Pino De Vittorio (Italy)

On May 30, an impressive concert awaits at Paliesius Manor – the famous actor and singer Pino de Vittorio will perform! Together with three instrumentalists, he will transport listeners to Italy with his voice and “battente” guitar – the program “Tarantella del rimorso”, traditional songs and music from the Puglia region, Southern Italy, will be performed.

You will find “Tarantella del rimorso” in Puglia and Southern Italy. The origin of the tarantella is associated with tarantism – a disease or form of hysteria that emerged in Italy in the 14th century and, for obscure reasons, was linked to the bite of a tarantula spider. Victims supposedly recovered by frantically dancing the tarantella.

The words “tarantula”, “tarantism”, and “tarantella” all derive from the name of the city of Taranto. The dance in the Taranto region, unlike the Gargano tarantella, is of mystical rather than secular origin. It is characterized by intricate rhythms played on the “tamburello” (tambourine), while the Gargano tarantella-serenade is usually played with “chitarra battente” and castanets.

Pino de Vittorio – an actor and singer, born in Leporano (Taranto). He began his artistic career striving to revive Apulian traditions – a little later, together with Angelo Savelli, he founded the theater and music company “Pupi e Fresedde”. A few years later, he joined Roberto De Simone’s theater company: with it, he often performed leading roles in some of his most important works: “Mistero Napolitano”, “Li Zite ‘Ngalera”, “Opera Buffa del Gesù Maundy”, “La Gatta Cenerentola”, “Stabat Mater” with Irene Papas, “Requiem for Pasolini”, “99 Pulcinella’s Misfortunes”, “The Dragon”. These performances travel all over the world: appearances have taken place in New York, Edinburgh, Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Frankfurt, Berlin, and elsewhere.

He debuted at the “San Carlo” theater with the Ricci brothers’ “Crispino e la Comare”, which was reprised at Venice’s “La Fenice” and Paris’s “Champs Elyseés” theaters. He participated several times in “Maggio Musicale Fiorentino”, and among his operas is Luciano Berio’s reworked modern version of Monteverdi’s “Orfeo”. At the “Settimane Internazionali” in Naples, he appeared performing Paisiello’s “L’idolo cinese”, Stravinsky’s “Pulcinella” and “Histoire du Soldat”, conducted by Accardo.

He performed in Siena’s “Accademia Chigiana”, Turin’s “Settembre Musica”, and Milan’s “San Maurizio” concert halls. In London, he appeared before the English royal family in Marco da Gagliano’s opera “Dafne”. Together with Rinaldo Alessandrini, he sang the role of the nurse in Monteverdi’s opera “L’incoronazione di Poppea (Salamanca)”. He was the founder of the group “Media Aetas”, also led by De Simone, organizing concerts worldwide.

Later, together with Antonio Florio, he founded the baroque ensemble “Cappella della Pietà dei Turchini”, with which he participated in numerous concerts at international festivals in France, Japan, China, Colombia, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Israel, Spain, and elsewhere. In addition, many baroque works were performed with Florio: F. Provenzale’s “Colomba Ferita” (“San Carlo”, Palermo’s “Teatro Massimo”), G. Latilla’s “La Finta Cameriera”, he was the main character in Paisiello’s “Pulcinella Vendicato” (“Teatro Bellini” in Naples and Mexico City), “Li Zite ‘Ngalera” (at “Piccinni” theater in Bari), “La Festa Napoletana”, Boerio’s “Il Desperato Innocente” (in Clermont-Ferrand), L. Vinci’s “Partenope” (in Seville, “San Carlo di Napoli”, Leon, Santander, A Coruña), D. Scarlatti’s “Ottavia” (in San Sebastián). In Paris, he continues to perform the role of the nurse in “L’incoronazione di Poppea” with R. Alessandrini (B. Wilson) at the “Garnier” Opera. He recently performed in Hamburg, Gliwice in Poland, and Slovenia, and performs in Milan’s “Teatro Alla Scala” in the revived “L’incoronazione di Poppea” with R. Alessandrini (B. Wilson). He recently appeared at the sacred music festival in Krakow and the Utrecht Festival.

With “Cappella dei Turchini”, he recorded numerous sacred and secular music albums for “Synphonia”, “Opus111”, “Naive”, “Eloquentia”, “Glossa” labels. Among them are “Tarantelle del Rimorso” with Marcello Vitale, G. Miracle and L. Massa (“Eloquentia”), “Canto de la Vida” (“Deutsche Grammophon”), “Fra’ Diavolo” with the ensemble “Accordone”, led by Guido Morini and Marco Beasley (“Arcana”), Cristofaro Caresana’s “L’Adoratione de’ Maggi”, “The Song of the Sirena”, “Treasure of San Gennaro” with “Turchini”, conducted by Florio (“Glossa”) and “Siciliane” with Franco Pavan and the ensemble “Laboratorio ‘600”, a CD with Calabrian music “Occhi Turchini” (“Glossa”) and the latest recording of baroque and traditional lullabies “Ninna Nanna”.