Twenty years after Andrea Parodi's passing , his music extends beyond the confines of the island he loved so much, but soars to Paris. Following the " Concert for Andrea " in Cagliari on April 30th, and before the Parodi Prize , which will be held in October, on May 21st the Italian Cultural Institute in the French capital will host "Andrea Parodi, Voice of the Island, Voice of the World," one of the most anticipated events in a year packed with events dedicated to the singer-songwriter , that extraordinary voice who sang for the last time in the Roman amphitheater in Cagliari in 2006, leaving behind a voice that has become legendary.
Taking to the Paris stage will be Elena Ledda, Mauro Palmas, Gigi Marras and Tazenda, along with Alberto Bertoli , son of the celebrated singer-songwriter Pierangelo. A musical family, even more than a cast of artists. "It's wonderful to showcase the music that comes from the island," says Valentina Casalena, the singer's wife and president of the Andrea Parodi Association . "All together to make Andrea's music known, to share its soul, and to bring Sardinian music to the world." Casalena, who is also a teacher, is particularly keen to emphasize the educational nature and value of the event hosting this concert. "The Paris festival was created for high school audiences, and that's why it's especially close to my heart. It aims to highlight the importance of music in the education of young people, and specifically, Italian music and singer-songwriters, that wonderful borderland between poetry and melody." Also in Paris, an excerpt from a documentary currently in development that young Cagliari-born director Alberto Marras is shooting on Parodi's life will be screened. "A film that promises to be a journey into the man as well as the artist," explains Casalena, "a new and necessary look at a figure who has shaped the history of Italian music." On May 22nd, Piedmont will take up the baton. At the Teatro Fassino in Avigliana, during the Valsusa Filmfest, "The Voice of the Sardinian Soul: In Memory of Andrea Parodi" will be performed, hosted by Enrico Deregibus, with guest appearances by his eldest son, Luca Parodi.
The celebrations, however, don't just look to the past. The call for applications for the new edition of the Andrea Parodi Foundation Award closed on May 9th, and now anticipation is mounting to discover who will carry on a tradition that, year after year, continues to offer concrete opportunities to new protagonists in world music. This, after all, is the most authentic aspect of Andrea Parodi's legacy: "not nostalgia, but forward-looking vision," Casalena emphasizes. "His role in connecting Sardinian sounds with the paths of international music hasn't remained frozen in time, but continues to flourish, in Cagliari, Turin, Paris, and anywhere in the world where someone wants to listen to a voice that came from the island and spoke to everyone."
