The Calabrian on tour for the release of his seventh album makes a detour on December 13 via Toulouse. The opportunity to discover an artist who never ceases to surprise. The art of renewing yourself while remaining yourself.
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The mystery of music has never explained why one Italian artist broke through in a country, and another did not. In France, Pepe Voltarelli is not Eros Ramazotti, Paolo Conte or even Andrea Bocelli. And so much the better because therein lies all the richness of Italian popular song! Committed texts and sometimes black humor, the Calabrian would rather have something of another transalpine celebrity in France: Adriano Celentano.
And yet for more than fifteen years, after seven studio albums, four original soundtracks and two live discs, Peppe Voltarelli’s music has found its place in France. The singer participated twice in the Avignon Festival and gave concerts in the theaters of Anduze, Nantes, Lyon, and Paris. His song “Scarpe rossa impolverate”, from the album “Ultima notte a Malá Strana” (released in 2010 on the French label Le Chant du Monde) appeared in the playlists of Radio France for several weeks.
His visit to Toulouse is not a first. The Calabrian came there a few years ago at the Rex. That evening, the audience left feeling dizzy with poetry, full of music and melodies, even believing they had understood a language they did not speak, so beautiful and accurate was the interpretation.
So goes the journey of Pepe Voltarelli, capable of playing in New York (January 23) or in Cuba (January 28) and of coming, before two concerts in Paris, to make a detour to Toulouse because there are friends. A singer-songwriter who can make you laugh or cry and whose look can evoke a tired rocker with a tender heart. As it is revealed in particular in his unforgettable “live in Buenos Aires” available in stores and on all good platforms.
For the lucky ones who come to see him at the Goethe Institut (80 seats), they will be able to discover his latest album “La grande corsa verso Lupionòpolis”. Recorded at Manhattan’s historic “EastSide Sound” by Marc Urselli (three Grammy Awards, collaborations with Lou Reed, Nick Cave and U2) and produced by Los Angeles-based Italian pianist Simone Giuliani (known for his work with Andrea Bocelli and the London Symphony Orchestra). The album contains ten new tracks, eight of which are in Calabrian dialect and one in Italian.
So how can we describe the Voltarelli style? Perhaps by specifying that he won the Loano Prize, the most prestigious award for traditional music in Italy. A tradition in which he brings to life the dialect of his native region but also music or inspirations from all over the world. This Friday, December 13, they will meet in the heart of Toulouse. Why deprive yourself of it?
Pepe Voltarelli, Friday December 13, at the Goethe Institut, organized by the Dante Alighieri Society and the Italian culture magazine Radici (Reservation at 0671369319 or 0620271055)
