AGI – “I’m sincere, I’m a liar. I’m fickle, I’m stubborn.” Fiorella Mannoia, 70 years old and with over 50 years of career, is all this and even more. The concert-event with which the Roman singer inaugurated her summer tour this evening, in the evocative setting of the Baths of Caracalla, could only begin on the notes of the gold record Mariposa, which marked her sixth return to the Sanremo Festival. ‘Fiorella Sinfonica – Live with Orchestra’, twenty-eight stages throughout Italy. A double Roman date, second date tomorrow, conceived as a special event, with the participation of several guests. Singers, but above all friends of the ‘fighting redhead’ who, with her, shared the stage this evening to celebrate the singer-songwriter’s 70th birthday in her most natural dimension, the stage. We get right to the heart of it, with Mariposa. More than a song, a manifesto on the pride of being a woman. His friend Carlo Conti arrives, supporting him in the opening of an evening that immediately has the flavor of a party. Then there is Francesco Gabbani for Un bimbo sul leone and, to pay homage to one of Mannoia’s first successes, Caffè nero boiling, the rock voice of a wild Giorgia: “I always listened to it in the bedroom”. But then, for the great classics, Fiorella’s sensual tone is enough to enchant the audience.
From No consequences – “I dedicate this song to those who didn’t make it but above all to those who did, because you can get out of violence” – to How to change to Fighter, Mannoia sings and Caracalla lights up. “This evening on stage with me there are friends who have been through my life, some for a long time and some for a short time – explained Mannoia -. I have shared many stages with these people, we have also had many battles, so there are all people who I respect and who respect me. It is the meaning of this evening: a certificate of esteem and affection. Hearing the songs arranged in a way so distant from the pop concerts I’m used to doing – bass, guitar, drums – is completely different. A beautiful experience that I’ve wanted to have for a long time.” For My brother who looks at the world by Ivano Fossati the duet is with Natty Fred, who joins Frankie Hi Nrg for the rap of It’s not a movie, a text awarded by Amnesty International and which, according to the singer-songwriter, reminds us how “words are important, they can make you think”. But the repertoire is not limited only to Mannoia’s songs. On the contrary, she opens up to the tribute of her colleagues, from Put your love into circulation with Ligabue ad Beautiful love with Claudio Baglioni. He moves and excites Ornella Vanoni while she chants I love only you by Sergio Endrigo. There is also space for notes apparently distant from the singer-songwriter, such as Rocco Hunt and his Let’s talk and his friend Gigi D’Alessio, who sings Love after having joked about the beginning of this collaboration. “She said: ‘I have sung songs by great authors, but if Gigi D’Alessio writes me a song, I sing it’. I didn’t understand if it was a compliment.”
The tribute to his city is unmissable, with Rome belongs to everyone together with Luca Barbarossa. The memory that warms the hearts the most, however, is that of Lucio Dalla, in a moving version of I wonder if you know shared on stage with Ron, “a heritage for our music” in Mannoia’s words. Time flies and now, almost at the end of the evening, it’s time to What women do not say, inevitably sung with Enrico Ruggeri who wrote it for her in Sanremo ’87. The song, still among the most loved today, won the critics’ prize and today becomes an opportunity for reflection on gender violence, with an ending that the singer, honorary president of One None One Hundred Thousand and has always been committed against gender violence, transforms from “we will tell you another yes” to “if it’s no it’s no”. With Ruggeri, Mannoia also shares the stage for The Doubts of Love. “I owe a lot to this man. We wrote eleven songs together” recalled the artist. Instead, it is the singer-songwriter Amara who sings with Mannoia the passionate verses of Che sia benedetta, a hymn to life in all its forms. The notes of Sally by Vasco Rossi seem to accompany the evening towards the end, Fiorella, however, does not deny herself the requests from the audience and also sings La storia. But it is when the chords of Il cielo d’Ireland start that the audience dances wildly and she would like this dance to never end. A banner opens under the stage ’70 candles between notes and emotions, you have a rock soul’. “I’m a lucky woman” exclaims the birthday girl. Fighter. Impetuous. Elegant. Cheeky. It’s always her, Fiorella Mannoia. To put it in her words: “Deep inside I am free, proud and singing”.
