«Dear maestro Riccardo Muti, I write to you in a simple and humble way from the heart, from the mind, in short from the soul. She and I have two friends in common. They both introduced us, one twenty years ago and he is no longer here, Carmelo Bene, a man of great cultural importance, capable of true art, both creator and thinker, an unrepeatable man, so precious and different, and courageous, and yet also so vilified , misunderstood, that it hurts to realize how thankless his time was for not having grasped its weight, not having been able to listen to that universe of ideas, not having transmitted it to the public, when his genius could not only have created intense shows and excite the public, but educate the country, investing it with a practical ability to exercise open-mindedness, training in the elasticity of the mind."
Thus begins Morgan's open letter to Riccardo Muti, the pride of Italian music throughout the world, to propose the sharing of a bold and visionary project: the artistic direction of the 2025 Sanremo Festival.
The presence of the great world-famous wand, which could be considered the artistic heritage of humanity, is a revolutionary idea that the brilliant composer, songwriter and former judge of "X Factor", recently on Rai with the highly successful program "Stramorgan ” with Pino Strabioli, launched “Sgarbistan” in the Whatsapp chat, a collective of thousands of artists and intellectuals co-opted by Vittorio Sgarbi in a large container of virtual freedom.
«Don't be scared, please don't be weirded out. If, however, he has had a pleasant reaction and is open to these hypotheses - Morgan continues, inviting him to also contact the famous art critic linked to both of them by a strong feeling of friendship - he can also stop reading, make a phone call to our mutual friend , of whom I speak a few lines below, telling you that he too would be in the game."
In the sights of Morgan, who in the letter carries out a long reflection on the crisis of culture and quality, «the drift of song in pop music, the vulgarization of commerce by television and in particular by the Sanremo Festival. Together with the global fear generated by the cancel culture, which the media and social networks have irresponsibly administered in recent years. It was a paralyzing effect - he explains - a soporific effect, which anesthetized Italians, including artists."
Morgan's message is long and detailed and, as always, is capable of catalysing the attention of a vast and very heterogeneous audience, from the very young to the over 50s who have always followed him since his productions with Bluvertigo, triumphing at the MTV Europe Music Awards in 1998 in the Best Southern Europe Act category, while as a soloist he won the Targa Tenco twice and the 2004 Lunezia Prize for the album “Canzoni dell'appatment” as well as the 2010 De André Prize for the album “Non al moneta non all 'love nor to heaven'.
«What must now be done is to reconnect the values that have been totally destroyed and bring them back on stage. This means relying on those who are competent in the matter and their voice is necessary", he says again, turning to Muti. «You who are an educator - continues Morgan - you are a director, you are a teacher, you who teach, lead people to nobility and growth of the spirit through music, please intervene. It's just a matter of making one's availability available for no more than 3-4 months and giving back to a nation the dignity it deserves, by making a public show that has the aim of bringing dignity back to showing how the key to the true individual success of being artistic commitment is human. Serious".
The heartfelt appeal of the Milanese singer-songwriter ends with some precise questions.
«When an entire nation, for reasons of popular tradition, such as Christmas, Easter, August Bank Holiday, May 1st, sits down on the sofa with their family, they strangely start listening to music on television, which it never does, because that thing isn't conceived, built, presented, told, managed by someone who understands music, by someone who is competent? Why is that moment of collective listening to music, that predisposition of the people, a priori, not entrusted to musical competence? But why? Moreover, in a place that belongs to the State, therefore to the people, such as public television. Can someone answer me without talking about numbers, so why does that mean they didn't understand a single word of what I said?".
Now Morgan is waiting for a response from the famous conductor but certainly the question raised with this powerful letter is of extraordinary interest and of great relevance given that the leaders of Viale Mazzini are discussing the future of the singing festival, a solution that will certainly have to be identified within June.
LP