Thousands of messages today flooded message boards and social profiles to remind us that Franco Battiato died a year ago . Poet, songwriter, but also director and painter, one of the most eclectic artists ever who bequeathed songs like " La cura ", with its delicacy and romanticism, " Povera Patria ", dedicated to a state "crushed by abuses of power, of infamous people who do not know what modesty is ", but also something lighter like" permanent center of gravity "or" Cuccurucu ". Often stroking Middle Eastern melodies, the " maestro ", as everyone called him, revolutionized Italian music.
On May 18, 2021 the news of his death came with a load of dismay: for some time he had retired to private life in his house in Praino, at the foot of Mount Etna, and the family had erected a wall around him, not providing news about his health. Only a priest friend of his, during the funeral, had mentioned a degenerative disease that did not allow him to speak except with very few words.
The artist from Catania, with a profound culture of history, philosophy and in general the peculiarities of the human being, spoke seven languages : in several songs he brought his knowledge, giving musicality to sounds at first glance harsh. His duets with Alice, whom he has repeatedly called on stage during concerts all over the world, are historic. But there have been many collaborations: from Giuni Russo to Pino Daniele, from Tiziano Ferro to Adriano Celentano, passing through Claudio Baglioni and the Subsonica.
In these 12 months the tributes have been many, because Battiato remains for everyone the first true precursor of electronic music , the one who gave a real turning point in the artistic panorama: he could like it or not, but certainly no one has ever been able to ignore his poetry. .
(Unioneonline / ss)
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#AccaddeOggi: 18 maggio 2021, addio a Franco Battiato