On Sunday 26 June, the Castello Volante in Corigliano d’Otranto will host the concert and show “Nannarè. Ti regalo gli occhi miei”, a tribute by Emanuela Gabrieli to Gabriella Ferri, the heart and voice of Italian melody.
The Salento-born singer and actress, accompanied by Stefano Scuro (guitar) and Marco Tuma (woodwinds), presents – with the artistic collaboration of actress and director Angela De Gaetano – a tribute to the Roman artist, her performances and her warm, powerful and soulful voice.
“‘In life, as in her work, she was always a woman who swam against the tide: in her manner, her dress sense and her self-expression, she was always at the forefront,’ recalls her son Seva Borzak Jr. The great Federico Fellini, on the other hand, described her as “a born clown”. The clown is a mysterious figure: they make people laugh, but are condemned to do so and, deep down, possess a certain tragedy of their own. Thus, Gabriella Ferri, with her voice, was able to strike different chords in the human soul.
‘The love that Emanuela Gabrieli feels for this artist is immense. I would describe it as a kind of inescapable fascination, like that which captivates one in the face of a riot of light and shadow: a dancing mosaic, the full meaning of which cannot be fully grasped,’ emphasises Angela De Gaetano. ‘Gabriella Ferri’s presence in the world was characterised by appearances and withdrawals. Gabriella would withdraw, yet at the same time she seemed to have a visceral desire to express herself, to say ‘I am here’. A person who was both incredibly strong and vulnerable at the same time. Her restless relationship with the world, and with herself, throughout her life took many forms of expression. Above all, there were words and song, like two hands outstretched to welcome the world. We have tried to enter the luminous and iridescent realm of an artist like Ferri, who has given us so much’, she explains. “We engaged with that side of herself which Ferri herself sought to reveal to the world. We did so by imagining ourselves in the intimacy of a dressing room. Our focus centred on the image of the artist as she prepares to face the audience. In that dressing room, Emanuela’s words and Gabriella’s silences together provide a counterpoint to what is most important and vital to both of them: singing, music.”
9.00 pm – advance tickets available on VivaTicket
