Roberto Bonati Parma Frontiere Orchestra

More topical now with the resurgence of (quasi?) fascism throughout the world is Italian bassist/composer Roberto Bonati’s orchestral tone poem Si erano vestiti dalla festa. Translated sardonically as “They were dressed up for the party”, the seven-part suite was performed by the 12-member Parma Frontiere Orchestra marking the centennial of when in 1922 the citizens of Parma took to the barricades to challenge the authoritarian violence inflicted on their city by the black shirts of Benito Mussolini’s then nascent fascist government.

Partitioned into sequences which mark episodes on this battle of the barricades the live concert displays a command of compositional shading and techniques by Bonati, who has played with the likes of  Giorgio Gaslini and Gianluigi Trovesi. While Giulia Zaniboni’s bel canto vocals complement arrangements with lyrics about the struggle, and an audio clip from an elderly participant is also heard during “Barricate”, the overall program can be appreciated by non-Italian speakers.

Ranging through close harmonies, polyphonic riffs and touches of dissonance, the always linear program expresses the initial half-distressing and half-defiant situation. Motifs range from quasi-military percussion beats and intimidating brass fanfares to graceful development of tunes like “Oltretorrente”, where  Michael Gassmann’s trumpet grace notes, Gabriele Fava’s sinuous soprano saxophone trills and Luca Perciballi’s gentle guitar complement hopeful wordless vocalese

Opposition and confrontation are expressed tautly on other section such as “Marionette Nere” or black puppets deriding the fascist uniforms; or the defiant “Arditi” celebrating the volunteer brigade that fought off the right-wing incursion. Creating the sounds of a miasmatic stand-off, the exposition challenges Roberto Dani’s powerful percussion vibrations plus Ingrid Berg Mehus’ and Elisa Zito’s gentling string sweeps and Tommaso Salvadori vibraphone claps with a droning reed vibrato and Nicolàs Ernesto Cortes Castillo’s tuba burps, “Arditi” in contrast perfectly interlocks melodic vocalese with widen string stops, a swerving soprano sax solo and Riccardo Luppi tenor saxophone snorts.

Most importantly besides the words and lyrics on “Barricate”, the construction and breeching of the blockade is reflected with idiophone pumps, altissimo reed cries and tuba blats , wrapped up in a jolly tarantella sequence. But it is eventually subsumed by a bugle-like melancholy obbligato and the thickened finality of tuba, double bass and drum pressure.

The world’s political climate makes this impression of the doomed Parma struggle prescient. However we should hope that unlike the earlier situation contemporary battles against totalitarianism will triumph as much as Bonati’s music does on this disc.

–Ken Waxman

Track Listing:1. Prelude 2. Oltretorrente 3. Voici Le Soir 4. Marionette Nere 5. Barricate 6. Vincenti Per Tutta La Vita 7. Arditi

Personnel: Michael Gassmann (trumpet, flugelhorn); Nicolàs Ernesto Cortes Castillo (tuba); Gabriele Fava (soprano saxophone); Riccardo Luppi (tenor saxophone, flute): Daniele D’Alessandro (clarinets); Ingrid Berg Mehus (violin); Elisa Zito (viola); Luca Perciballi (guitar); Tommaso Salvadori (vibraphone); Andrea Grossi (bass); Roberto Dani (drums, percussion); Giulia Zaniboni (vocals): Roberto Bonati (conduction)