An English friend and his wife told me that on a recent holiday in Italy, they were sitting on the Spanish Steps in Rome where they were approached by a couple of Japanese girls who sought their assistance as they were being harassed by a pair of young Polish men. A global potpourri if ever there was one!
These days national divisions are becoming increasingly blurred and while Poles pestering Japs may represent a non harmonious aspect of this phenomenon, there are other more positive possibilities.
Take for example the case of The Orchestra di Piazza Vittorio who I saw on Saturday night at the ornate and slightly snooty Teatro Bonci in Cesena.
This multi-ethnic orchestra was originally conceived as a means of giving meaningful employment and residency for 25 professional musicians. The name comes from a Piazza in Rome where around sixty ethnicities live and work together and where it is said that Italians have become “the minority”. Right wing politicians would see this as an opportunity for hitting on these ‘stranieri’ and using them as scapegoats for the ills of the nation. Piano and keyboard player for the group Avion Travel, Mario Tronco, took a more enlightened view of this mix and was fascinated by the variety of sounds and languages.
For this concert I counted 13 on stage although the programme lists 16 representing 11 countries, 3 continents and 8 languages – World music in the real sense of the term. My favourite was Ecuadorian Carlos Paz on vocals and flutes who steers the group into Mambo orientated rhythms. The blend of sounds is very polished, almost a bit too much so at times as I would have liked to hear them embrace a little improvisation to give a freer sound. I like the concept of the group though and they are well worth seeing – they are the subject of a film written and directed by Agostino Ferrente which I’d like to track down.
