JEDDAH — The chamber music ensemble “I Bricconcello,”bringing together four Italian professional musicians with long international experience, performed for the second time in Saudi Arabia. The group presented “Italian Musical Landscapes,” a journey deep in Italian culture through a selected choice of folk music, images and poems based on Venetian and Neapolitan folklore and the Italian musical and cinematographic tradition of the 1920s and 1930s. Organized by the General Consulate of Italy in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Centre of Jeddah (CICER), the event was part of the celebrations for the 80th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Italy and Saudi Arabia (1932-2012). Cellist Pierluigi Ruggiero, who founded I Bricconcello in 2010 with tenor Leonardo De Lisi, explained the origin of the group's name and the history of its members: “We were looking for an amusing name capable of attracting the interest of an international public. “Literally meaning ‘little rascal', the Italian word ‘bricconcello' is the diminutive of ‘briccone' (playful rascal). “The word is mentioned several times in Mozart's opera ‘The Marriage of Figaro' and lends itself to a pun on the Latin expression ‘cum cello' (with cello).” “I Bricconcello ensemble performs using two kinds of chamber group, involving either piano or guitar. “A tenor voice and cello player are always present with options to invite other performers for the interpretation of specific musical projects. “For this particular project we cooperated with guitarist Luca Trabucchi and clarinettist Roberto Gander and chose famous Italian folksongs including ‘O Sole Mio', ‘Mamma', ‘Parlami d'Amore Marilu' and ‘Funiculi Funicula' creatively rearranged for us by Italian Composer Giuliano Di Giuseppe.” An Italian musical landscapes multimedia presentation was also featured, comprising two suites based on folk songs from Venice and Naples and one suite inspired by the Italian music and cinema of the 1930s. Each musical session was introduced by a brief presentation and accompanied by the projection of photos, paintings, movie shots and old posters bringing to life some of the most famous Italian musical, cultural and historic icons of the 20th century. Ruggiero said: “These tunes obviously represent a minimal part of what Italy can offer at a musical level and constitute nothing more than a tentative look to make the Muslim and Arab public feel closer to the Italian culture. “We already performed two years ago in Saudi Arabia with a program entirely dedicated to the Italian classical opera. “Today's presentation of popular Italian folksongs represents a second step within a tripartite project to export a bit of Italian culture in the Kingdom. “We are in fact already thinking of touring Saudi Arabia a third time to experience a musical exchange with local musicians.” Since 2010, I Bricconcello performed in Italy, Brazil, Saudi Arabia and various European countries. Although they have already travelled in the Middle East in the course of their individual musical career, Saudi Arabia represented their first Middle Eastern collective stop and also an occasion to impact a completely different culture and lifestyle. Ruggiero said: “Living in Budapest and traveling often to Brazil, Canada and the US, I feel like a world citizen. “After my second trip to Saudi, also a bit of Saudi Arabia permeated my spirit. “People in Jeddah are very hospitable, family-oriented, friendly, open-minded and express a very ‘Italian' sense of conviviality and togetherness.” De Lisi also shared some of his travel impressions and revealed some of the many but sometimes ignored cross-links among diverse musical traditions. He said: “My family is from Sicily and I can see something of Palermo and the Mediterranean atmosphere in Jeddah. “Musically, I'm very fascinated by the ample variety of tunes that can be played with the oud, an instrument considered the grandfather of the western lute. “Not to mention the charming voices performing the Adhan that reminded me of the connections between Western Opera and Arab music. “The very high and special virtuosity characterizing the ‘Queen of the Night' from the ‘Magic Flute' by Mozart owes for instance a lot to the Arab's and Jew's musical traditions based on fast movements of the throat. “These traditions spread in Spain during the 11th century at a time in which music in Europe was mainly profane or characterized by the plain and simple melody of the Gregorian chants. “Four centuries later, the Arab's and Jew's capacity to use the throat as a musical instrument served the purposes of Western Opera singers who could express many feelings and sudden changes of mood combining long phrases and fast vocals.” Italian Consul General Simone Petroni announced CICER's next cultural event, an exhibition of photographic artworks by talented and emerging Italian photographer Teresa Emanuele in February 2013.
