Trio Napolincanto Goes to Harvard

HOLY HAPPINESS: A concert of Neapolitan songs in memory of Carla Giordano

With TRIO NAPOLINCANTO’S Gianni AVERSANO, Guitarist, singer, actor and songwriter, Ferdinand PISCOPO, Composer and mandolin player, and Domenico DE LUCA, Composer and guitarist

Presented by Crossroads Cultural Center and Compagnia di Carla

About the concert: In one of the most famous Neapolitan songs, Torna a Surriento, the verb "to look" appears seven times. It is an invitation to contemplate beauty, and therefore, to love it. But it is not just an aesthetical one, for the song, at a certain moment, invites us to look more deeply, “guarda ‘nfunno”, to look to the depths, because the treasure can be found in the depths of things. On the other hand, in a Neapolitan idiom, a hostile feeling is expressed by the sentence “Nun te pozzo vedè,” (I cannot stand looking at you.) In saying “te voglio bene” (I love you) it is therefore implied “I am looking at you.” And it is with this gaze that the person loves and changes: “I don’t mind whether I was born poor or rich, because I languish for, I consist in looking at you,” as a beautiful villanella from the XV century reminds us.

“Beauty is the splendor of truth,” as in Mandulinata a Napule: “Your eyes are the stars and God is the firmament, and by looking at such a harmony my voice gets tender”; that is, our being takes the shape of what it looks at, if this look recognizes that everything is a sign. And the melancholy that often veils Neapolitan music is not a grieving but a nostalgia for the truth—a longing that opens our heart up to the point of accepting sacrifice, as the beautiful Passione quotes: “This cross I carry for you is not heavy.” It is this journey of the eyes and of the heart that represents the file rouge that connects most of the songs of this concert. The event is open to the public and free of charge.

About Trio Napolincanto: It was founded in 1997 by Gianni Aversano, a teacher of history and philosophy, singer, actor, guitarist and songwriter. Since 2008, he has been the lead singer of the Orchestra Popolare Italiana of Ambrogio Sparagna. The other two components of the group are, on mandolin, Ferdinand Piscopo, composer who played with Virtuosi di San Martino and Sergio Bruni, and on guitar, Domenico De Luca, composer and director of a mastering studio.

In 2004 the Trio, which has performed in a remarkable number of concerts, took part in the celebrations for Carl Orff in Germany and held a private concert for then-Cardinal Ratzinger, who at the end said: "Thank you for making me know Naples beyond all the abstract sociological theories. " In 2005 the Trio received the Histonium award for its contribution to the rediscovery of the beauty and universal message of Neapolitan songs. Special features of the Trio are to highlight, through a form of theater involving song and storytelling, the story of a great people, the religious sense, and the appreciation for what is truly human which are at the foundation of the most popular Neapolitan songs. The Trio has produced several records: Scetate e guarda (2004); Napolincanto Live (2005); Napule, popolo e Dio (2006); and Rosa, preta e stella (2008). In the Trio’s repertoire there is also an original operetta titled Mozart e Pulcinella: Serenata buffa di una notte napoletana, which, between performances of arias and popular songs of Naples in the 700s, tells the story of Mozart's stay in Naples and how much he drew from the immense Neapolitan artistic heritage. Italian national and local TVs, radio stations, and newspaper covered several of the Trio’s productions.

About this Event

Date: Monday, May 16, 2011
Time: 8pm
Location: Harvard University
Dudley House
Cambridge, MA 02138
click here for map

About the Trio

Gianni Aversano
Founder of Trio Napolincanto, singer, guitarist, songwriter

Domenico De Luca
Composer and guitarist

Ferdinand Piscopo
Composer and mandolin player

Invitation

coming soon…

Transcript

Not available