Various Artists, Italian Musical Odyssey (Putumayo World Music, 1999)
It's hard to incorporate the contemporary folk music scene of an entire country in a single CD. How do you do justice to the various musical traditions of a diverse population? Putumayo has a habit of attempting this, and Italian Musical Odyssey is a good faith effort to capture the multifaceted folk tradition of Italy on a single CD. With acts ranging from Palermo (Agricantus) to Tuscany (Ricardo Tesi) to Sardinia (Calic) to Naples (Nuova Compagnia di Canto Popolare), Italian Musical Odyssey provides a good introduction to traditional Italian music.
A real strength of this album is the emotional range of the song selection. The CD opens with "Spunta Lu Suli," a light, warm tune rooted in the farming communities of Sicily. Instead of setting a consistent mood, the album jumps both tone and subject matter with the second song, "La Torinese" by La Ciapa Rusa. The subject is a young girl being pushed into an unwanted marriage. The singing on "La Torinese" is sublimely powerful, with tight harmonies that yield a flowing, lamenting tone. An oboe provides a great counterpoint to the melody, adding richness and depth. Other choice selections include the wonderful melodeon work of Ricardo Tesi on "Il Battagliero," a dance tune in the Bello Liscio tradition, and the thoughtful simmering passion of "Senza Parla" by Nuova Compagnia di Canto Popolare. The only drawback of Italian Musical Odyssey is that each succeeding song shifts from style to style. This gives the album a somewhat disjointed feel. When you compress an entire national music tradition into eleven songs, you're bound to have some discontinuity amongst the tunes.
No matter if you speak only very sparing Italian (as I do) or you have no Italian at all, the songs on Italian Musical Odyssey can still conjure vivid images. Calicanto's "Bealaguna" summons up the energy of the ocean in a song about the struggle between Venice and the encroaching Adriatic. The tin whistle on Taken's "Franziska" lightens up a song otherwise dripping with emotion. The unusual vocal style of Calic's "Attinde' adds a harsh air to a graphically violent song. Each tune adds a different image to the musical fresco of Italian Musical Odyssey.
A sample collection of music can, at best, aspire to whet your appetite for more. Italian Musical Odyssey works hard to make this happen and succeeds. The mix of artists from throughout Italy and the inclusion of songs both new and traditional can open your ears up to the Italian music scene that exists beyond opera. At worst, you'll gain an appreciation for what Italian music has to offer. More than likely, you'll come away with far more than that, and will soon be snapping up CDs from more than a few of the featured artists.
Putumayo's Web page for Italian Musical Odyssey is here. As you can see by the links in the review above, you can also find many of the artists from Italian Musical Odyssey on the Web.
