proposing newly composed pieces.
Occasionally the Alenfado make use of the participation of a dancer, such as Pilar Escamilla, Evelina Lo Pilato, Deborah Brancato and Gloria Riti.
The group’s repertoire includes, among others, songs by Amália Rodrigues, “the Queen of fado”, and those who have inherited her legacy, such as Dulce Pontes and Mariza, but also songs by Madredeus and songs in Sicilian, written or arranged by Alenfado themselves.
In recent years the group has carried out an intense concert activity with great participation and appreciation from the public. In particular: participation in II International Fado Festival “do mar e dos ports” of Senigallia, al Solunto Art Festivalat the 71st concert season of the Friends of Trapani musicat the 42nd concert season of the Friends of the music of Mazara del Vallo at the Garibaldi Theatre, al Salina International Arts Fest; the concerts hosted in Palermo at the RAI Sicilia Auditorium, at the Agricantus Theatre, at the Ridotto dello Spasimo Blue Brass, at the Ditirammu Theatre, at the Cantunera Theatre, at the Villa Filippina Theatre, at the Fontarò Theatre; the concerts at the Teatro Comunale “Regina Margherita” in Caltanissetta, at the Officina Teatro LMC in Trapani, in Castelvetrano for the third edition of Festival of lightin Termini Imerese at the invitation of the “Friends of music Giuseppe Mulé”, at the Enchanted Castle of Sciacca, at the Arco Azzurro Geosite of Mongerbino, in Custonaci and Valderice for Signature terracein Campofelice di Roccella for Summer meetings at the Castle, in San Vito Lo Capo for the summer music festival. He participated in the sixth, eighth, tenth and eleventh editions of the Culture Week of Palermo.
In 2023 the Alenfado concert at the Agricantus Theater in Palermo, commissioned by the Portuguese Consulate in Palermo, had the patronage and support of the Portuguese Embassy in Rome and the Camões Institute of Portuguese Culture.
The group was a guest on TGR Sicilia and in various radio broadcasts, and the newspapers Repubblica and Giornale di Sicilia have published articles and interviews on several occasions. A long article about the group appeared in the April 2021 issue of the world music monthly Lineatrad Magazine. They were among the 16 finalists of the 2020 “Alberto Cesa” Award and were the most voted group for the 2021 “Voci per la Libertà” Web Award.
Components:
Francesca Ciaccio (voice)
Toni Randazzo (Portuguese guitar, acoustic guitar, arrangements)
Roberto Buscetta (classical guitar)
Fabio Barocchiere (acoustic bass)
Mariangela Lampasona (violin)
Angela Mirabile (cajón, djembe, darbuka, glockenspiel)
DISCOGRAPHY
On May 22, 2020, the first CD of the Alenfado group was released, entitled Passing by. It contains twelve songs in Portuguese, Spanish and Sicilian, including two unpublished compositions, one of which with lyrics by the journalist and writer Daniele Billitteri.
The Portuguese title Passing bywhich intentionally and significantly wants to recall the Sicilian term Passing by (as well as Spanish Passing), evokes a musical stroll through Portugal, Spain, Latin America and Sicily. From the melancholy atmospheres of the fado of the Lisbon neighborhoods we come to the discovery of assonances with the sounds and the existential and narrative themes of other popular music, such as nostalgia, distance and the exile of Fado sad, Meu fado meu And To whom are you worth Nascist Hunsor the pains of love and the victimhood of As you say, Algo contigo, Que nadie sepa mi sufrir, Fatum, Alfamain a common feeling of fatalism that permeates all the songs, and which sometimes also combines with joyful and positive feelings, as happens in real life.
The original arrangements and orchestrations of all the songs are by Toni Randazzo. The recording was made in RecraftStudio by Raffaele Pullara, who also participated with the accordion in three tracks.
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