February 1993. Gigliola Cinquetti subscribes to live tv at Maurizio Costanzo Show to the Radical Party. Dismayed by the Veronese curia, lynching of the newspaper of his city (The Arena). For many Catholics it is a punch in the stomach. The girl’s soap and water I’m not old enough ends up in the storm. «I signed up not so much for organic membership, but in response to an appeal from the Radical Party that had a survival problem. I did it out of gratitude. I didn’t vote for them, I was a socialist. I did it so that a party that had brought divorce and abortion to the Italians would not die ».
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And all the hell happened …
“Yes, even if I had never had any organic relationship with the Catholic world. Those came later, when Pupi Avati made me the protagonist and host of a daily talk show (Living by talking) lasted 4 years on TV 2000, the network of the Italian Bishops’ Conference. A fantastic journalistic apprenticeship, but also complicated due to my secular positions. I had to move between my need for sincerity and the nature of the publisher. Never said a word I wasn’t convinced of. I took from all the Catholic values that I could share from a secular point of view such as solidarity, equality, volunteering, avoiding theological arguments like the devil. Difficult and stressful, but interesting. There was always talk of serious things with a high profile. No gossip ».
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How did he discover he had a gift called talent?
“Very early. And it was a joyful discovery. I immediately felt the harmony between my voice and the listener. I was not a casual child, I was very shy. I communicated very little and I was always stuck to my mother’s skirts: detaching myself from my parents even for a few minutes was very painful for me. I was used to playing with my peers who lived in my building because I had always known them. I was wary of those “not of the building”. When I sang I broke this inner loneliness and it was an important emotion ».
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This harmony between the surname and name and his vocal timbre is striking. After all, Gigliola Cinquetti could very well be a stage name … the chirping, the purity of the lily, the crystalline timbre of the voice. How to say: a kind of natural brand …
«(ride) When the CGD offered me the first contract I was 15 years old. They had listened to me at the Castrocaro festival. They said the name sounded fake and you had to put “a fake one that looked real”. At that time there were no stage names, those with a Y or J like Betty Curtis, Jula de Palma. They were out of fashion because they evoked the 1950s. In the sixties you had to go around with a normal name. And then they proposed Claudia, Claudia Cinquetti. But in the meantime some articles still came out with the name Gigliola. At that point they did not want to waste the notoriety that was being created around Gigliola and surrendered. And I went ahead with my real name ».
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The most intense experience?
“I’ve only made two films in my life. God how I love you it is a musician that he had a resounding success in Brazil. There I was considered a diva like Audrey Hepburn’s Roman holidays . My film has depopulated among the poor people of the favelas, naively romantic. I remember a concert at the Canecão in Rio, which was the temple of music. Thousands of them came from the poorest neighborhoods. After the show they didn’t leave. They lined up forming an immense snake around the square in front of the room. But they weren’t looking for the autograph. They just wanted to hug and kiss me. Heartbreaking. Queued until 3 am. There I understood that it is not necessary to belong to the people to please the people. It is enough that they perceive you as someone who notices them, who does not pose. Thus starts a sort of mutual curiosity that triggers an emotional spark ».
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There are singers, almost always women, who make their debut and take off with easy songs. Then they have a “cultured” turn. Examples: Mannoia, Nada, Antonella Ruggiero. Thus they deny the repertoire of the origins.
“I have never distanced myself from my classics. There was a folk interlude with reworking of popular songs. For my 70th birthday I held a concert in Paris. French critics wrote that they were surprised by the ability to link high and low repertoire, songwriting and popular song. There has always been this short circuit between me Sunday going to mass e God how I love you. A stylistic figure present from the beginning, not a path ».
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In how many languages did you sing?
“Nine. But above all French, Spanish, English and German. I don’t know German, but I sing as if I know it. Like Milva, who recently left us. The Germans are surprised because I am perfect in jokes. I pretend to be someone who knows German, while in reality I play scripted lines. ‘
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Years ago he said: “I have had a lot of sex but only with one person.”
«My husband, Luciano Teodori. He never wanted to be my manager. It is I who chose to be influenced by this “boy” who strongly belonged to his time: he had the brilliance of a young intellectual of the seventies with typical experiences of that period (assemblies, occupations, student struggles). Journalist of the Print of Turin wanted by Arrigo Levi, in Rai with Arrigo Petacco, collaborator of Nanni Loy in the cinema. In short, multifaceted. An encounter on an intellectual level even before an erotic one. It was nice to grow up together. Before meeting him I was saddened by my traveling around the world alone: seeing wonderful things and not being able to share or tell them … In a way it was a waste. Then I met Luciano, I let go of my mother’s skirts, my father’s hand, and I clung to him ».
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The most pleasant memories?
«With Mimmo Locasciulli friend of De Gregori and hospital primary who produced my record and then accompanied me on a tour in Japan. From which an album was born Live in Tokyo. Important moment and with important musicians. The concert was filmed on Japanese television. Now, pandemics permitting, I am planning a tour in the Far East. In the repertoire The winner takes it all of Abba, who won the Eurovision when I finished second. And then, next to Under the stars of Jazz by Paolo Conte, classics of various kinds and songs that I had neglected like I need to see you, Will be by Vecchioni, Lady D’arbanville at Cat Stevens, Lady Jane. Finally I conjugate Yesterday with I’m not old enough. They have the same harmonies, the same chord sequence. Only that I’m not old enough was born well before Yesterday… Coincidence? I know for a fact that the Beatles knew me. I also met Paul McCartney to interview him for Rai. In those years in London they listened to my songs. The Beatles were kids then and they had certainly heard it. Involuntary plagiarism? ».
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Two children: Giovanni and Costantino born in 1980 and 1984.
“As parents we have done our best. But things did not go as expected. This country does not know how to give satisfaction to people who have studied, who have a high level of culture and preparation. For Italy this is an epochal problem. However, they manage in some way: one is an architect, the other is a writer-journalist. I have remained viscerally linked to Italy. It’s wonderful to be there, but without working. “
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A few words about his childhood …
«My father was a building designer and went through 11 years of various wars. Every year he received the precept postcard of Vittorio Emanuele which he hated, could not stand the Savoy and Mussolini. He had never worn a black shirt. He had a starvation salary as a civil servant. And because of his political convictions he had remained in the rank of “adventitious” because he deserted the Fascist Sunday gatherings. He went to Africa because they promised advancement on the job and reduced military performance. When peace came, my sister and I were born. My parents had married in ’41 but waited for the end of the war to be able to procreate: my father did not want to risk leaving my widowed mother with children. She wanted him to remarry if he died. In 1946 my sister was born, in December of the following year I arrived. We were overwhelmed by that wave of happiness and enthusiasm from my parents. Always out and about to meet friends. Mom taught me two things: to play poker (and there she failed: I am denied for cards) and to never complain: the diva’s handbook. My dad was the sweetheart himself, joyful and sensitive. Mum, on the other hand, imposed a harsh, almost military discipline ».
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What relationship did you have with Domenico Modugno?
“He was aggressive enough. He grabbed success with determination and never let go … he got very angry when I won with I’m not old enough in ’64. He was going to win, not to participate. When he wrote God how I love you he thought of pairing with me (“so I neutralize her”). The thing worked, despite the sabotage of the record companies ».
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How would you define yourself?
«A cheerful melancholy, capable of suffering a lot and rejoicing a lot. I live isolated, in the countryside, near Tivoli. But I need to go and sing in the theater from time to time. I haven’t done it for a year and a half and I miss it ».
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May 31, 2021 (change May 31, 2021 | 23:43)
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