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Siciliana
Il
Coro della Conca d’Oro 1935-1965
This publishing
project has come into being after careful restoration of ten 78 rpm records,
belonging to the Giacchino family, which Unda Maris Edizioni undertook
last year. In the publishing operation, the priority was recovery of the
Sicilian historical-musical patrimony through non-invasive restoration
giving back to the listener the sonority of the original recording.
The recordings are some of the most exemplary ones by the Conca d’Oro
Choir, which operated for about thirty years in Sicily and also did numerous
international tours. The choir was founded in 1935 by Maestro Carmelo
Giacchino, a teacher, conductor and stage director of the Teatro Massimo
in Palermo, the founder of a musical school and a composer.
Giacchino was engaged in a passionate and intense search for folksongs,
which he collected from the living voices of old farmhands, shepherds
and sailors, transcribing them both in the simple form of monodic song
and in the more complex one of polyphonic song. His careful transcriptions
restored to the old rhythms and melodies of Sicilian songs – without
in the least being unfaithful to them – their natural freshness
and charm, helping to enrich a patrimony of culture and traditions expressing
the Sicilian soul in an effective and immediate manner.
An ingenious composer, Carmelo Giacchino gave life to an abundant and
varied production: musical comedies, orchestra music, chamber music, music
for comedies, even music for films, such as Italian dances, written for
a full-length Disney film.
The Conca d’Oro Choir performed everywhere, taking an image of a
Sicily with high cultural value around the Italian peninsula, to other
European countries and to ones outside Europe, and arousing in the public
the best and healthiest interest in the island.
Its concert activity was intense and it did countless international tours,
including a concert at the Mozart Saal in Vienna in 1955, participation
in the Festival of Music beyond frontiers in Cologne, and participation
in the Sicilian Week in Dortmund. The choir went several times to Switzerland
to make recordings.
Over the years it was also given prestigious awards, like the first prize
in the International Festival of folk dance and music held in Venice in
1949, participation in the Festival of the Italian Regions in Bordighera,
the first prize at the International folklore conference in Nice, the
first prize at the International Festival of Cannes and the Pyrenees in
1952. In 1955 the Conca d’Oro Choir received its most flattering
award during the national radio and TV contest between all Italian regions
for the Campanile d’oro.
There were also plenty of flattering appreciations: “These singers
are certainly the best ambassadors of that magnificent island, from the
Geneva “Eco” of 21/10/1955; “Le groupe le plus remarqué”
from “L’Eco Touristique”, Paris 9/9/1952; “The
Conca d’Oro Choir magically brought into the Mozart Saal Sicily
with its lively costumes and its innate joy of performing” from
“Welt Presse”, Vienna 26/04/1955; “Maestro Carmelo Giacchino
has made the Conca d’Oro Choir the first one in Italy” from
“Friburg illustrè”, November 1955; “The Conca
d’Oro Choir is one of the best folklore groups in the world”
from “Kölner Stadtanzeiger”, Cologne, 27/07/1955.
1. Taliu
di ccà, taliu di ddà
2. Chichirichì
3. A lu mircatu
4. Sicilia bedda
5. E la pàmpina
6. Lu me’ sciccareddu
7. Palummedda bianca
8. E vui durmiti ancora…
9. Sicilia
10. Pastorello innamorato
11. Canto di gelosia
12. Abballa mugghieri ca scurmi su’
13. A lu mulinu
14. Ciuri di primavera Don Gaspanu
15. Danza greco-sicula
16. L’alivara
17. L’amanti bedda
18. La ciramìsa
19. La cruci di l’omini
20. Lu ‘ncichitincì
21. Tarantella
22. Ghiummareddu
23. Nn’amu a spàrtiri
24. Pupidda abballa
25. Canto dell’addio
26. Vendemmiale
tempo totale min. 62:12
for buy:
info@undamaris.org
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