by Antonella Leoncini

What is the singer-songwriter Cristiano Godano, frontman of the rock band Marlene Kuntz doing at ‘Sì Siena’, Festival of the language between earth and sky ‘tonight at 9 pm when, at the Logge del Papa, in the show homage to Dante Alighieri for 700 years from his death, will he join with the voice and guitar the caravan of the BandaDante of Ambrogio Sparagna with Davide Rondoni and the musicians of the Italian Popular Orchestra of the Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome?

“I will sing, I will play, I will speak – Godano says -. I was invited by the artistic director Davide Rondoni. I know him, he happens to meet to reflect, to discuss. His approach is intriguing. There is intellectual harmony between us”.

She is a rock singer-songwriter, the show is dedicated to Dante. What will happen?

“At the center of the event, on the one hand, Dante the poet and, on the other, the relationship between song and poetry. The question is complex; it means reflecting on Dante’s literary production, primarily the Divine Comedy, and on complex vocation: poet, writer, politician and also songwriter.

The idea?

“The song is poetry but the poet’s approach is different from that of the songwriter also because the motivations are different, as are the expectations of those to whom one is”.

The right person at the right time. His song ‘Osja, my love’ is dedicated to the Russian poet Osip Mandelstam, persecuted by Stalin to his death, with the only faults of being a poet and connoisseur of the Divine Comedy.

“A piece in the lineup in the concert along with other pieces with a strong presence of the themes of love, Dante’s well-known obsession, and friendship, a recurring aspect in the Divine Comedy”.

In addition to the wayfarers De Gregori, Servillo, Forte, Riondino, the others who have met the BandaDante.

“I am honored to continue the path of the BandaDante: an articulated path, cleared of certain preconceptions and that I share with my experience, open to encounter other situations. Encounter, confrontation between ideas, creations, sensations”.

Why a Festival of language between earth and sky, in a period in which the virtual and its world emerge?

‘Sì Siena’ is an important project that returns its scenario to culture: that of contact, of real exchange. It is also the true dimension of music: that of live concerts, of the direct relationship between the artist and the public. All this today risks being underestimated compared to the virtual system, to mainstreaming which, however, take away its true value from music “.

Siena?

“I know it, one cannot fail to admire one of the most beautiful cities, an ideal setting for hosting the Festival. Some time ago I was talking to a colleague from Siena at the top of the ranking of the most fascinating cities: being here today is a great satisfaction”.

His projects?

“This concert is an extraordinary epilogue of the summer tour in which I presented my album ‘I Lost My Heart’ as a solo artist. It went very well. In the coming months, with Marlene Kuntz we will record a new album and, in the meantime, I will continue the my personal and professional path. It seems to me that he has enough commitments not to worry about being unemployed. “