It was June 16, 1974 when, on Corso ai Due Mari, it was inaugurated the Monument to the Sailor, with the blessing imparted by the archbishop mons. Guglielmo Motolese and in the presence of the mayor Franco Lorusso and the major civil and military authorities, among the solemn marches sung by the Navy fanfare, the traditional 21st cannon shots and the festive flight of pigeons.
And yesterday morning, 7 June, the city found itself around the bronze artefact, seven meters high, depicting two sailors in the act of greeting arriving and departing ships, the work of the sculptor Vittorio Di Cobertaldo, donated to the city by the admiral of the army Angelo Iachino, commander of the fleet stationed in Taranto during the Second World War.
The occasion was the presentation, as part of the Map Festival, of the “sound picture” dedicated to the monument entitled “Night of Taranto”, in reference to the English air attack which occurred during the night between 11 and 12 November 1940 against the naval fleet of the Royal Italian Navy, located in the port of Taranto.
The “picture” was composed by the musician Paolo Fresu, who performed it together with the Magna Grecia Orchestra directed by maestro Piero Romano, in the evocative setting of the navigable canal and the Aragonese castle, among the screeches of the seagulls, who, vehemently, they seemed to defend their airspace from the presence of the drone used for the photos from above. The heat reigned supreme (almost forty degrees) throughout the ceremony and beyond, putting a strain on the concentration of the musicians, who sported the white t-shirt with the Map Festival symbol. Present at the event were the major civil and military authorities.
This is what maestro Piero Romano reported: “We present a sound picture that will remain forever in the history of the artistic heritage in Taranto, that of Paolo Fresu, on an extremely important anniversary such as that of the fifty years since the installation of the monument to the sailor, remembering the tragic night in Taranto from which, as happens with any other negative event, the strength and ability of the people of Taranto to lay the foundations for a decidedly better future emerged. And this is the thought with which Paolo Fresu approached the monument to the sailor and the history of the city of Taranto, especially in light of the terrible events of the war. It is a song that reveals positivity and the ability to rebuild as Taranto has demonstrated over the years.”
Possibility of listening to the orchestra of Magna Graecia again in front of the Monument to the Sailor? “The place – she said – is certainly one of the most beautiful in the city and particularly lends itself to one of our performances. There’s no guarantee that it will happen sooner or later.”
The ‘sound picture’ can be listened to again in about fifteen days, that is, when the mixing in the recording room has been completed, by scanning the QR code visible on a lectern next to the monument.
As with the others dedicated to the symbols of our city, this ‘sound picture’, a heritage that will forever remain among the treasures to be discovered, was commissioned by the Ico Orchestra of Magna Grecia, with the contribution of the European Union, the Region Puglia/Regional Department of Tourism/Pugliapromozione and Poc Puglia.
*photo Paolo Occhinegro
