Thursday, July 4, “Piacenza nel Cuore” returns, the Dialect Song Festival “Sant’Antonino with words and music from our land”, which – now in its 29th edition, will enliven Piazzetta Mercanti with music and colored lights to celebrate the Patron Saint in the popular way with the songs of our tradition. The soul and promoter of the event is Marilena Massarini who organizes it thanks to the collaboration of the Municipality of Piacenza, with the support of Banca di Piacenza and the Cooperativa San Martino, always attentive to the research and protection of our dialect culture.
On stage starting at 8:45 pm, some of the most beloved local performers will take turns proposing old and new tunes dedicated both to the people of Piacenza and to those who are “arius” and come from outside, but want to discover the soul of this city. The songs will be very varied and will range from tunes by the most famous local composers, the result of careful historical research, to songs recently written by contemporary authors: we will start with Marilena who will sing “Canson ‘d ca nossa”, the hymn of the Piazza Cavalli festival for Sant’Antonino dating back to the 50s, which was a workhorse of Pino Boeri, and then interpret “Al Pascadur” by Bearesi – Serratore, the song that fifty years ago marked her debut, right on the stage of the Piazza. Since that distant 1974, the most beloved and famous Piacenza authors have asked her to interpret their songs, from Testori to Lamberti, from Basini to Levoni. And it was Gianni Levoni, the author of Tal digh in Piasintein, who first believed in her singing talent, even though she was very young, and offered her the opportunity to record all her songs. “Almost unconsciously since then – explains Marilena – I understood that dialect represents our truest and deepest culture, to be valued, preserved and passed on to the younger generations: it will be dialect in music that will allow us to crystallize our dialect expressions, maintaining them over time”.
The evening will see the return to the stage of Daniele Trinciavelli, singer-songwriter who will perform two songs: “Rosal” by Carella-Basini, one of the very few love songs written in Piacenza dialect, winner of the 3rd prize for dialect song 1953, and “Al nunnein” by Bearesi -Trinciavelli. Then it will be the turn of Mario Schiavi the poet, already awarded at the Valente Faustini Dialect Poetry Competition: now he has set his rhymes to music and magically accompanying himself with the guitar he will perform “T’era pìcula” and “Al giardein dal Tinu” which together with Fabrizio Solenghi he dedicated to Tino Maestroni. The singing trio “I Rundan ‘d Piaseinsa” composed of Maristella Zarantonello, Elena and Lucia Carmagnola will also be present, who this year will propose “La Butunera” by Gianni Levoni, dedicated to the beautiful women who worked in the button factories of the city, and the song “La Pansa” by Bearesi-Serratore. The soundtrack will be by the Giacomo Maini orchestra on accordion, voice and trumpet with the masters Andrea Norelli on drums, Matteo Cantarelli on guitar, Roberto Tamborlani on bass and Claudio Tamborlani on clarinet and saxophone.
“I would like to thank all the artists for the meticulous work they have undergone in preparing the program – concludes Marilena Massarini -. Evenings like ours are not only an occasion for celebration, but represent a moment of mutual understanding between those who are Piacenza natives and those who wish to become so in all respects with the help of the dialect, still heard and used also for new songs. A heartfelt thanks also to the Municipality that will provide a square set up for the great occasions and to all the audience that we hope will once again fill the “living room of Piacenza” to sing with us”. The evening will be filmed by the Cineclub Piacenza and will be broadcast on Telelibertà. In case of rain the show will be held in the Salone di Palazzo Gotico.
