He is 70 years old, Pippo Balistreri, and 40 Sanremo on his shoulders. Stage director of the Italian Song Festival since 1981, Mr. Salvaguai, the one who puts a patch on the unexpected, who gives a push to the singer who balks behind the scenes or who transforms the Ariston, in the few minutes of TV advertising, from a church in Harlem with a gospel choir in a musical hall with a feathers and sequins corps de ballet, or in a small coastal Woodstock for the use of foreign or local rock bands. The captain of a crew of 20 people, connected to each other with earphones, so that the stage part is in synchronous harmonic with the technical, musical and television one, so that in forty seconds of presentation everything is ready for the next performance, so that the show is as much as possible in the times of the lineup, even in spite of the overruns of the masters of ceremonies (read conductors). “And luckily, today there is technology that helps us,” sighs Balistreri in a pause in the rehearsals that keep the Rai army barricaded in the theater from 10 to 21 while in the five days of live shows from 14 to nightfall.
Balistreri, a life acting as an “urban vigil” between the wings and the stage of the festival.
“A crazy traffic even if since last year, with the restrictions for Covid, it is simpler. The singer can be assisted by a single companion up to the “red room”, anteroom of the wings, then for 5-6 years on the floor below the stage there is a “green room” which acts as an additional filter. But at full capacity, the Ariston, which is also a theatrical, has always been a bedlam: few dressing rooms, narrow corridors, small common spaces. And a bustle of singers, conductors, record companies, guests… ».
It is a crossroads of anxiety, stress, tension… The most excited?
«Everyone, this stage scares experienced professionals and new recruits. Of course, people like Morandi, Zanicchi, Ranieri know how to dissemble well, the boys are more “open” especially if they experience the novelty of singing with a large orchestra. I’ve seen more than one with shining eyes at the end of rehearsals. Someone let slip “but it’s beautiful! …” ».
Many youngsters help themselves with auto-tune.
«So the live performance is more faithful to the record version of the song, even if they used it there too. Then for some it is a means of correcting the pitch. Of course, a traditional singer is unlikely to use auto-tune. Last year, for example, Orietta Berti gave everyone a lesson in intonation, without… special effects. Amedeo Minghi, the last time he entered the competition, refused the in-ear monitors, the headphones that singers put on their ears to hear the orchestra better. We had to arrange a series of loudspeakers in the proscenium for him ».
He will have anecdotes to tell after 40 years of the Festival.
«At my first Sanremo, in 1981, Loretta Goggi was terrified. Edoardo De Crescenzo had sung “Ancora” and the Ariston had exploded in applause that seemed to never end. She came immediately after with “Damn Spring”. Panic paralyzed her. When Claudio Cecchetto introduced her she stood behind the scenes. I had to push her onto the stage and, as if by magic, the panic vanished ».
Unexpected events difficult to manage?
«The foray of Cavallo Pazzo on stage the following year, with Baudo. The Police Headquarters had given us a photo of him in case he slipped through the artists’ entrance. But he got around the obstacle. He got himself a third-row ticket in the stalls and, climbing onto one of the monitor boxes, under the limelight, he jumped on stage. Blocking it cost me a punch. ‘
Any other unscheduled?
«Pino Pagano, the unemployed man who in 1995 threatened to commit suicide from the Ariston gallery after having crossed the balustrade. When Baudo managed to convince him to give up, we took him to an office in the theater. Pippo asked us: “Is there anyone who can find something in their pocket?”. I had 500,000 lire and I gave them to him and he gave them to Pagano. Here, I have never seen that money again. I still laugh at it today ».
An unexpected event for which you said “this time I can’t do it”?
«When Celentano, as a guest, asked, for one of his numbers, to change 22 members of the orchestra out of about fifty. Not 2, but 22. Frantic negotiations in Rome already a month before the start of the Festival. Eventually Rai grants him that variation. Let’s try the times and decide that everything can be done during a long commercial break. With the frantically already made change, an official comes in and says: “Let’s postpone Celentano, now let’s do another singer in the competition”. It was the time when I said to myself: it’s over, we’ll have to go “black”. I risked a heart attack. “
Foreign stars and superstars.
“The great lesson of Ray Charles. He came to sing “Amori” in the competition in 1990 in combination with Toto Cutugno. It was the demonstration, during the rehearsals and the show, of how the greats of music, the real greats, are also examples of humility. Meanwhile Dire Straits are capricious. It took a while to get them out on stage, they were also pretty tipsy. “
The famous stairs.
«A nightmare, for everyone. But especially for the ladies. The last time Ornella Vanoni refused. “Let me in from a side entrance and don’t talk about it anymore”, he ruled ».
The Ariston audience, last year the Festival did without it.
“It wasn’t easy. The public is the thermometer of satisfaction. Especially if a song is unreleased. And applause is the lifeblood of every artist. But the first judge is the orchestra. Already from the January rehearsals, in Rome, in the auditorium in via Asiago, you can understand from the professors if a piece has a real musical appeal ».
Conductors: we give the report cards.
«Ah no, I don’t give any report cards. We have all learned from Baudo: for competence, professionalism, he taught us above all the timing of the show. But I also worked well with Fazio, Bonolis, Carlo Conti. Morandi and Baglioni brought a breath of fresh air musically speaking. Amadeus is also a great, tireless worker, he thinks about it and makes a hundred, just like his friend Fiorello ».
Last updated: Wednesday 26 January 2022, 08:45
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